Yehoshua and Shoftim speak of a period of three hundred and forty-two years (1272-930 BC) and tell of the tense struggle of the sons of Israel for the land. The book of Shmuel that follows them begins with a description of the events that took place in 930 BC. e., seven months before his birth, and ends with the events that occurred in 875 BC. a few months after his death. Its theme is the search by the sons of Israel of a way out of the impasse in which they found themselves at the end of the age of judges, the election of a king and the establishment of a kingdom. But the book is not limited to the description of events. The spiritual processes that took place among the people are more important to her than the details of the battles. And, omitting many historical details, she considers the role of the prophet and his relationship with the king and the people.
 The change in the consciousness of the sons of Israel did not happen by itself. Behind it is the activity of Shmuel, who corrected the shortcomings of the leaders of the people who preceded him, who would have to move from place to place to teach and instruct the people, until the Torah becomes as familiar to farmers as it is to those who ate for forty years in the desert. manom. Since it was very difficult to cope with this task alone, he called on the sages of the generation to follow his example. Shmuel created a system of education and communication between the courts, the heads of the tribes and the elders of the cities, which made it possible to return the spirit of the Torah to the environment of the sons of Israel, to get rid of idolatry and to unite the tribes.
 But the people, unable to appreciate his efforts and not realizing that Divine Providence, not leaving them to the merit of the prophet, is the best protection, demanded to appoint a king. The anointing of Shaul to the kingdom marked the end of the reign of the judges, whose power rested solely on the recognition of the whole society.