AMONG the Jews, the books of Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel, and I and II Kings were known as "the former prophets"—a phrase found in the book of Zechariah, where reference is made to "the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets" (7:7); while in verse 12 of the same chapter, the literary work of these "former prophets" is distinguished from the Pentateuch, or "Law," just as they are to be contrasted with the "latter prophets"—sometimes called "the 'writing' prophets"—who were responsible for the books from Isaiah to Malachi in our Bibles. We ordinarily think of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings as historical rather than prophetic literature, but there are certain considerations which go far towards explaining why they are termed "the former prophets."
A careful examination of "the former prophets" shows that these books, like those of the Pentateuch, are made up of various strata or sources, coming from various dates, but usually providing evidence of prophetic influence. The book of Joshua is considered by present-day authorities to be about Joshua, rather than by him, being drawn in the main from the same basic sources from which the Pentateuch was compiled, and the book of Joshua records the various activities of Moses' successor, who led the Israelites into the promised land. The book of Judges preserves the history of the transitional period between the first settlement of the Israelitish tribes in the land of Canaan and the establishment of the monarchy; and the writer, or rather, perhaps, the editors of the story, record instance after instance of how the idolatry of the people was punished by foreign oppression, but when at length they "cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer" (e.g. Judges 3:9), and before long "the land had rest" (verse 11). This oft-repeated thought of deliverance, following supplication and repentance, is typical of the teaching of many of the Old Testament prophets, and serves to suggest the prophetic background of the book. The two books of Samual were originally one, and the very fact that the volume was named after the prophet Samuel, makes it easy to see how it came to be included among "the former prophets."
Incidentally, it may be noted that the primitive account of the origin of monarchy in Israel, incorporated in I Samuel (I Sam. 9; 10:1-16; 11: 1-11, 15), is thought to have been written earlier than the rest of the book; for, as Dr. Bewer expresses it, "Israel's first great literary production in prose was, in all probability, the Story of the Founding of the Kingdom" (Literature of the Old Testament, p. 21).
