How old was Samuel in the Old Testament when he died?

Answer 1

The Bible says Samuel was a very old man in the NewTestament, even at the time of Saul and David he was old man.

Answer:The Talmud (Taanith 5b) states that "old" in this case is meant to teach a specific lesson and is not meant literally. Jewish tradition states that Samuel, like Solomon, died at the age of 52.

Answer

Although the Bible does not explicitly say how old Samuel was when he died, it can be estimated. In his Study Bible's Notes on 1 & 2 Samuel, John MacArthur says that :

"These events took place between the years ca.1105BC , the birth of Samuel, to ca.971BC, the last words of David."

Therefore Samuel was born in 1105BC.

David died at the age of 70 in 971 BC making him born 1041BC

It is estimated by one authority that David about 20 years old when he was annointed to be the next king by Samuel, while another authority has him 22 years old, but splitting the difference and making him 21 - the age of majority - would be far more likely. That would then be in 1020BC.

About a year later David fled for his life to Samuel at Naioth (near Ramah where Samuel lived) . That would be in 1019BC. [This episode - see 1Sam 19:18 - is the last mention of Samuel while he was alive: his age at death is not recorded.]

The minimum time span between Samuel's birth (1105BC) and last living mention was therefore at 86 years (1105 - 1019). However, he could very well have been older than that.

David was fleeing for his life from Saul for 4 years (from 1011 to 1007BC) and Samuel could have died some time during this period. David would not have been able to contact him during this time as David was otherwise engaged. However, old people often cling to life and refuse to die until they have reached some predetermined point.

[For example, my father-in-law did not die until he was 75 because that would make him the longest-living male in his side of the family, and my mother had been daily expected to die when she was 84, when she said "I've seen everyone, so you can all go home now: I'm not going to go until I reach 85." And she didn't: she died after her birthday months later .]

Thus, there is a very real probability that Samuel had said to himself: "I've annointed David king, so I want to see him crowned king."

The Bible is full of pattern. If Samuel had decided he wasn't going to die until David was crowned, then just as God had called Daniel "greatly beloved" and he lived to be at least 85 years of age [see John MacArthur's Study Bible's Notes on Daniel], and the disciple John was the one " whom Jesus loved" and he lived to be 95 [see Wikipedia], and Samuel was loved of God, he could very well have lived until he was 95.

In short, Samuel was probably between 85 and 95 years old when he died, but more likely to be higher than lower. Therefore if you said he was 90 you wouldn't be far out.