Shmuel HaNavi, the prophet Samuel, was the son of Elkanah and Hannah, of Ramathaim-Zophim. According to the genealogy in the Book of Chronicles, he was descended from the tribe of Levi, of the line of Korach. Even before his birth his mother dedicated him to the service of God, and as a small child he was brought to the sanctuary at Shiloh, where he was raised by Eli the Kohen, the High Priest and judge of that time.

At Shiloh God called to him at night; the third time, guided by Eli, he understood that it was God speaking, and from then on he was recognized as a prophet. After Eli and his sons died in the war against the Philistines, Samuel became the leader of the people at the close of the era of the Judges. Every year he made a circuit of Beth El, Gilgal and Mizpah to judge Israel, returning to his home town of Ramah.

He anointed the kings of his time: Saul, who founded the united Israelite kingdom, and then David. His relationship with Saul was complex, and in the end Samuel had to tell Saul, in God's name, that the kingship would be taken from him. The prophet Jeremiah and the Psalms mention him alongside Moses, and the Sages count him, with Moses and Aaron, among the "three giants of the world".

According to the baraita in tractate Bava Batra, he wrote the Book of Samuel (except for the passages after his death, attributed to Gad the seer and Nathan the prophet), the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth.

He died shortly before the end of Saul's reign; all Israel mourned him, and he was buried in his house in Ramah. By tradition he passed away on 28 Iyar (some say the 29th). His traditional tomb is at Nabi Samwil, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where thousands come to pray over those two days.