This study pursues two goals: On the one hand, it examines the origins of a part of the Old Testament books of Samuel (the so-called “Story of David’s Rise”, and in particular its first seven chapters: 1 Samuel 15–21). Based on the results thereof, on the other hand, it poses the question of whether and to what extent the books of Samuel can be considered to be historical writing. For this purpose, it fruitfully applies above all the ideas of the German history theoretician, Jörn Rüsen.