3. Was the Author of the Book Samuel, Ezra, or some other?
The author of the book is hidden in obscurity. Neither is it very important to know, since its authority is not to be fetched from the writer, but from the writing and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is generally believed by the Hebrews that it was committed to writing by Samuel, who was also himself a judge together with his sons. And certainly also in Acts 3:22-25, after Moses Samuel is reckoned the first Prophet, among those that foretold the days of Christ; which some explain of writing, asserting that the individual judges committed to writing a register the matters conducted under their judgeship, but that Samuel gathered them all, enlarged them, and reduced them to one book. But others think that Ezra devoted himself to that task: yet others think others. That it was written in the time of the Kings, or even afterwards, some gather from the manner of speaking that occurs in Judges 17:6; 18:1; 21:25. Perhaps they are not far off, who think that most of the matters conducted were comprehended in annals by the judges themselves, and were afterwards reduced by a θεοπνεύστῳ/inspired prophet, whoever he may have been, into the order and book that we now have, by a new and methodical writing.