The appraisal of the Samuel Conclusion (2 Samuel 21-24) is performed by means of an extensive analysis of the literary features and structures of the Books of Samuel as a whole. In this sense the dissertation does more than the title leads one to expect. While the basic structure of the Conclusion itself is well known, this is a quite new demonstration that it forms an integral part of 1-2 Samuel and should no longer be regarded as an Appendix. The approach owes much to modern literary methods, but not at the expense of the historical interest. It understands 1-2 Samuel as a self-contained writing and is sceptical against the tendency to interpret the books of Joshua to Kings as parts of the Deuteronomistic History, and the "canonical" divisions between them as artificial.