9 Now therefore hearken H8085 unto their voice: H6963 howbeit H389 yet protest H5749 solemnly H5749 unto them, and shew H5046 them the manner H4941 of the king H4428 that shall reign H4427 over them.
And he said, H559 This will be the manner H4941 of the king H4428 that shall reign H4427 over you: He will take H3947 your sons, H1121 and appoint H7760 them for himself, for his chariots, H4818 and to be his horsemen; H6571 and some shall run H7323 before H6440 his chariots. H4818 And he will appoint H7760 him captains H8269 over thousands, H505 and captains H8269 over fifties; H2572 and will set them to ear H2790 his ground, H2758 and to reap H7114 his harvest, H7105 and to make H6213 his instruments H3627 of war, H4421 and instruments H3627 of his chariots. H7393 And he will take H3947 your daughters H1323 to be confectionaries, H7548 and to be cooks, H2879 and to be bakers. H644 And he will take H3947 your fields, H7704 and your vineyards, H3754 and your oliveyards, H2132 even the best H2896 of them, and give H5414 them to his servants. H5650 And he will take the tenth H6237 of your seed, H2233 and of your vineyards, H3754 and give H5414 to his officers, H5631 and to his servants. H5650 And he will take H3947 your menservants, H5650 and your maidservants, H8198 and your goodliest H2896 young men, H970 and your asses, H2543 and put H6213 them to his work. H4399 He will take the tenth H6237 of your sheep: H6629 and ye shall be his servants. H5650 And ye shall cry out H2199 in that day H3117 because H6440 of your king H4428 which ye shall have chosen H977 you; and the LORD H3068 will not hear H6030 you in that day. H3117
And a portion shall be for the prince H5387 on the one side and on the other side of the oblation H8641 of the holy H6944 portion, and of the possession H272 of the city, H5892 before H6440 the oblation H8641 of the holy H6944 portion, and before H6440 the possession H272 of the city, H5892 from the west H3220 side H6285 westward, H3220 and from the east H6924 side H6285 eastward: H6921 and the length H753 shall be over against H5980 one H259 of the portions, H2506 from the west H3220 border H1366 unto the east H6921 border. H1366 In the land H776 shall be his possession H272 in Israel: H3478 and my princes H5387 shall no more oppress H3238 my people; H5971 and the rest of the land H776 shall they give H5414 to the house H1004 of Israel H3478 according to their tribes. H7626
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 8
Commentary on 1 Samuel 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
1Sa 8:1-18. Occasioned by the Ill- Government of Samuel's Sons, the Israelites Ask a King.
1-5. when Samuel was old—He was now about fifty-four years of age, having discharged the office of sole judge for twelve years. Unable, from growing infirmities, to prosecute his circuit journeys through the country, he at length confined his magisterial duties to Ramah and its neighborhood (1Sa 7:15), delegating to his sons as his deputies the administration of justice in the southern districts of Palestine, their provincial court being held at Beer-sheba. The young men, however, did not inherit the high qualities of their father. Having corrupted the fountains of justice for their own private aggrandizement, a deputation of the leading men in the country lodged a complaint against them in headquarters, accompanied with a formal demand for a change in the government. The limited and occasional authority of the judges, the disunion and jealousy of the tribes under the administration of those rulers, had been creating a desire for a united and permanent form of government; while the advanced age of Samuel, together with the risk of his death happening in the then unsettled state of the people, was the occasion of calling forth an expression of this desire now.
6-10. the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us—Personal and family feelings might affect his views of this public movement. But his dissatisfaction arose principally from the proposed change being revolutionary in its character. Though it would not entirely subvert their theocratic government, the appointment of a visible monarch would necessarily tend to throw out of view their unseen King and Head. God intimated, through Samuel, that their request would, in anger, be granted, while at the same time he apprised them of some of the evils that would result from their choice.
11. This will be the manner of the king—The following is a very just and graphic picture of the despotic governments which anciently and still are found in the East, and into conformity with which the Hebrew monarchy, notwithstanding the restrictions prescribed by the law, gradually slid.
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself—Oriental sovereigns claim a right to the services of any of their subjects at pleasure.
some shall run before his chariots—The royal equipages were, generally throughout the East (as in Persia they still are), preceded and accompanied by a number of attendants who ran on foot.
12. he will appoint him captains—In the East, a person must accept any office to which he may be nominated by the king, however irksome it may be to his taste or ruinous to his interests.
13. he will take your daughters to be confectionaries—Cookery, baking, and the kindred works are, in Eastern countries, female employment, and thousands of young women are occupied with these offices in the palaces even of petty princes.
14-18. he will take your fields, &c.—The circumstances mentioned here might be illustrated by exact analogies in the conduct of many Oriental monarchs in the present day.
19-22. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel—They sneered at Samuel's description as a bugbear to frighten them. Determined, at all hazards, to gain their object, they insisted on being made like all the other nations, though it was their glory and happiness to be unlike other nations in having the Lord for their King and Lawgiver (Nu 23:9; De 33:28). Their demand was conceded, for the government of a king had been provided for in the law; and they were dismissed to wait the appointment, which God had reserved to Himself (De 17:14-20).