1 Samuel 8

1Sa 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

when Samuel was old - And so unfit for his former travels and labors. He is not supposed to have been now above sixty years of age.

He made his sons judges - He appointed them as his lieutenants to superintend certain affairs in Beer-sheba, which he could not conveniently attend to himself. But they were never judges in the proper sense of the word; Samuel was the last judge in Israel, and he judged it to the day of his death. See 1Sa_7:16. The reason assigned for the appointment of Samuel's sons as judges is his own advanced age. The inference which we might draw from this alone, namely, that they were simply to support their father in the administration of justice, and that Samuel had no intention of laying down his office, and still less of making the supreme office of judge hereditary in his family, is still more apparent from the fact that they were stationed as judges of the nation in Beersheba, which was on the southern border of Canaan. The sons are also mentioned again in 1Ch_6:13.

1Sa 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.

they were judges in Beer-sheba - In the southern border of the land of Canaan, as Ramah, where Samuel dwelt and judged, was more to the north; where they were placed by their father, for the greater convenience of the people of Israel that lived southward, to bring their causes to them, as those lived more northward might bring them to him:

Now the name of his firstborn was Joel - In 1 Chronicles 6:28 he is called Vashni; This was not Joel the prophet,

1Sa 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

And his sons walked not in his ways - they did not walk in the fear of God, in the paths of religion and righteousness, truth and holiness; they neither served God, nor did justice to men, as Samuel had done:

His sons walked not in his ways - Their iniquity is pointed out in three words:
1. They turned aside after lucre; expressed here is the idea of avarice, of getting money by hook or by crook.
2. They took bribes; gifts or presents, to blind their eyes.
3. They perverted judgment - they turned judgment aside; they sold it to the highest bidder: thus the wicked rich man had his cause, and the poor man was oppressed and deprived of his right.

His sons walked not in his ways - The sons, however, did not walk in the ways of their father, but set their hearts upon gain, took bribes, and perverted justice, in opposition to the command of God Exodus 23:6 You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute, Exodus 23:8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous; Deuteronomy 16:19 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

1Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

1Sa 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Make us a king - Hitherto, from the time in which they were a people, the Israelites were under a theocracy, they had no other king but God. Now they desire to have a king like the other nations around them, who may be their general in battle; for this is the point at which they principally aim. Their desires exceed their reasons, which extended no farther than to the removal of Samuel's sons from their places, and the procuring some other just: and prudent assistance to Samuel's age. Nor was the grant of their desire a remedy for their disease, but rather an aggravation of it. For the sons of their king were likely to be as corrupt as Samuel's sons and, if they were, would not be so easily removed.

Like other nations - That is, as most of the nations about us have. But there was not the like reason; because God had separated them from all other nations, and cautioned them against the imitation of their examples, and had taken them into his own immediate care and government; which privilege other nations had not.

1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

But the thing displeased Samuel - The answer of the Lord 1Sa_8:7 shows that Samuel’s personal feelings had been hurt. They were soothed by being reminded of the continued ingratitude of the people to God Himself, upon whom, in fact, a greater slight was put by this very request for a king “like all the nations,” than upon Samuel

Samuel prayed to the Lord - he laid the matter before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord answered (1Sa_8:7).

Give us a king - In the person of Samuel they rejected the Lord and His rule. They wanted a king, because they imagined that Jehovah their God-king was not able to secure their constant prosperity. Instead of seeking for the cause of the misfortunes which had hitherto befallen them in their own sin and want of fidelity towards Jehovah, they searched for it in the faulty constitution of the nation itself. In such a state of mind as this, their desire for a king was a contempt and rejection of the kingly government of Jehovah, and was nothing more than forsaking Jehovah to serve other gods. See where Samuel points out to the people still more fully the wrong that they have committed. 1Samuel 10:18-19 and said to the children of Israel, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you.’ But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your clans.”

1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

They have rejected me - They wish to put that government in the hands of a mortal, which was always in the hands of their God. Samuel later reproaches the Israelites about their rejection of the kingship of the Lord for an earthly king. 1Samuel 10:19 And you have this day rejected your God who Himself saved you out of all your calamities and your tribulations. And you have said to Him, But set a king over us. And now present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes and by your thousands. 1Samuel 12:12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, even though Jehovah your God was your King.

hearken unto the voice of the people - not as approving of what they said, but permitting and allowing what they asked, as a punishment of them for their disloyalty and ingratitude, and as resenting their ill behavior to him; for it was in anger he assented to their request. God grants their desire in anger and for their punishment.
Hosea 13:10-11
I will be your King;
Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom you said,
‘ Give me a king and princes’?
I gave you a king in My anger,

1Sa 8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt - This was no new thing; all that they had done since they were wonderfully favoured of God, as to be brought out of Egyptian bondage, was all of a piece with this; one continued series of ingratitude, of rebellion against God, and against his servants, that he employed under him, as Moses, Aaron, &c.

so do they also unto thee - acted the like ungrateful part to him for all the service he had done them, from his childhood to that time.

1Sa 8:9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

Show them the manner of the king - The word mishpat, which we here render manner, signifies simply what the king would and might require, according to the manner in which kings in general ruled; all of whom, in those times, were absolute and despotic. The word signifies, not a divine law, according to which the king should govern, but a custom, or a custom he would introduce. In order to show them wherein they were wrong, Samuel was instructed to bear witness against them, by proclaiming the right of the king who would rule over them.

howbeit, yet protest solemnly unto them - not against the thing itself, which was permitted, but against the evil of their request, as to the unseasonable time, ill manner, and unjustifiable reason, in and for which it was made; the Lord would have Samuel lay before them their evil in requesting it, and the evils that would follow upon it to them, and faithfully represent them to them, that they might be left without excuse, and have none to blame but themselves.

1Sa 8:10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

1Sa 8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself - for his own use and service, to wait upon him, to be his pages, or grooms, or guards: sovereigns in that region claimed a right to the services of any of their subjects at pleasure.

for his chariots - to take care of them, and drive them, though not without paying them for it; yet this being but a mean and servile employment, and what they should be obliged to, whether they would or no, is observed to show the tyranny and bondage to which they would be subject, when their sons otherwise might be free men, and possessed of estates and carriages of their own:

and some shall run before his chariots - be his running footmen, being swift of foot, and trained up for that service; some are naturally swift, as Asahel was 2 Samuel 2:18 Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle. It seems as if it was usual to have fifty such men to run before them, 2 Samuel 15:1 After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. The royal equipages were, generally throughout the East, preceded and accompanied by a number of attendants who ran on foot.

1Sa 8:12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

This organization was as old as the time of Moses Numbers 31:14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle; Deuteronomy 1:15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes, and prevailed among the Philistines also 1Samuel 29:2 And the lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. The civil and military divisions were identical, and the civil officers were the same as the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, in time of war.

To ear his ground - literally, “to plow his plowing.” “To ear” is an old English word, now obsolete, for to plow.

And to make himself chiefs over thousands and over fifties - the greatest and smallest military officers are mentioned.

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.

1Sa 8:13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries – confectionaries, raqqāḥāh, a feminine noun referring to a perfume maker, confectioner. It refers to a female skilled in mixing and preparing various aromatic ointments and perfumes.

1Sa 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take your fields - All their possessions he would also take to himself: the good (i.e., the best) fields, vineyards, and olive-gardens, he would take away, and give to his servants; By fraud or force, as Ahab did from Naboth.

Give them to his servants - He will not only take the fruits of your lands for his own use, but will take away your possessions to give to his servants.

1Sa 8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

and give to his officers, and to his servants - for the support and maintenance of them; and to pay this, besides the tithes of the priests and Levites, would make it very burdensome to them; and this was no other than what kings of other nations usually had, the like to whom they were desirous of having, and therefore must expect that they would insist upon the privileges and revenues that others had. For example, in Babylon, there was an ancient law which required the tenth of whatever was imported for the public revenue.

1Sa 8:16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

1Sa 8:17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

His servants - That is, he will use you like slaves, and deprive you of that liberty which now you enjoy.

1Sa 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

And ye shall cry out in that day - His power and pride, his oppression and tyranny, his heavy exactions, and intolerable yoke, and yet not be able to free themselves from them; all that they could do would be only to cry out under them as grievously distressed.

which ye shall have chosen you - to have a king in general was at first their own choice. The choice of a king for them, at a proper time, God had reserved to himself, yet in later times, they would choose for themselves.
Hosea 8:4
“ They set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.

and the Lord will not hear you in that day - will not regard them, suffer them to remain under their oppressions, and not deliver them out of them; because they rejected him from being their King, and put themselves out of his protection, into the hands of another, and therefore it was just to leave them to their own choice.

1Sa 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel - The advice he gave not to think of a king, but be content with the government under which they were; but to this they would not hearken, notwithstanding all the inconveniences that would attend such a change:

and they said, nay, but we will have a king over us - even though they were the words of the Lord he delivered to them; and though they knew Samuel was a prophet, and spoke by a spirit of prophecy, and none of his words had ever fallen to the ground, such was their stubbornness and obstinacy, so set upon having a king. With such a description of the “right of the king” as this, Samuel had pointed out to the elders the dangers connected with a monarchy in so alarming a manner, that they ought to have been brought to reflection, and to have desisted from their demand.

1Sa 8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

Fight our battles - It appears from 1Samuel 12:12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, even though Jehovah your God was your King that the warlike movements of Nahash had already begun to excite alarm.

May judge us - This appears to be a rejection of Samuel.

That we also may be like all the nations - It was their greatest honor and glory, as well as happiness, not to be like other nations Numbers 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be counted among the nations. Deuteronomy 33:28 And Israel shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; and his heavens shall drop down dew; as in their religion, laws, and liberties, in their form of government; so especially in this, that the Lord was their immediate king and lawgiver, but with this they could not be content.

and go out before us, and fight our battles - which Samuel their present judge did not, but then he gained more for them by his prayers, than a king or general would by his military skill or prowess. What made them so pressing and importunate to have a king at, this time, and not defer it to another, it is very probable was, that they understood that Nahash, king of the children of Ammon, was preparing to attack them, and therefore they were desirous to have a king also to go out before them, and meet him, and give him battle, 1 Samuel 12:12.

1Sa 8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

Rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord - He went to the altar, and in his secret devotion laid the whole business before God, for his own vindication and comfort: and as a foundation for his prayers to God, for direction and assistance, seeking for direction what he should further do, or what answer he should return to them..

1Sa 8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

Hearken unto their voice - Let them have what they desire, and let them abide the consequences. A repetition for the third time 1Sa_8:7, 1Sa_8:9 of the expression of God’s will in the matter, marks Samuel’s great unwillingness to comply with the people’s request. Besides the natural aversion which he felt to being thrust aside after so many years of faithful and laborious service, and the natural prejudice which he would feel at his age against a new form of government, he doubtless saw how much of the evil heart of unbelief there was in the desire to have a visible king for their leader, instead of trusting to the invisible Lord who had hitherto led them. But God had His own purpose in setting up the kingdom which was to be typical of the kingdom of His only begotten Son.

On this account we may observe:
1. That God did not change the government of Israel; it was the people themselves who changed it.
2. That though God permitted them to have a king, yet he did not approve of him.
3. That he did not suffer them to choose the man, he ordered his servant Samuel to choose him by lot, he disposing of that lot.