1 Samuel 8:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.

NIV: He said, 'This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.

NASB: And he said, 'This will be the practice of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots.

CSB: He said, "These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots.

NLT: This is how a king will reign over you,' Samuel said. 'The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.

The Lord has told Samuel to allow the people to have a human king (1 Samuel 8:4–5) with one stipulation. Samuel must give them a formal warning—a legal disclaimer—about how kings will carry out their rule. The ways of the king, and the legal rights he will have, amount to what it will cost the people to live under his rule.

Samuel begins by declaring that what follows will be the "ways" or "rights" or "practice" of Israel's king. This does not necessarily mean these are the rights given to the king by God. However, they are the nature of being ruled by a single person. They are the patterns demonstrated by many kings of city-states and nations during this era. Israel should know this, as they are asking to be like these other cultures.

For starters, the Israelites should expect the king to build a "standing army:" a permanent military. This will eventually be equipped with chariots. The Israelites had never had chariots before this time, but King David would begin to use them (2 Samuel 8:4) and Solomon would fully employ them for regular use (1 Kings 4:26). One of the stipulations for kings in the Mosaic law was that they not "acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses" (Deuteronomy 17:16).

The use of chariots requires the care and feeding of horses, as well as chariot riders and even men to run before the king's chariots to announce that the king was approaching (2 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). These chariot soldiers will be plucked from Israel's youth, Samuel warns.

First Samuel 8:10–18 describes a solemn, legal warning Samuel gives the elders of Israel. He cautions about all the things a human king will take from them. He will take their sons and daughters as his servants, their land for his officials, and a percentage of their crops and flocks. In many ways, Samuel officially warns the Israelites that they will become slaves to their own king. When that happens and they cry out to the Lord, He will not answer them because they will have chosen this for themselves.

Samuel is old, and his sons are corrupt. The elders of Israel gather in Ramah to ask Samuel to appoint a king over them. Samuel resists, but the Lord tells the prophet to do as the people have said after warning them about what a king will take from them. The list includes their children, property, fields, crops, and freedom. The Lord will not save them from their king, Samuel warns. The elders insist they still want a king like all the other nations. The Lord agrees and tells Samuel to provide them one.

First Samuel 8 jumps forward in time perhaps thirty years from the events of the previous chapter. Samuel is now old and his sons, also judges, are corrupt. The elders of Israel gather to ask Samuel to appoint a king for them. Samuel doesn't like it, but he takes the request to the Lord. The Lord tells Samuel to do it, even though the people are rejecting Him as their king. Samuel warns the elders of all the things a king will take from them to serve himself. The elders still insist, and the Lord grants their request.

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.