1 Samuel 8:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,

NIV: But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us.

NASB: Yet the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, 'No, but there shall be a king over us,

CSB: The people refused to listen to Samuel. "No! " they said. "We must have a king over us.

NLT: But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. 'Even so, we still want a king,' they said.

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

NKJV: Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,

The Lord directed Samuel to give fair and legal warning to the Israelites (1 Samuel 8:9) about all the things they should expect a human king to take from them (1 Samuel 8:10–17). When those troubles come, God will not be sympathetic to Israel's complaints, since they will have chosen this for themselves (1 Samuel 8:18). Will the people change their minds after hearing that they will effectively become slaves to their own king? That they will risk all their property and servants and even children to be available for his use?

In short, the people say, "Yes! We still want a king over us!" They refused to heed Samuel's warning. The Law allowed them to take a king (Deuteronomy 17:14–20), but it did not require them to have one. Most concerning is that their approach to appointing a king was not guided by submission to God, but by a desire to be like other cultures (1 Samuel 8:4–5). Samuel's wish for them was to avoid it, but the elders of Israel had made up their minds.

First Samuel 8:19–22 describes the response of Israel's elders to Samuel's solemn warning from the Lord about human kings. The Israelites still insist on having a king. They want to be like the cultures around them, with a single leader to judge them and lead them in battle. When Samuel reports this to the Lord, God tells the prophet to do as the people have said and appoint a king for them. Samuel sends the elders back to their homes from Ramah.

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.

Accessed 4/27/2024 2:34:40 AM