1 Samuel 8
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
1 Samuel 8
NJB (MT versing) Israel Demands a King Israel Demands a King The People Request a King The People Ask for a King The People Ask for a King 8:1-3 8:1-5 8:1-3 8:1-3 8:1-9 8:4-9 8:4-9 8:4-9 Warning Concerning a King 8:6-9 Disadvantages of a Monarchy 8:10-18 8:10-18 8:10-18 8:10-18 8:10-18 8:19-22 8:19-22 8:19-22 8:19-22 8:19-22 Etc. CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS The book of 1 Samuel can be divided into chapters 1-7 and 8-31. Chapters 1-7 deal with the life and call of Samuel, who is the last of the great judges of the amphictyony period. Chapters 8-31 deal with the institution of the monarchy. The Bible is ambiguous on the motives and theological foundation for the monarchy. There seems to be a real ambivalence even within 1 Samuel on kingship. for a king ‒ 1 Sam. 8:1-22; 10:18-25 against a king ‒ 1 Sam. 9:1-10,16; 11:1-11,15 See Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 202-204 and Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 169-171. The major problem does not seem to be the monarchy itself, for that is predicted in Gen. 17:6; 49:10; Deut. 17:14-20; 28:36. The major problem seems to be the attitude concerning the motive for the institution of the monarchy. In 1 Sam. 8:5, 20 the little phrase, "like all the nations," is the major theological objection. There is also the problem of God being King in a theological sense. The very fact they want a physical king, in some respects, rejects God as being their King, cf. 1 Sam. 8:7.
1 Samuel 8:1-3
8:1 "he appointed his sons judges over Israel" Judges were chosen by YHWH, not inherited. His sons, like Eli's sons and David's sons and Solomon's sons, simply did not measure up to the spiritual maturity and depth of commitment of their parents. This is probably another drawback to the monarchy, automatic succession never insures the quality of future kings. 8:2 "the name of. . ." Samuel named his children after YHWH. It was his hope, and the hope of all believing parents, that their children will measure up to the spiritual commitment and maturity of the parents. ▣ "Joel" This name (BDB 222) means "YHWH is God." ▣ "Abijah" This name (BDB 4) means "YHWH is Father." ▣ "they were judging in Beersheba" The name Beersheba (BDB 92) means "well of Sheba." It was on the very southern border of the tribal allocation of Judah. It later was a pilgrim site for the northern ten tribes (cf. Amos 5). Josephus tells us that one son judged at Beersheba and another son judged at Bethel (Antiq. 6.3.2). The very fact that Beersheba was back in Jewish hands is some affirmation of the leadership of Samuel because in previous periods this belonged to the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam. 7:14). 8:3 "his sons, however, did not walk in his ways. . ." Notice the emphasis of biblical faith on lifestyle. The term "walk" is used in the Bible to describe the way of life. The term "ways" (BDB 202) is used in both the Old and New Testaments to describe faithful followers, matter of fact, the early church was called "The Way" (cf. Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 24:22). ▣ "turned aside" This VERB (BDB 639, KB 692, Hiphil IMPERFECT with waw) denotes a deviation from YHWH's revealed path. went after dishonest gain took bribes (cf. Exod. 23:8; Deut. 16:19; Pro. 17:23) perverted justice (cf. Exod. 23:2-3,6; Deut. 24:17; 27:19; Lam. 3:35 It is possible all three of these are related to the same category of sins (i.e., greed or self-assertion and independence from YHWH's revelatory guidance, i.e., Amos 2:6-8).
1 Samuel 8:4-9
8:4 "all the elders" This refers to tribal leaders. SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDERS ▣ "Ramah" This was Samuel's hometown (cf. 1 Sam. 7:17). Apparently he was getting older and not able to make the circuit of preaching points described in 7:16. 8:5 "now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations" Their attitude, not their request, was the problem! They felt that a governmental change would solve the nation's problems. They were tired of walking by faith in YHWH's leadership and wanted a more structured political, religious lifestyle. It is interesting that the little phrase, "like all the nations," does not describe the political form of either the Philistines or the Canaanite population. We learn from the Ugaritic texts that the type of kingship Israel wanted was very similar to the Syrian and Egyptian pattern. 8:6 "but the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel" Samuel was YHWH's called representative. He felt they were rejecting him. The Philistine pressure had caused a new era in the history of Israel that they were unable to cope with. Samuel was not the aggressive military leader that they thought they needed, although the fact that Beersheba was in Israeli hands was a sign that Samuel was an effective military leader. ▣ "and Samuel prayed to the Lord" He did not react immediately to his own personal rejection and displeasure but sought the Lord for His wisdom and guidance. Good idea! 8:7 "for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them" YHWH encourages Samuel by asserting the people have not rejected him but rather Himself (cf. 1 Sam. 10:19; 15:23). Remember that if we are true spokesmen for YHWH and people reject our message, they are not rejecting us personally but who we represent. This is a very important verse in the Bible for it puts concrete form to the theory that YHWH was, in all reality, the King of Israel. The request for a monarchy really set the stage for the promise of a Davidic king in 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, which we know as Jesus the Davidic Messiah. 8:8 Verse 8 describes the settled character of rebellion that exemplifies Israelite people (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:15). I believe YHWH chose the Jewish nation because of their stiff-necked rebellious tendencies (cf. Exod. 32:9; 33:3,5; 34:9; Deut. 9:6,7,13,24,27; 10:16; 31:27) that the brilliance of the diamond of His grace and forgiveness in mercy might be seen against the backdrop of unfaithful, willful, continual rejection. 8:9 "you shall solemnly warn them" The VERB "warn" is a combination of an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and an IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (Hiphil, BDB 929, KB 795), which shows intensity. ▣ "the procedure of the king" The ideal king is described in Deut. 17:14-20.
1 Samuel 8:10-18
8:10-17 This is a summary of the attitude and actions of Oriental monarchs exemplified in the Ugaritic texts. 1 Sam. 8:11 ‒ the pomp and extravagance of Oriental palaces and procedures 1 Sam. 8:12 ‒ the military conscription and drafting of both men and supplies 1 Sam. 8:13-17 ‒ the taxation of both men and materials needed to support the monarchy 8:10 "the people who asked of him a king" This phrase contains the name "Saul as King" (BDB 981, KB 1371). 8:11 "chariots" The Masoretic Text has singular "chariot." This is not a reference to military power but the King's royal chariot and the large entourage that accompanied it. 8:12 "thousands" One of the problems with the large numbers in the OT is the wide semantic field of the word "thousand." SPECIAL TOPIC: THOUSAND (eleph) ▣ "to make his weapons" In the ANE the king produced and owned the military weaponry (cf. 2 Chr. 26:14; 32:5). 8:13 NASB, NJKV, NRSV, NJB, REB, JPSOA, LXX "perfumers" TEV, NET "make perfumes" "weavers" Josephus (Antiq. 6.3.5) "confectioners" The MT has the PLURAL FEMININE NOUN (BDB 955) that means "female ointment makers" (cf. Exod. 30:25,34; Neh. 3:8). The IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 292, mentions several duties of a "perfumer." perfumed the king's clothes perfumed the king's palace prepared spices for medicinal purposes (ancient pharmacist) 8:14 "and give them to his servants" This seems to refer to a feudalism where the chief servants of the King are given land grants. The land would have been taken from the God-given tribal allocations of Joshua 15-19. 8:15,17 "a tithe" This is in addition to the religious tithe. Therefore, the taxation would immediately double. There are examples of this in the Ugaritic texts. SPECIAL TOPIC: TITHING IN THE MOSAIC LEGISLATION ▣ "his officers" This term "eunuchs (BDB 710) is borrowed from Akkadian where it means "one at the head." Often the high officials of Oriental monarchies were castrated to assure their loyalty. However, Potipher in Genesis 39 is called by the same title and he was married. It is possible that Daniel and his three friends were emasculated in this manner, or simply made leaders. 8:16 NASB, NKJV, JPSOA, Peshitta "your best young men" NRSV, TEV, REB, NET, LXX "the best of your cattle" "your oxen" The UBS Text Project, p. 162, gives the MT "your best men" an "A" rating. The two Hebrew words "youths" and "cattle" are spelled slightly differently. 8:18 "you will cry out in that day" There are conditions for answered prayer, but some sins block communication from God. pride ‒ Job 35:12 disobedience ‒ Pro. 1:25-32; Hos. 8:2-7 bloodshed ‒ Isa. 1:15 idolatry ‒ Jer. 11:11; 14:10-12; Ezek. 8:18 taking advantage of the poor and powerless ‒ Micah 3:4; Zech. 7:13 no faith ‒ Hos. 7:13-16 For the NT requirements see SPECIAL TOPIC: EFFECTIVE PRAYER. This phrase, "you will cry out" is used throughout the period of the Judges. Whenever the people of YHWH were oppressed by enemies they would cry out to YHWH and He would answer, however, this time they had chosen a new form of government and they simply had to live with it! ▣ "you have chosen for yourselves" This is not really a contradiction to Deut. 17:14-15 but another perspective. One is a theological understanding; one is an obvious description of the cultural situation. ▣ "but the Lord will not answer you in that day" Probably one of the worst things that YHWH could do for any of us is answer all our prayers. Sometimes we pray for that which we do not need for that which will be harmful to us in accordance with our lower fallen nature, not in accordance with YHWH's will
1 Samuel 8:19-22
8:19 "No, but there shall be a king over us" There is a real paradox in the Bible between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. This is a good example of a wrong human decision. SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION/PREDESTINATION AND THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL BALANCE 8:20 "that our king may judge us" Samuel had become too old to effectively "judge." Israel and his sons, like Eli's sons, were not godly, faithful men. Remember, one of the main aspects of "judging" in this historical period had a military component. 8:21 "Samuel. . .repeated them in the Lord's hearing" Isn't this an unusual little phrase? Did Samuel really think that God did not hear the people say these words? Maybe this is a little psychological insight in that Samuel needed to feel needed again! 8:22 "go every man to his city" I am sure one of these elders believed he would be the new king but Samuel dismissed the people and, thereby said, "I will make no hasty decision; I must seek the Lord's will in this" (cf. 1 Sam. 8:7,9).