Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 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.

11. This will be the manner of the king ] Or, “the right of the king;” such prerogatives as an absolute monarch claims.

We have here a vivid picture of the tyranny of an Oriental despot whose subjects are at his disposal for (1) court retainers, (2) military officers, (3) cultivators of the royal estates, (4) artificers in the arsenal, (5) domestics in the royal household. (6) Their property is liable to arbitrary seizure, beside (7) regular exactions of tithe, in order to enrich court favourites, and (8) their slaves and their cattle may at any time be pressed into the royal service. Under such a despotism political and social freedom is at an end. Prosperous as was Solomon’s reign, it tended in this direction. See 1Ki 5:13-18 ; 1Ki 12:4.

and appoint them ] This may be rendered either as the E. V. or, and set them for himself upon his charlots and upon his chargers. Service in the retinue of the king rather than in the army appears to be meant.

some shall run before his chariots ] A body of runners was a regular sign of regal state (2Sa 15:1; 1Ki 1:5).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

He will take your sons, to wit, injuriously and by violence, as this Hebrew word is oft used, as Gen 20:3; 27:36; Job 5:5; and so it must be here; because otherwise the king would have no more privilege than any of his subjects; for any man might take a son with his own or parents consent.

And to be his horsemen, or, and for his horses; for so the Hebrew word parash sometimes signifies, as Isa 21:7,9; 28:28; to ride his horses.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

11. This will be the manner of thekingThe following is a very just and graphic picture of thedespotic governments which anciently and still are found in the East,and into conformity with which the Hebrew monarchy, notwithstandingthe restrictions prescribed by the law, gradually slid.

He will take your sons, andappoint them for himselfOriental sovereigns claim a right tothe services of any of their subjects at pleasure.

some shall run before hischariotsThe royal equipages were, generally throughout theEast (as in Persia they still are), preceded and accompanied by anumber of attendants who ran on foot.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you,…. Not in which he ought to proceed, but what he will do: and this not the manner of one king, or of the first only, but of all of them, more or less; of kings in general, who are commonly inclined to arbitrary power. So Aristotle a in opposition to theocracy, describes a full and absolute kingdom, as he calls it, when a king does all things according to his will: and observes, that he that would have the mind or reason preside, would have God and the laws rule; but he that would have a man to reign, adds also a lust, or one led by his own lust: so it follows,

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:

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 to be his horsemen; or rather “for his horses”, to take care of them, and go out along with him, and attend his person, whether when going to war, or on pleasure:

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 2Sa 2:18. Pliny b speaks of some swifter than horses; and of the swiftness of some he elsewhere gives c many surprising instances. It seems as if it was usual to have fifty such men to run before them, see 2Sa 15:1.

a In Politicis, l. 3. c. 16. b Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 2. c Ibid. c. 20.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(11) And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.In obedience to the word of the Lord, Samuel, the judge of Israel, without blaming the people for their desire, quietly asks them if they were in real earnestif they had fully considered the grave changes which such an appointment as that of a sovereign over the nation would bring about in the constitution. Were they willing to exchange their Republican freedom for the condition of subjection to a sovereign who, after the manner of those other kings of foreign nationsthe Pharaohs, for instancewould of course govern Israel after his own will? in other words, were they really willing to give up their Republic for a Despotism?

In this whole transaction of the appointment of an earthly king in Israel, we must not forget that although under the present circumstances of Israel it was the best course to pursue, and, as such, received the Divine sanction, yet it was giving up the old grand ideal of a nation dwelling on earth ruled over directly by a King whose throne and home were in the eternal heavens. The glorious hope had to be given up, because Israel had been tried and found unworthy to share in the undreamed-of blessings of such a Government.

He will take your sons.Here follows a graphic picture of the changed life of the people under a despotic monarch. They must be prepared, must those elders, for a courta gorgeous court such as they had heard of, and perhaps some of them had seen on the banks of the Nile, the Euphrates, or the Tigris; all that was best and choicest in Israel would be summoned there. The old pastoral life would disappear; the dwelling under their own vines and fig-trees would give place to a very different way of living; the pleasures and vices of a gay and brilliant city life would allure the sons and daughters. and tempt them from the old simple way of living, dear to so many in Israel. War, too, on a scale they hitherto had never dreamed of, would be their portionall these heavy burdens would become the heritage of Israel if they chose to imitate in their government the nations of the world. Had they thought of all this when they asked for a king?

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

11. This will be the manner of the king , judgment, right, claim. The judgment or manner of the king is what he would claim as his prerogative and right. 1Sa 8:11-17 contain a statement of what an eastern king, like those of the nations around Israel, would claim. The items of his claim (which extends both to the persons and properly of his subjects) may be classified thus: 1. Over their persons; to seize them arbitrarily for his court-servants and attendants, (1Sa 8:11,) and appoint them to his military, agricultural mechanical, or domestic service, (1Sa 8:12-13.) 2. Over their property, whether it consist in lands, harvests, slaves, or beasts. 1Sa 8:14-17. Here are presented the main features of an absolute monarchy; but observe, they are set forth as the possible manner or judgment of the king himself, not as divine or God-given rights which every king must claim. In Deu 17:16-20, we learn that the king of Jehovah’s choice must in divers ways be limited in his power.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1Sa 8:11. This will be the manner of the king They had desired such a king to judge or rule over them as all the nations had. Now it is very well known, that all the eastern nations were under despotic government. It is, therefore, such a kind of government which Samuel sets forth in the following verses, in order to dissuade them from their purpose. This is very evident from the 18th verse particularly. The people of Israel, says Baron Puffendorff, had hitherto lived under governors raised up by God, who had exacted no tribute of them, nor put them to any charge; but, little content with this form of government, they desire to have a king like other nations, who should live in magnificence and pomp, keep armies, and be ready to resist any invasion. Samuel informs them what it was that they desired, that when they understood it they might consider whether they would persist in their choice. If they would have a king splendidly attended, he tells them, that he would take their sons for his chariots, &c. If they would have him keep up constant forces, then he would appoint them for colonels and captains, and employ those in his wars who were accustomed to follow their family business: and since, after the manner of other kings, he must keep a stately court, they must be content that their daughters should serve in several offices, which the king would think below the dignity of his wives and daughters; 1Sa 8:13. Many ministers also, in several departments both of war and peace, must have salaries to support them, which must be paid out of their fields and vineyards; 1Sa 8:14. In one word, that, to sustain his dignity, their king would exact the 10th of all they possessed, and be maintained in a royal manner out of their estates. See Puffendorff de Rebus Gestis Philippi.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

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.

Ver. 11. This will be the manner. ] Loquitur hic non tam de iure quam de more. The prophet here speaketh not so much of the office of a king what he ought to be, as of the manner of his rule, and what he is like to be: and it proved accordingly, as they soon found, 1Ki 12:4 and more cause they had afterwards: many of their kings being of Nero’s mind, who ruled by lust, rather than law: and like Constantius, who, commanding certain orthodox bishops to communicate with the Arians, yielded no other but this, Quod ego volo, pro Canone sit; Do as I bid, or get you into banishment. Claudian gave his Honorius better counsel –

“ Tu civem patremque geras, tu consule cunctis,

Non tibi; nec tua te moveant, sed publica damna. ”

He will take your sons. ] Perforce, and without any considerable recompense: as the Turk doth at this day.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)