Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 8:6
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
6 9. Jehovah’s answer to the request
6. the thing displeased Samuel ] 1Sa 8:7 implies that Samuel’s displeasure arose from a feeling of the ingratitude of the Israelites toward himself in desiring that one who had done so much for them should be superseded by a king. God’s answer, “Not thee (their judge) have they rejected, but me (their true king) have they rejected from reigning over them” (the Heb. order is emphatic) at once consoles him and points out the real sinfulness of the request. This consisted not in the mere desire for a king, which would not necessarily have been wrong, but in the spirit of distrust of the invisible sovereignty of Jehovah and desire for the splendour of a visible monarch which really prompted the request.
Samuel prayed ] He does not let his own personal feelings decide, but endeavours to learn what is the Will of God in the matter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the margin which implies that the thing spoken of caused anger, indignation, or some revulsion of feeling (see Gen 21:11-12). The answer of the Lord 1Sa 8:7 shows that Samuels 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 (compare Mat 10:24; Joh 15:18, Joh 15:20). For a comment on this transaction, see Hos 13:9-11; Act 13:21-22.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. The thing displeased Samuel] Because he saw that this amounted to a formal renunciation of the Divine government.
Samuel prayed unto the Lord] He begged to know his mind in this important business.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The thing displeased Samuel; not their complaint of his sons, but their desire of a king, as is apparent from the following words, and from the whole course of the story; which was so grievous to him, partly because of their injustice and ingratitude to himself, whose government, though it had been so sweet and beneficial to them, they plainly show themselves weary of; and principally because God was hereby dishonoured and provoked, by that distrust of God, and that vain-glory and ambition, and that itch after changes, which were the manifest causes of this desire; and because of that great servitude and misery which he wisely foresaw the people would hereby bring upon themselves, as he particularly informs them, 1Sa 8:11, &c.
Samuel prayed unto the Lord, for the pardon of their sin, and desire of direction and help from God in this great affair.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6-10. the thing displeased Samuelwhen they said, Give us a king to judge usPersonal and familyfeelings might affect his views of this public movement. But hisdissatisfaction arose principally from the proposed change beingrevolutionary in its character. Though it would not entirely subverttheir theocratic government, the appointment of a visible monarchwould necessarily tend to throw out of view their unseen King andHead. God intimated, through Samuel, that their request would, inanger, be granted, while at the same time he apprised them of some ofthe evils that would result from their choice.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But the thing displeased Samuel,…. Not that they called him an old man, and suggested that he was incapacitated for his office, nor for observing the unbecoming walk of his sons, but for what follows:
when they said, give us a king to judge us; what displeased him was, that they were for changing their form of government, not only to remove it from him, and his sons, but from the Lord himself, who was king over them; the ill consequences of which, many of them at least, he easily foresaw, and which gave him great uneasiness, both on account of the glory of God, and their own good; insomuch, as Josephus y says, he could neither eat nor sleep, but watched all night, and spent it in prayer, as follows:
and Samuel prayed unto the Lord; to know his mind and will, and what answer he should return unto them.
y Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 3.) sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Nevertheless “ the thing displeased Samuel when they said,” etc. This serves to explain , and precludes the supposition that Samuel’s displeasure had reference to what they had said concerning his own age and the conduct of his sons. At the same time, the reason why the petition for a king displeased the prophet, was not that he regarded the earthly monarchy as irreconcilable with the sovereignty of God, or even as untimely; for in both these cases he would not have entered into the question at all, but would simply have refused the request as ungodly or unseasonable. But “ Samuel prayed to the Lord,” i.e., he laid the matter before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord said (1Sa 8:7): “ Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee.” This clearly implies, that not only in Samuel’s opinion, but also according to the counsel of God, the time had really come for the establishment of the earthly sovereignty in Israel. In this respect the request of the elders for a king to reign over them was perfectly justifiable; and there is no reason to say, with Calvin, “they ought to have had regard to the times and conditions prescribed by God, and it would no doubt have come to pass that the regal power would have grown up in the nation. Although, therefore, it had not yet been established, they ought to have waited patiently for the time appointed by God, and not to have given way to their own reasons and counsels apart from the will of God.” For God had not only appointed no particular time for the establishment of the monarchy; but in the introduction to the law for the king, “When thou shalt say, I will set a king over me,” He had ceded the right to the representatives of the nation to deliberate upon the matter. Nor did they err in this respect, that while Samuel was still living, it was not the proper time to make use of the permission that they had received; for they assigned as the reason for their application, that Samuel had grown old: consequently they did not petition for a king instead of the prophet who had been appointed and so gloriously accredited by God, but simply that Samuel himself would give them a king in consideration of his own age, in order that when he should become feeble or die, they might have a judge and leader of the nation. Nevertheless the Lord declared, “ They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. As they have always done from the day that I brought them up out of Egypt unto this day, that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.” This verdict on the part of God refers not so much to the desire expressed, as to the feelings from which it had sprung. Externally regarded, the elders of Israel had a perfect right to present the request; the wrong was in their hearts.
(Note: Calvin has correctly pointed out how much would have been warrantable under the circumstances: “They might, indeed, have reminded Samuel of his old age, which rendered him less able to attend to the duties of his office, and also of the avarice of his sons and the corruptness of the judges; or they might have complained that his sons did not walk in his footsteps, and have asked that God would choose suitable men to govern them, and thus have left the whole thing to His will. And if they had done this, there can be no doubt that they would have received a gracious and suitable answer. But they did not think of calling upon God; they demanded that a king should be given them, and brought forward the customs and institutions of other nations.”)
They not only declared to the prophet their confidence in his administration of his office, but they implicitly declared him incapable of any further superintendence of their civil and political affairs. This mistrust was founded upon mistrust in the Lord and His guidance. 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 1Sa 10:18-19, and 1Sa 12:7., where Samuel points out to the people still more fully the wrong that they have committed.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Lord instructs Samuel. 1Sa. 8:6-9
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
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.
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.
9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
6.
What was their real reason? 1Sa. 8:6-9
They wanted to be like other nations. That is what many are saying today. We have to have a great association with offices and headquarters. Somebody is leading us around. Israels request was based on a desire to follow the customs and institutions of other nations. These nations had been set aside for destruction when the people entered the land. These Israelites might have reminded Samuel of his old age, which rendered him less able to attend to the duties of his office, and also of the avarice of his sons and the corruptness of the judges. They might have complained that his sons did not walk in his footsteps and asked God to choose suitable men. If they had done this, there could be no doubt that they would have received a gracious and suitable answer. They did not think of calling on God, however; they demanded that a king should be given them.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(6) The thing displeased Samuel.It is clear that it was perfectly justifiable in the elders of the people to come to the resolution contained in their petition to Samuel. The Deuteronomy directions contained in 1Sa. 17:14-20 are clear and explicit in this matter of an earthly king for the people, and Moses evidently had looked forward to this alteration in the constitution when he framed the Law. No date for the change is specified, but from the terms of the Deuteronomy words no distant period evidently was looked on to. Then, again, though Samuel was naturally displeased, he at once, as prophet and seer, carried the matter to the God-Friend of Israel in prayer, and the Eternal King at once bids His old true servant to comply with the peoples desire.
The displeasure of the prophet-judge was very natural. He feltthis we see from the comforting words his Master addressed to him (see 1Sa. 8:7)that the people, notwithstanding the vast claims he possessed to their gratitude, craved another and a different ruler, and were dissatisfied with his government. Samuel too was conscious that Israel by its request declined the direct sovereignty of the Eternal. The change to an earthly sovereign had been foreseen, foretold, even arranged for, by Moses, but, in spite of all this, to one like Samuel it was very bitter. It seemed to remove the people from that solitary platform which they alone among nations had been allowed to occupy. They had found by sad experience, as Moses,their Rabbi, as the old teachers loved to style himhad predicted, that such a form of government was, alas! unsuited to them, and that they must descend here to the level of ordinary peoples. But though all this was undisputably true, it was very bitter for the hero patriot to give up for ever the splendid Hebrew ideal that his people were the subjects of the Eternal King, ruled directly by Him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. The thing displeased Samuel The elders presented the matter very skilfully to Samuel, implying (1Sa 8:5) that they would be quite content if they could always have him for their ruler, or be sure that he would have a worthy successor; yet Samuel felt personally affronted, and could not but see that there was among the people a growing disaffection with the manner of their government.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(6) But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
I beg the Reader to remark with me, the resource of Samuel in prayer. Here, Reader, let you and I lodge all our concerns, A throne of grace is always open to us, and Jesus ever liveth to make intercession. Where should distressed souls go with their complaints but there? Heb 4:14-16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Samuel prayed unto the Lord.” 1Sa 8:6 .
This showed great self-control on the part of Samuel, seeing that he was “displeased” by the demand of the people for a king. Rarely do we find prayer and displeasure linked together in the same sentence. When men are displeased they pour malediction upon the head of those who occasion the displeasure; but in this case the man who was wounded turned his attention to heaven and poured out his sorrow before the Lord. The best and noblest men may be deposed from office by the caprice of the people. The reasons of such deposition do not appear on the surface. There are reasons within reasons. It required the Lord himself to explain to Samuel how it was that the people had become disaffected towards him, it was not a case of rejecting Samuel, it was a case of rejecting the Lord himself. When met get wrong religiously they necessarily get wrong socially, and oftentimes the cause is not inquired for beyond the social line: so we speak of discontent, disloyalty, rebellion, and we look for political causes, and we try political remedies, whilst all the time we have not gone deep enough, or we should have found that the rebellion is at the root of religious disaffection. “For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” When we accept the Lord’s sovereignty we are quite willing to receive the under-sove-reigns whom he may appoint, and who vindicate their appointment by wisdom and beneficence: but when we reject the Lord himself all that comes below that title necessarily falls in the first overthrow. The process takes the same course, only inversely, in reference to social reclamations; we must begin religiously rather than politically, or if we begin politically it must be that we may get a stronger hold upon the people to affect them religiously. The supreme lesson is that no reform is worth undertaking or consummating that is not founded upon the eternal principles of religion. We must be theological in the best sense before we can be philanthropical in any sense that touches reality and effects permanent healing.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
Ver. 6. But the thing displeased Samuel. ] Chiefly because he knew it was displeasing to God, 1Sa 8:7 and then as an indignity done to himself, by shaking off his government even while he lived. But this is the manner of the many headed multitude, Cui praesentia fastidio, insueta desiderio sunt, a to loath things present, and to affect novelties; , saith Thucydides, the present government is ever grievous; neither is the beauty of benefits seen but on the backside, that is, till men are bereft of them.
And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
a Sulpit. Sever., ibid.
b Consuluit Dominum praemissa oratione. – Vat.
displeased = was evil in the eyes of: i.e. evil, in not waiting for God’s time and for God’s king, as promised. Gen 17:6, Gen 17:16; Gen 35:11; Gen 49:10. Num 24:17. Deu 17:14-20.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
displeased: Heb. was evil in the eyes of, 1Sa 12:17
prayed: 1Sa 15:11, Exo 32:21, Exo 32:32, Num 16:15, Num 16:22, Num 16:46, Ezr 9:3-5, Psa 109:4, Luk 6:11, Luk 6:12, Phi 4:6, Jam 1:5
Reciprocal: Gen 28:8 – pleased not Exo 17:2 – Give us Exo 18:23 – God Exo 21:8 – please not Jdg 8:23 – the Lord 1Sa 8:5 – now make 1Sa 12:12 – Nay 1Ki 21:2 – seem good to thee Hos 13:10 – thy judges Mic 5:1 – judge
1Sa 8:6. The thing displeased Samuel Because God was hereby dishonoured, through that distrust of him, and that ambition, and itch after changes, which were the manifest causes of this desire; and because of that great misery which he foresaw the people would hereby bring upon themselves. Prayed For the pardon of their sin, and direction and help from God in this great affair.
8:6 But the thing {d} displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
(d) Because they were not content with the order that God had appointed, but would be governed as the Gentiles were.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes