1 Samuel 8:14

1Sa 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, [even] the best [of them], and give [them] to his servants.

Ver. 14. And he will take your fields, &c.] As if you were not masters of so much as a molehill, but all were his. But what saith God? "The prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of possession." {Eze 46:18} And what saith Seneca? Non civium servitutem Regi traditam sed tutelam, {a} And what said the clergy of England to Rustand, the Pope’s legate, when he said that all the churches were the Pope’s? They answered, that they might be so tuitione, non fruitione … defensione, non dissipatione. {b}

{a} De Clem., lib. i. cap. 18.

{b} Jacob. Rev., De Vit. Pont.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 8:14-15. He will take your fields — By fraud or force, as Ahab did from Naboth. And give them to his servants — He will not only take the fruits of your lands for his own use, but will take away your possessions to give to his servants. The tenth — Besides the several tenths which God hath reserved for his service, he will when he pleaseth, impose another tenth upon you. And give to his officers — Hebrew, to his eunuchs, which may imply a further injury, that he should, against the command of God, make some of his people eunuchs; and take those into his court and favour whom God would have cast out of the congregation.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

he will take your fields, &c.--The circumstances mentioned here might be illustrated by exact analogies in the conduct of many Oriental monarchs in the present day.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

14. he will take your fields &c.] Cp. 1Ki_21:7; Eze_46:18.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards,.... Which includes the whole increase of their land, their corn, and wine, and oil; and it is these, the fruits of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, which are here meant; for otherwise kings might not, and did not by their absolute authority, take away those from their subjects; otherwise Ahab would have taken away Naboth's vineyard at once, nor would Jezebel have needed to have taken such a method she did, to put Ahab into the possession of it:

even the best of them, and give them to his servants; for their service; and which some restrain to times of war, when necessity obliged to use such methods.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

See illustrations in marginal references; 1Ki 5:13-18; 1Ki 12:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vineyards, as Achab did, though he first proposed to buy it.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He will take your fields, to wit, by fraud or force, as Ahab did from Naboth.

And give them to his servants: He will not only take the fruits of your lands for his own use, but will take away your possessions to give to his servants.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Your fields. The history of the seizure of Naboth"s vineyard shows that the kings were not able to exercise this arbitrary power. Jezebel had to use great art and falsehood before she could get possession of the coveted plot of ground. But throughout Samuel describes a despot ruling after the fashion of heathen kings such as the people had desired.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Your fields - By fraud or force, as Ahab did from Naboth. His servants - He will not only take the fruits of your lands for his own use, but will take away your possessions to give to his servants.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.