1 Samuel 8:16

1Sa 8:16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put [them] to his work.

Ver. 16. And he will take your men-servants.] Nero’s word to his officers was, Hoc agamus nequis quicquam habebat. {a} Make the slaves know that they can call nothing at all their own.

{a} Sueton.

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 8:16-18. He will take your men-servants — By constraint, and without sufficient recompense. Your goodliest young men — The most beautiful and proper person she can find; and your asses, and put them to his work — Either at the plough, or for carriage, or any other employment wherein he shall think they will be useful. And ye shall be his servants — So subject to him, that if he please ye shall be no better than slaves, deprived of that liberty which you now enjoy. And ye shall cry out in that day — Ye shall bitterly mourn for the sad effects of this inordinate desire of a king. This shows that in the foregoing verses Samuel describes the uncontrollable power which the eastern princes exercised over their subjects, who were obliged patiently to bear whatever their kings imposed upon them, without any power to help themselves. The Lord will not hear you in that day — Because you will not hear nor obey his counsel in this day; but he will leave you under this heavy yoke.

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

(16) And your goodliest young men.—The LXX. Greek Version here reads, “your best oxen,” which required only the change of one letter of similar sound in the Hebrew word here. This was, no doubt,. the reading of the original text, as the young men seem included among the sons in 1Sa_8:11-12, and oxen would naturally precede the asses mentioned in the next clause of this verse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. your goodliest young men] “Young men” in the Heb. appears to be a copyist’s error, and we should probably adopt the Sept. reading “cattle.” Men-servants and maid-servants, cattle and asses, are then coupled together naturally. Cp. Exo_20:17.

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 manservants, and your maidservants,.... Into his own family, for his own use and service, if he wants them, or likes them better than what he has:

and your goodliest young men: that are tall and lusty, comely and beautiful, of a proper stature and good aspect; and such in all countries used to be chosen for officers in courts, or attendants there; and so the Turks to this day pitch upon young men to attend on great personages, who are of a comely form, have admirable features, and are well shaped; see Gill on Dan 1:4,

and your asses, and put them to his work; employ them in ploughing his fields, drawing his carriages, or bearing his burdens; and so any other cattle that would serve the same purposes, as oxen, camels, &c.

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

Goodliest, in strength (Calmet) and beauty. (Menochius) --- Solomon made his people work at his buildings, and David employed an officer in the fields, 1 Paralipomenon xxvii. 26. Septuagint have read in a different manner, "He will tithe....your excellent droves of oxen." (Calmet) --- They also specify, "the tithe of asses for his work." (Haydock)

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).

By constraint, and without sufficient recompense

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

He will put them to his work. Again the hateful forced service, but here not, as in ver. 12, of themselves, but of their households. Instead of your goodliest young men the Septuagint reads, "your best oxen," which requires only the change of one letter, and is in agreement with the rest of the verse. Samuel would scarcely place their choicest young men between the female slaves and the asses. But while the ass was used chiefly for riding, the ox was, as he still continues to be upon the Continent, man"s most faithful and valued friend and fellow labourer.

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

Will take - By constraint, and without sufficient recompense.

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

Connecting Statement:

Samuel continues to tell what things the king will take.

the tenth of your flocks

They will have to divide their flocks into ten equal parts and give one of those parts to the king's officers and servants. See how you translated "tenth" in 1 Samuel 8:15. (See: Fractions)

you will be his slaves

"you will feel as if you are his slaves"

you will cry out

Possible meanings are 1) the people will ask Yahweh to rescue them from the king or 2) the people will ask the king to stop treating them so badly .

translationWords

servant

donkey

works

tenth

flocks

cry

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.