1 Samuel 8:5

1Sa 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Ver. 5. Behold, thou art old.] But what of that? was he therefore to be cast off as a Depontanus, a dotard? Or were they weary of receiving so many benefits by one man? But this is Merces mundi. Samuel was not so old but he could do his office, and did for many years after: but they had the itch of innovation, and would needs be of the mode of other nations. And besides all this, there was another pad lay in the straw, and that was the fear of Nahash, king of Ammon, who was now making great preparations against them. See 1Sa 12:12. And hence this headlong and preposterous desire of theirs to change their aristocracy, or rather theocracy, as Josephus calleth it, into a monarchy: a king they would have upon any terms.

And thy sons walk not in thy ways.] But might they not have amended by wholesome admonition? or better judges have been set in their room? Must they needs be exauthorated, and the government altered?

Now make us a king to judge us.] Ut iudicet seu vindicet nos. But were they sure that their king would prove any better than Samuel’s sons had been? And was it so long since they had suffered deeply in Abimelech their king, set up by some of them to their cost? But these men are set upon it, being pricked forward by that unruly evil, ambition, that rideth without reins; they are stiffly resolved contra gentes, to have an absolute, constant, powerful, and pompous king as other nations had, though their condition were far unlike. Planeque non sine exemplo amentiae, praeoptabant libertatem servitio mutare, saith Sulpitius, {a} i.e., so madly bent were they to change their liberty for slavery.

{a} Sacr. Hist., lib. i.

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 8:5. Make us a king — Their desires exceed their reasons, which extended no farther than the removal of Samuel’s sons from their places, and the procuring some other just and prudent assistance to Samuel’s age. Nor was the grant of their desire a remedy for their disease, but rather an aggravation of it. For the sons of their king were likely to be as corrupt as Samuel’s sons; and, if they were, would not be so easily removed. Like other nations — That is, as most of the nations about us have. But there was not the like reason; because God had separated them from all other nations, and cautioned them against the imitation of their examples, and had taken them under his own immediate care and government; which privilege other nations had not.

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

8:5 you are now old, and your sons are not like you: Judges tended to be local leaders; kings, as national leaders, were more capable of uniting a whole nation in times of crisis (8:20). However, a spiritual problem underlay the request for a king (8:7-8). • Other nations, such as Egypt and Sumer, had monarchies for almost 2,000 years before Samuel’s time.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hos. 13:10; Acts 13:21

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. Make us a king] Hitherto, from the time in which they were a people, the Israelites were under a theocracy, they had no other king but GOD. NOW they desire to have a king like the other nations around them, who may be their general in battle; for this is the point at which they principally aim.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) And said unto him.—They ground their request—which, however, they framed almost in the very terms used in the prophecy of the Law (Deu_17:14)—upon two circumstances: first, the age of Samuel, and his consequent inability to act as their leader in those perpetual wars and forays with the surrounding hostile nations; secondly, the degeneracy of his sons, who, placed by their father in positions of great trust, naturally looked to succeed him in his high dignity. They felt that the cares and duties of government were too weighty for Samuel, now growing old; and the men who through their kinship to him would naturally succeed him were utterly unfit for his office. The prospect before them was, they felt, a gloomy one. The Philistine power, too, was becoming daily greater in the south.

But what confidence must this assembly of elders have reposed in their aged judge to have used such a plea—his own growing infirmity and the unworthiness of his own sons, whom he had himself appointed to high offices! The elders of the people knew Samuel, the man of God, would do what was right and just—would give them the wisest counsel, utterly regardless of any private interest or feeling. The result justified their perfect confidence.

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

5. make us a king] Lit. set, i.e. appoint, the same word as in the corresponding passage, Deu_17:14.

like all the nations] i.e. as all the surrounding nations have kings.

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 said unto him, behold, thou art old,.... See Sa1 8:1, his age was no reproach to him, nor was it becoming them to upbraid him with it; nor was it a reason why he should be removed from his office, for it did not disqualify him for it; but rather, having gained by age experience, was more fit for it, though he might not be able to ride his circuits as formerly:

and thy sons walk not in thy ways; whom he had made judges; this is a better reason than the former for what is after requested; and had they only besought them to remove him from their places, and rested content with that, it would have been well enough; but what they were solicitous for, and always had an inclination to, and now thought a proper opportunity offered of obtaining it, was what follows:

now make us a king to judge us like all the nations; to rule over them as sole monarch; to go before them in battle as their general, as well as to administer justice to them, by hearing and trying causes as their judge; which only they mention to cover their views, and make their motion more acceptable to Samuel; what they were desirous of was to have a king appearing in pomp and splendour, wearing a crown of gold, clothed in royal apparel, with a sceptre in his hand, dwelling in a stately palace, keeping a splendid court, and attended with a grand retinue, as the rest of the nations about them had had for a long time. The first kings we read of were in the times of Abraham, but after it became common for nations to have kings over them, and particularly the neighbours of Israel, as Edom, Moab, Ammon, &c. and Cicero says (x), all the ancient nations had their kings, to whom they were obedient: Israel had God for their King in a peculiar manner other nations had not, and stood in no need of any other; and happy it would have been for them if they had been content therewith, and not sought after another: however, they were so modest, and paid such deference to Samuel, as to desire him to make or appoint one for them.

(x) De Legibus, l. 3.

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

Judge us, in a different manner from what had been hitherto done. (Haydock) --- By a crying ingratitude, they reject the government of a wise old man, who had rendered them the most signal services. Perhaps the power of Naas, king of the Ammonites, might afford them some pretext for acting as they did. (Calmet) --- As all, &c. They seem to prefer the dominion of kings, who ruled over the surrounding barbarous nations as they thought proper, (Haydock) before one who should be tied down to observe the laws, prescribed by God, (Menochius) in case the Israelites should wish to have a king, Deuteronomy xvii. (Haydock) --- In the East, monarchy was the most ancient form of government. (Tacitus, Hist. iv.; Just. i.) "Principio, imperium penes Reges erat."

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).

They feared that Samuel would not live long; and that either he through infirmity and indulgence might leave the government in his sons’ hands, or that they would invade and keep it after their father’s death; and therefore they jointly make their complaints against them, and procure their removal from their places. Thus they are brought low, and crushed by those very wicked ways by which they desired to advance and establish themselves. So true is it, that honesty is the best policy, and unrighteousness the greatest folly.

Make us a king to judge us: their conclusion outruns their premises, and their desires exceed their reasons or arguments, which extended no further than to the removal of Samuel’s sons from their places, and the procuring some other just and prudent assistance to Samuel’s age. Nor was the grant of their desire a remedy for their disease, but rather an aggravation of it; for the sons of their king might and were likely to be as corrupt as Samuel’s sons; and if they were, would not be so easily removed as these were.

Like all the nations, i.e. as most of the nations about us have. But there was not the like reason, because God had separated them from all other nations, and cautioned them against the imitation of their examples, and had taken them into his own immediate care and government; which privilege other nations had not.

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

5. Make us a king — What higher tribute of esteem and confidence could a people show their governor than to submit entirely to his hands the reorganization of their government, and the selection and appointment of a king? They probably wished to follow the law of Moses, (Deu_17:15,) “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose,” and they knew no other way of ascertaining the Lord’s choice than by this holy prophet. But this action seems to have been attended with a clamorous and mandatory spirit which was displeasing in the sight of God and of Samuel.

Like all the nations — Perhaps their heathen neighbours had taunted them as being a nation without a king, and therefore they aspired to rival these nations in the appearance of worldly power and grandeur. “The Eastern mind is so essentially and pervadingly regal that to be without a sovereign is scarcely an intelligible state of things to an Oriental, and the Israelites must have had occasion to feel that the absence of a king gave them an appearance of inferiority in the eyes of their neighbours, incapable of understanding or appreciating the special and glorious privileges of their position. Even good men, able to appreciate the advantages of existing institutions, would eventually become weary of a peculiarity which the nations would obtusely persist in regarding as discreditable.” — Kitto.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A king - Their desires exceed their reasons, which extended no farther than to the removal of Samuel's sons from their places, and the procuring some other just: and prudent assistance to Samuel's age. Nor was the grant of their desire a remedy for their disease, but rather an aggravation of it. For the sons of their king were likely to be as corrupt as Samuel's sons and, if they were, would not be so easily removed. Like other nations - That is, as most of the nations about us have. But there was not the like reason; because God had separated them from all other nations, and cautioned them against the imitation of their examples, and had taken them into his own immediate care and government; which privilege other nations had not.

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