This is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. Right here is the very tap root of the evil that mined Israel. In this chapter, they rejected God, demanded a king like other nations, and set in motion a chain of events that culminated in the frenzied cry of the Sanhedrin before Pilate, "We have no king but Caesar."
The big event in this chapter is Israel's demand for a king. There were a number of reasons for this development, but the `trigger situation' that precipitated the demand of the elders of Israel is revealed in this first paragraph.
And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.
(1 Samuel 8:1). This cannot mean that they replaced Samuel in any official sense, but that they were deputies appointed by Samuel and empowered to exercise authority that belonged to their father. It seems that the examples God allowed in the reprobate sons of both Eli and Samuel, and also in the instance of Abimelech the son of Gideon, should have been a sufficient warning to Israel against any system that called for hereditary succession of authority; but Israel did not heed it.
(1 Samuel 8:2). The devotion of their godly father is evident in the names bestowed upon his sons. Joel means `The Lord is God,' and Abijah (or Abiah) means `God is father'F1 The statement here that they performed their judgeship in Beersheba emphasizes the extension of Israel's authority under Samuel to that southern landmark. Josephus states that one of Samuel's sons judged at Bethel,F2 but this presents no difficulty. As Samuel's judgeships were performed at a number of different cities, his sons probably, at one time or another judged at all of them. The narrative here and that of Josephus do not necessarily refer to exactly the same time periods. We receive both accounts as true.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; and they 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. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. And Jehovah 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 be king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
There is even a sixth motivation suggested by the elders in their use of the words of Deut. 17:14, a quotation that was perhaps intended to, "Remind Samuel that they were only asking what had virtually been promised by Moses."F5 However, that passage from the Book of Moses may be understood not as a promise of what God would require, but a prophecy of what Israel would demand. When Israel indeed finally demanded a king, it is clear enough that God was displeased by their request.
(1 Samuel 8:7). The sin of Israel here was not merely in the kind of king they requested, but in their rejection of the king they already had, i.e., the Lord himself.
(1 Samuel 8:8). What were those deeds? They are described in the last clause, forsaking me and serving other gods. The entire record of the nation of Israel was one long succession of doing the very things mentioned here.
And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and [he will set some] to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.
(1 Samuel 8:10). L. P. Smith stated that, This chapter contains the late account of the institution of the monarchy.F6 How did she justify such an error? She did so on the basis that Samuel's description of the monarchy could not possibly have been foreseen by him but was evidently written by one who had observed the monarchy for centuries! This is another example of Bible commentators who do not believe what the Bible says and whose purpose, therefore, in their writings is open to serious question.
Our text in this place ascribes this prophetic description of Israel's monarchy to THE LORD, not to Samuel.
Furthermore, there is overwhelmingly convincing evidence that this chapter is not "a late report" but a very early one. If it had been from a `late source,' as erroneously alleged, who could possibly have left out of the description of Israel's monarchy the fantastic abuse of the custom of concubinage? Concubinage was the very worst of all the abuses and tyrannies of Israel's kings. Who can forget that Solomon had hundreds of concubines? The omission of this shameful abuse in this catalogue describing the kind of kings Israel would get denies in tones of thunder that there is anything late about this chapter.
Where now is your king to save you?
Those of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes."
I have taken them away in my wrath.
We are aware that it is popular among many able commentators today to make apologies for Israel's monarchy and to apply what the Scriptures plainly say about it to some specific monarch, Saul, for example, as did Dummelow, or to the kings of Northern Israel as did Hailey; but it is the conviction of this writer that Israel was totally and completely wrong in asking a king and that this rejection of God (that is what the text calls it) contained embryonically all of the later sorrows of the Chosen People. Throughout the whole history of Israel, there were very few monarchs who even tried to serve the Lord. Solomon was to be blamed for the division of the kingdom under his son, because the people simply rejected the excesses of Solomon; and yet, even after God took the monarchy away from them, the nation wanted nothing in heaven or on earth as much as they wanted the restoration of that scandalous Solomonic empire. It was this, more than anything else, that motivated their rejection of God Himself, finally and irrevocably, in their rejection of God's Son, Jesus Christ the Holy One.
Go down the list of Israel's kings, David, the very best of all of them, was an adulterer and a murderer; and he also corrupted the worship of God by two sinful things: (1) his initiating the events that led to the building of the temple (the den of thieves and robbers in Jesus' times); and (2) his introduction of instruments of music into the worship of God. We do not have the space here to outline all of the misdeeds of Israel's shameful monarchy, but it is clear enough that God's disapproval of the monarchy was no late thing, applicable only to the phantom kings of Ephraim's final years, but it rested upon the monarchy from the very beginning of it as outlined in this chapter. If God had ever approved of it, He would never have taken it away from them!
There is another word on this subject which we must include.
But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah. And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
(1 Samuel 8:20). How natural it is for people to SUPPOSE that what seems to be successful in the world of unbelievers would also be helpful among the people of God. Willis believed that the principal sin of Israel was precisely in this matter of their wanting to be like the nations around them.F9 Of course, this also was sin on the part of Israel.
(1 Samuel 8:22). The abbreviated nature of this narrative is conspicuous here. Samuel evidently told the elders that their request would be granted, and he may have requested on his own behalf that he be allowed some time in which to pray and consult the Lord concerning the man who would be appointed king of Israel.
There is a marvelous lesson in prayer in this chapter. When the request of the elders for a king came as a severe stroke of disappointment and grief to Samuel, he took his sorrow to the Lord in prayer. And when, despite all the warnings, Israel's elders said, "No! we will have a king," once more, it is stated that Samuel repeated all the words of the people in the ears of the Lord (1 Samuel 8:21). This is the great example for all believers, "Take it to the Lord in prayer."
1: All the Men of the Bible, pp. 23, 193.
2: Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, p. 174.
3: International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 56.
4: John T. Willis, p. 98.
5: The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 4b, p. 143.
6: The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p. 917.
7: Henry McKeating, Amos, Hosea, and Micah (Cambridge: University Press, 1971), p. 148.
8: James Luther Mays, Hosea (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969), p. 178.
9: John T. Willis, p. 99.
10: Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, Samuel, p. 281.
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on 1 Samuel 8". "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament". <http://classic.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=1sa&chapter=008>. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.