I Samuel 8, "Give Us a King!"

Samuel has now been judging Israel for some time.

I Samuel 8: 1-3, Samuel's sons are immoral

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Considerable time has passed. Samuel now has the same problem Eli did -- his sons act corruptly.  Beersheba is some distance south of Samuel's home at Ramah.

One sign of a monarchy is that rule is inherited, passed on to sons.  We saw this in Judges 8: 29-31 when Gideon, asked to become king, declined the offer but then began, himself, to act like a king.

Later, his son Abimeleck ("my father is king") attempted to reign in Israel. Judges 9 describes the short and bloody reign of Abimelek. Here Samuel has appointed his own sons as "judges", even though they are corrupt. It should not be too surprising that the people want a more formal monarchy, with significant military power to protect them from the Philistines and Ammonites.

I Samuel 8: 4-6, Elders ask for a king

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." 

But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

These elders are presumably older, respected men of the various tribes.  The Israelites want a king, just like the other nations have! 

This request displeases Samuel. There are certainly problems with the request (the desire to be like "all the other nations") but Samuel may also be unhappy that his own monarchy is being rejected.

I Samuel 8: 7-9, God gives permission

And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

YHWH says, "They have had me as king, if they wanted. It is not you they are rejecting." This answer is a surprise to Samuel. God seems to be allowing the people to work out a kingship, even if the people's desire is not reasonable.

I Samuel 8: 11-18, The problem with a king

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 

He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

(NIV footnotes: in verse 16, the Septuagint has "young men" in place of "cattle".  A number of translators have pointed out that "young men" does not fit that sentence and may be a misplaced word.)

Samuel attempts to explain the difference between a monarchy and the relaxed system of government they have been using (a "theocracy" with judges?  a patriarchal tribal system?)  But the monarchy is the more "modern" way to go in the ancient Near Easts.

Some of this doesn't sound too bad -- I can imagine some of the elders thinking, "My son will be a commander of thousands," and not thinking about their sons simply being drafted into the ranks of the army. But Samuel does end with the mention of slavery.

Robert Alter, in his study of I and II Samuel, portrays a grumpy rejected Samuel attempting to slow down the march to a monarchy.  Youngblood, in his commentary, makes similar comments. The motives of our last judge are not necessarily pure.

I Samuel 8: 19-22, The people insist

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.

The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." 

Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

The people want a modern system of government!  This does make some sense -- it is difficult to compete with organized armies of invaders without a strong central structure.

The people seem to be content to let God and Samuel work out the details! When YHWH says, "give them a king", Samuel dismisses the people.  This process will take time and Samuel is not in a hurry.