(6) The thing displeased Samuel.--It is clear that it was perfectly justifiable in the elders of the people to come to the resolution contained in their petition to Samuel. The Deuteronomy directions contained in 1Samuel 17:14-20 are clear and explicit in this matter of an earthly king for the people, and Moses evidently had looked forward to this alteration in the constitution when he framed the Law. No date for the change is specified, but from the terms of the Deuteronomy words no distant period evidently was looked on to. Then, again, though Samuel was naturally displeased, he at once, as prophet and seer, carried the matter to the God-Friend of Israel in prayer, and the Eternal King at once bids His old true servant to comply with the people's desire.
The displeasure of the prophet-judge was very natural. He felt--this we see from the comforting words his Master addressed to him (see 1Samuel 8:7)--that the people, notwithstanding the vast claims he possessed to their gratitude, craved another and a different ruler, and were dissatisfied with his government. Samuel too was conscious that Israel by its request declined the direct sovereignty of the Eternal. The change to an earthly sovereign had been foreseen, foretold, even arranged for, by Moses, but, in spite of all this, to one like Samuel it was very bitter. It seemed to remove the people from that solitary platform which they alone among nations had been allowed to occupy. They had found by sad experience, as Moses,--"their Rabbi," as the old teachers loved to style him--had predicted, that such a form of government was, alas! unsuited to them, and that they must descend here to the level of ordinary peoples. But though all this was undisputably true, it was very bitter for the hero patriot to give up for ever the splendid Hebrew ideal that his people were the subjects of the Eternal King, ruled directly by Him.
Verse 6. - But the thing displeased Samuel, and justly so. For, in the first place, they had determined to have a king without consulting the will of God. Granting that it would give them the security necessary for the nation's welfare and progress, yet so weighty a matter ought not to have been decided without an appeal to Jehovah. Samuel did make it a matter of prayer; the elders were actuated solely by political motives. And, secondly, they undervalued their own religious privileges. They wanted a king such as the heathen had, whereas something far better and higher was possible for them, namely, a king who would be the representative of Jehovah, as the shophet had hitherto been. The nation's real need was not a new power, but the permanent organisation of what up to this time had been a casual authority. And it was Samuel's high office to give the nation this, while he also changed the outward form of prophecy, and made it too into an orderly institution. A king to judge us. I.e. to govern us, as the shophet or, judge had done, only in a more regularly constituted manner. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. There had been no such submission to the will of God on the part of the elders; but deeply as Samuel must have been hurt by this determination of the nation to take the government out of the hands of himself and his sons, yet he leaves the decision to Jehovah. Moreover, we must note that it was as prophet that he thus acted as mediator between the people and God; and he gave them his services in this his highest capacity as faithfully when the question was one injurious to himself as he had ever done on more pleasing occasions. Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
But when
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun -
relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that
they said,
אָמְר֔וּ (’ā·mə·rū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say
“Give
תְּנָה־
(tə·nāh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set
us a king
מֶ֖לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king
to judge us,”
לְשָׁפְטֵ֑נוּ (lə·šā·p̄ə·ṭê·nū)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | first person common plural
Strong's 8199: To judge, pronounce sentence, to vindicate, punish, to govern, to litigate
their demand
הַדָּבָר֙ (had·dā·ḇār)
Article | Noun - masculine
singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause
was displeasing
וַיֵּ֤רַע (way·yê·ra‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7489: To spoil, to make, good for,
nothing, bad
in the sight
בְּעֵינֵ֣י (bə·‘ê·nê)
Preposition-b | Noun - cdc
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain
of Samuel;
שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine
singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel
so he
שְׁמוּאֵ֖ל (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel
prayed
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֥ל
(way·yiṯ·pal·lêl)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6419: To judge, to intercede, pray
to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with,
among, to
the LORD.
יְהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel
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BibleOT History: 1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)