1 Samuel 8:10-22

1 Samuel 8:10-22

[10] And Samuel  told  all the words  of the LORD  unto the people  that asked  of him a king.  [11] And he said,  This will be the manner  of the king  that shall reign  over you: He will take  your sons,  and appoint  them for himself, for his chariots,  and to be his horsemen;  and some shall run  before  his chariots.  [12] And he will appoint  him captains  over thousands,  and captains  over fifties;  and will set them to ear  his ground,  and to reap  his harvest,  and to make  his instruments  of war,  and instruments  of his chariots.  [13] And he will take  your daughters  to be confectionaries,  and to be cooks,  and to be bakers.  [14] And he will take  your fields,  and your vineyards,  and your oliveyards,  even the best  of them, and give  them to his servants.  [15] And he will take the tenth  of your seed,  and of your vineyards,  and give  to his officers,  and to his servants.  [16] And he will take  your menservants,  and your maidservants,  and your goodliest  young men,  and your asses,  and put  them to his work.  [17] He will take the tenth  of your sheep:  and ye shall be his servants.  [18] And ye shall cry out  in that day  because  of your king  which ye shall have chosen  you; and the LORD  will not hear  you in that day.  [19] Nevertheless the people  refused  to obey  the voice  of Samuel;  and they said,  Nay; but we will have a king  [20] 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.  [21] And Samuel  heard  all the words  of the people,  and he rehearsed  them in the ears  of the LORD.  [22] And the LORD  said  to Samuel,  Hearken  unto their voice,  and make  them a king.  And Samuel  said  of Israel,  ye every man  unto his city. 

What does 1 Samuel 8:10-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Samuel explained what having a king similar to all the nations would mean. The elders were interested in the functions of monarchy, but Samuel pointed out the nature of monarchy. It meant the loss of freedoms and possessions that the people presently enjoyed. In 1 Samuel 8:11-17, Samuel did not define the rights of a king but described the ways of most kings. [1] There is evidence that Israel"s neighbor nations really did suffer under their kings exactly as Samuel warned. [2] Note the recurrence of the words "take" and "best" in these verses.
"By nature royalty is parasitic rather than giving, and kings are never satisfied with the worst." [3]
The people would also regret their request because their king would disappoint them ( 1 Samuel 8:18), but God would not remove the consequences of their choice. Their king could have been a great joy to them, instead of a great disappointment, if the people had waited for God to inaugurate the monarchy. As becomes clear later in Samuel, as well as in Kings and Chronicles, David was God"s choice to lead the Israelites from the beginning. If the people had not been impatient, I believe David would have been their first king. Saul proved to be a "false start" to the monarchy. [4]
In the argument of Samuel, this chapter serves to introduce the reason Saul became such a disappointment to the Israelites, and such a disaster as a king. Nevertheless, his reign was not totally unsuccessful, because at its beginning he sought to please Yahweh.