1 Samuel 8:5-22

8:5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead ¹  us, just like all the other nations have.”

8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for ²  they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 8:7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything the people request of you. ³  For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king. 8:8 Just as they have done ⁴  from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you. 8:9 So now do as they say. ⁵  But seriously warn ⁶  them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.” ⁷ 

8:10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 8:11 He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. 8:12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties, ⁸  as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. 8:13 He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. 8:14 He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants. 8:15 He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators ⁹  and his servants. 8:16 He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use. 8:17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. 8:18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” ¹⁰ 

8:19 But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. ¹¹  Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! 8:20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us ¹²  and fight our battles.”

8:21 So Samuel listened to everything the people said and then reported it to the Lord. ¹³  8:22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say ¹⁴  and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”

1 Samuel 12:12-19

12:12 “When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us’ – even though the Lord your God is your king! 12:13 Now look! Here is the king you have chosen – the one that you asked for! Look, the Lord has given you a king! 12:14 If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him ¹⁵  and not rebelling against what he says, ¹⁶  and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. ¹⁷  12:15 But if you don’t obey ¹⁸  the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. ¹⁹ 

12:16 “So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight. 12:17 Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves.”

12:18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel. 12:19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us – your servants – so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” ²⁰ 

[8:5]  ¹ tn Heb “judge” (also in v. 6).

[8:6]  ² tn Heb “when.”

[8:7]  ³ tn Heb “Listen to the voice of the people, to all which they say to you.”

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to all the deeds which they have done.”

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and now, listen to their voice.”

[8:9]  ⁶ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the imperative for emphasis.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and tell them the manner of the king who will rule over them.”

[8:12]  ⁸ tc The numbers of v. 12 are confused in the Greek and Syriac versions. For “fifties” the LXX has “hundreds.” The Syriac Peshitta has “heads of thousands and heads of hundreds and heads of fifties and heads of tens,” perhaps reflecting influence from Deut 1:15.

[8:15]  ⁹ tn Or “eunuchs” (so NAB); NIV “officials”; KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT “officers.”

[8:18]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”

[8:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.”

[8:20]  ¹² tn Heb “and go out before us.”

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Samuel heard all the words of the people and he spoke them into the ears of the Lord.”

[8:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “listen to their voice.”

[12:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you listen to his voice.”

[12:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.” So also in v. 15.

[12:14]  ¹⁷ tn The words “all will be well” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

[12:15]  ¹⁹ tc The LXX reads “your king” rather than the MT’s “your fathers.” The latter makes little sense here. Some follow MT, but translate “as it was against your fathers.” See P. K. McCarter, 1 Samuel (AB), 212.

[12:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”