1 Samuel 8:22

Contextual Overview

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah; ⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah: ⁴ So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. ⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel assembled, and came to Samuel to Ramah, ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah; ⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁴ Therfor alle the grettere men in birthe of Israel weren gaderid, and camen to Samuel in to Ramatha.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Samuel 8:7, Hosea 13:11

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:23 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 8:8
Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

Genesis 8:8
And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had dried up from the ground.

Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.

Genesis 8:8
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

Genesis 8:8
He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the surface of the ground,

Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the water level had fallen below the surface of the land.

Genesis 8:8
Also Noe sente out a culuer aftir hym, to se if the watris hadden ceessid thanne on the face of erthe;

Genesis 8:8
And he sendeth forth the dove from him to see whether the waters have been lightened from off the face of the ground,

Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord said to Samuel,.... an audible voice, or by an impulse upon his mind:

hearken unto their voice, and make them a king; since they will have a king, let them have one, and let them know that they shall have one:

and Samuel said unto the men of Israel: the elders of the people that addressed him on this occasion, 1 Samuel 8:4

go ye every man unto his city; signifying they might return in peace, and be assured their request would be granted, and a king would be appointed in a short time, and which they might report to their fellow citizens; and they might expect to hear from him quickly, as soon as he had instructions from the Lord who should be their king, which right he had reserved to himself; and therefore in the mean while they might rest contented that they would have one in a little time.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A repetition for the third time 1 Samuel 8:7, 1 Samuel 8:9 of the expression of God’s will in the matter, marks Samuel’s great unwillingness to comply with the people’s request. Besides the natural aversion which he felt to being thrust aside after so many years of faithful and laborious service, and the natural prejudice which he would feel at his age against a new form of government, he doubtless saw how much of the evil heart of unbelief there was in the desire to have a visible king for their leader, instead of trusting to the invisible Lord who had hitherto led them. But God had His own purpose in setting up the kingdom which was to be typical of the kingdom of His only begotten Son.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 8:22. Hearken unto their voice — Let them have what they desire, and let them abide the consequences.

Go ye every man unto his city. — It seems the elders of the people had tarried all this time with Samuel, and when he had received his ultimate answer from God, he told them of it and dismissed them.

ON this account we may observe:

1. That GOD did not change the government of Israel; it was the people themselves who changed it.

2. That though God permitted them to have a king, yet he did not approve of him.

3. That, notwithstanding he did not suffer them to choose the man, he ordered his servant Samuel to choose him by lot, he disposing of that lot.

4. That God never gave up the supreme government; he was still KING in Israel, and the king, so called, was only the vicegerent or deputy of the Lord.

5. That no king of Judah attempted to be supreme, therefore they never made new laws, nor altered the old; which was a positive confession that God was the supreme Legislator.

6. That an absolute monarchy is always an evil, and is contrary to all the rights, civil and religious, of mankind; a mode of government that all people should avoid, as pregnant with evils to mankind.

7. That although it was a sin in the Israelites to desire a king, that is, to change a constitution of which God was the author, yet kingly government, properly understood, is a good of the first magnitude to the civil happiness of mankind.

8. That by kingly government, properly understood, I mean such a monarchical government as that of Great Britain, where the king, the nobles, and the people, are duly mixed, each having his proper part in the government, and each preventing the other from running to excess, and all limited by law.

9. That the three grand forms of government which have obtained among mankind, viz., monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, have each certain advantages without which no state can be well preserved; but they have evils by which any state may be injured.

10. That, from a proper mixture of these, the advantages of the whole may be reaped without any of their attendant evils, and that this is the British constitution; which, not merely the wisdom of our ancestors, but the providence of God has given unto us, and of which no other state has had common sense enough to avail themselves, though they see that because of this the British empire is the most powerful and the most happy in the universe, and likely at last to give laws to the whole world.

The manner of our king is constitutional, widely different from that of Saul, and from that of any other potentate in the four quarters of the globe. He is the father of his people, and the people feel and love him as such. He has all the power necessary to do good; they have all the liberty necessary to their political happiness, had they only a diminution of taxes, which at present are too heavy for any nation to bear.