1 Samuel 8:4

1 Samuel ‘MAKE US A KING’1 Samuel 8:4 - 1 Samuel 8:20 . The office of judge was as little capable of transmission from father to son as that of prophet, so that Samuel’s appointment of his sons as judges must be regarded as contrary to its true idea. It was God who made the judges, and the introduction, in however slight a degree, of the hereditary principle, was not only politically a blunder, but religiously wrong. Our narrative, like Scripture generally, pronounces no opinion on the facts it records, but its unfavourable judgment may be safely inferred from its explanation that Samuel was ‘old’ when he made the appointment, and that his sons were corrupt and unjust. Our text deals with the unexpectedly wide consequences of that act, in the clamour for a king. I. Note the ill-omened request. A formal delegation of the representatives of the nation comes to Ramah, unsummoned by Samuel, with the demand for a king. There must have been much talk through Israel before the general mind could have been ascertained, and this step taken. Not a whisper of what was passing seems to have reached Samuel, and the request is flung at him in harsh language. It is not pleasant for any one, least of all for a ruler, to be told that everybody sees that he is getting old, and should provide for what is to come next. Fathers do not like to be told that their sons are disreputable, but Samuel had to hear the bitter truth.

The old man was pained by it, and felt that the people were tired of him, as is plain enough from the divine words which followed, and bade him look beyond the ingratitude displayed towards himself, to that shown to God. But from the ‘practical’ point of view, there was a great deal to be said for the reasonableness and political wisdom of the elders’ suggestion. Samuel had shown that he felt the danger of leaving the nation without a leader, by his nomination of his sons, and the proposal of a king is but carrying his policy a little farther. The hereditary principle once admitted, a full-blown king was evidently the best. There were many inconveniences in the rule by judges. They had no power but that of force of personal character and the authority of an unseen Lord. They left no successors; and long intervals had elapsed, and might again elapse, between the death of one and the rise of another, during which the nation appeared to have no head to guide nor arm to defend it. Examples of strong monarchies surrounded them, and they wanted to have a centre of unity and a defender in the person of a king. Samuel’s displeasure seems to have been mainly on the ground of the insult to himself in the proposal, and its bearing on the rule of Jehovah over the people does not seem to have occurred to him till it was pointed out by the divine voice. But, like a good and wise man, he took his perplexity and trouble to God; and there he got light.

Verses 4, 5. - The elders of Israel. Here, as elsewhere ( 1 Samuel 15:30 : 2 Samuel 5:3 ; 1 Kings 8:3 , etc.), we have traces of a popular assembly, representing the Israelite nation, and composed probably of the chiefs and heads of fathers houses. Already in Egypt ( Exodus 3:16 , etc.) we find stone such body in existence, and it seems to have lasted throughout the whole history of the nation; for it outlived the monarchy, gained increased power after the exile, and continued down to New Testament times. The demand, therefore, for a king, though a sort of revolt against Samuel's authority, was at least made in a constitutional manner, and came before him with all the weight of a formal decision on the part of the representatives of the nation. They put it also in the form of a request, for which they give two reasons. First, the decay of his physical powers - Behold, thou art old. Wise and vigorous as his rule had been, yet with increasing years there was less of energy; and the events recorded as having occurred at the beginning of Saul's reign show, that in order to check the increasing power of the Philistines, a leader was needed who was at once daring, resolute, and skilful in war. But there was a further reason - Thy sons walk not in thy ways . These words show that the elders had the most perfect confidence in Samuel. They felt that he would not connive at the wickedness of his sons, but would do what was right by the nation.

Thus they had everything to hope from the father's justice, while if they waited till his death the sons might resist what was virtually their deposition. That the sons of a judge possessed considerable power see Judges 9:2 . Make us a king to judge us like all the nations. I.e. just as all the heathen nations have a king. The words are those of Deuteronomy 17:14 , and were probably intended to remind Samuel that the nation was only asking what had virtually been promised. 1 Samuel 8:4

4 . the elders of Israel ] Acting as representatives of the people, 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 8:10; 1 Samuel 8:19; 1 Samuel 8:22 . In a patriarchal system of government the Elders or heads of families are the natural authorities. Even before the Exodus Israel possessed an organization of Elders, to whom Moses was directed to deliver his message ( Exodus 3:16 ). The title gradually acquired an official signification; in the wilderness Moses appointed a council of seventy to represent the whole body ( Numbers 11:16 ; Numbers 11:24-25 ). After the occupation of Canaan we find mention of ( a ) Elders of cities , who acted as civil magistrates ( Joshua 20:4 ; Jdg 8:16 ; Ruth 4:2 ; 1 Samuel 16:4 ): ( b ) Elders of tribes or districts ( Jdg 11:5 ; 1 Samuel 30:26 ; 2 Samuel 19:11 ): ( c ) The Elders of Israel , or united body of the Elders of the tribes, forming the senate or executive council of the “congregation” or national assembly, (1) in war (ch. 1 Samuel 4:3 ), (2) in great political matters, as on the present occasion, (3) in matters of general importance to the nation ( Jdg 21:16 ). The institution of Elders lasted through the monarchy (see e.g. 1 Kings 20:7-8 ; 1 Kings 21:11 ), and was revived after the captivity ( Ezra 10:14 ). In N.T. times “the Elders” formed one of the constituent elements of the Sanhedrin.