Christian Standard Bible
1 Samuel 8:5
5They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”
1 Samuel 8:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
- New International Version (NIV)They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations."
- New King James Version (NKJV)and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Context of 1 Samuel 8:5
3However, his sons did not walk in his ways — they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” 6When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. 7But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.
Read all of 1 Samuel 81 Samuel 8:5 word by word
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו הִנֵּה֙ אַתָּ֣ה זָקַ֔נְתָּ וּבָנֶ֕יךָ לֹ֥א הָלְכ֖וּ בִּדְרָכֶ֑יךָ עַתָּ֗ה שִֽׂימָה־לָּ֥נוּ מֶ֛לֶךְ לְשָׁפְטֵ֖נוּ כְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto him, Behold, thou art oldזָקֵןzâqên · be oldH2204
- and thy sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- walkהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
- not in thy waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
- now makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: appointH7760
- us a kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- to judgeשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
- us like all the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
Cross-references for 1 Samuel 8:5
- 1 Samuel 8:6When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 12:17Isn’t the wheat harvest today? I will call on the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the Lord’s sight by requesting a king for yourselves.”
- Numbers 23:9I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations.
- Deuteronomy 17:14“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’
- Hosea 13:10Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities, and the rulers you demanded, saying, “Give me a king and leaders”?
- Acts 13:21Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 8:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Make us a king - Hitherto, from the time in which they were a people, the Israelites were under a theocracy, they had no other king but God. Now they desire to have a king like the other nations around them, who may be their general in battle; for this is the point at which they principally aim.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-9Verses 4-9 Samuel was displeased; he could patiently bear what reflected on himself, and his own family; but it displeased him when they said, Give us a king to judge us, because that reflected upon God. It drove him to his knees. When any thing disturbs us, it is our interest, as well as our duty, to show our trouble before God. Samuel is to tell them that they shall have a king. Not that God was pleased with their request, but as sometimes he opposes us…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways: Judges were usually local leaders. But kings, as national leaders, could unite the entire nation during crises (1 Samuel 8:20). However, a spiritual issue was behind the request for a king (1 Samuel 8:7–8). Other nations, like Egypt and Sumer, were ruled by kings for nearly 2,000 years before Samuel’s time.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-181Sa 8:1-18. Occasioned by the Ill- Government of Samuel's Sons, the Israelites Ask a King. 1-5. when Samuel was old--He was now about fifty-four years of age, having discharged the office of sole judge for twelve years. Unable, from growing infirmities, to prosecute his circuit journeys through the country, he at length confined his magisterial duties to Ramah and its neighborhood (1Sa 7:15), delegating to his sons as his deputies the administration of…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Samuel 8:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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