1 Samuel 8:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 8:11
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.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
manner
מִשְׁפַּ֣טmish.Pat
H4941
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
king
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
reign
יִמְלֹ֖ךְyim.Lokh
H4427
to reign · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
take
יִקָּ֗חyi.Kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sons
בְּנֵיכֶ֣םbe.nei.Khem
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
appoint
וְשָׂ֥םve.Sam
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
chariots
בְּמֶרְכַּבְתּ֣וֹbe.mer.kav.To
H4818
a chariot · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
horsemen
וּבְפָרָשָׁ֔יוu.ve.fa.ra.Shav
H6571
a steed (as stretched out to a vehicle · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
run
וְרָצ֖וּve.ra.Tzu
H7323
to run (for whatever reason · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
chariots
מֶרְכַּבְתּֽוֹmer.kav.To
H4818
a chariot · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 14:52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto…
1 Samuel 10:25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the peopl…
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will se…
2 Samuel 15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
1 Kings 10:26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he…
1 Kings 1:5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run be…
1 Kings 12:4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, ligh…
1 Kings 12:10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, T…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 8:4–end
We have here the starting of a matter perfectly new and surprising, which was the setting up of kingly government in Israel. Perhaps the thing had been often talked of among them by those that were given to change and affected that which looked great. But we do not find that it was ever till now publicly proposed and debated. Abimelech was little better than a titular king, though he is said to reign over Israel (Jdg 9:22), and perhaps his fall had for a great while rendered the title of king odious in Israel, as that of Tarquinius did among the Romans; but, if it had, by this time the odium was worn off, and some bold steps are here taken towards so great a revolution as that amounted to. H…
This will be the manner of the king--The following is a very just and graphic picture of the despotic governments which anciently and still are found in the East, and into conformity with which the Hebrew monarchy, notwithstanding the restrictions prescribed by the law, gradually slid.
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself--Oriental sovereigns claim a right to the services of any of their subjects at pleasure.
some shall run before his chariots--The royal equipages were, generally throughout the East (as in Persia they still are), preceded and accompanied by a number of attendants who ran on foot.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 8:9
Show them the manner of the king - The word משפט mishpat, which we here render manner, signifies simply what the king would and might require, according to the manner in which kings in general ruled; all of whom, in those times, were absolute and despotic.
The whole of this manner of the king is well illustrated by Puffendorf.
"Hitherto," says he, "the people of Israel had lived under governors raised up of God, who had exacted no tribute of them, nor put them to any charge; but, little content with this form of government. they desire to have a king like other nations, who should live in magnificence and pomp, keep armies, and be able to resist any invasion. Samuel informs them what it was…
And observe the wisdom of the prophet, or rather the loving kindness of God. For because he wished to turn them from [their design,] bringing together a number of grievous things he asserted them of their future king, as, for instance, that he would make their wives grind at the mill, the men shepherds and muleteers; for he went through all the service appertaining to the kingdom with minuteness. But when he saw that they would not be hindered by any of these things, but were incurably distempered; he thus both spareth them and composeth their king to gentleness.
And he will make for himself horsemen, etc. So much, he says, has the devil also subjected your stronger endeavors to himself, that through these he may strive to correct others with the bridle of error, to tame them, and to lead them to the path of impiety, and to make the offspring of virtue a herald of vices. For just as in good the chariots of virtues minister, bringing prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance into the hearts of neighbors; so on the contrary, the chariot of the worst king is preceded by one who, to his followers, prefigures examples of vices contrary to these virtues.
This will be the law of the king who will rule over you. It does not explain what a moderate and just emperor should be like, whose perfection is taught in many places of the Holy Scriptures and especially in Deuteronomy; but rather it intimates a wicked ruler, by whose harshness the subjects will be oppressed, in order to persuade the people to withdraw from their stubborn request. Figuratively, the Scripture that speaks of a good king signifies Christ: about whom it is sung under the figure of Solomon, "O God, give your judgment to the king" (Psalm 71). But what is said of a bad king refers to the devil: according to Ecclesiasticus, "A foolish king destroys his people" (Eccl. 10). And rightly so, because he belongs to the devil, while the other is a member of Christ.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Taxes — First mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of “half a shekel for an offering to the Lord.” This enactment was faithfully…
Chariots · Often attended by running footmen — Often attended by running footmen
Footman · One who runs ahead of kings and princes — One who runs ahead of kings and princes
Kings · Israel warned against seeking — Israel warned against seeking
Monarchy · General references — General references
Samuel · People — People
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 8:11
And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you,.... Not in which he ought to proceed, but what he will do: and this not the manner of one king, or of the first only, but of all of them, more or less; of kings in general, who are commonly inclined to arbitrary power. So Aristotle (a) in opposition to theocracy, describes a full and absolute kingdom, as he calls it, when a king does all things according to his will: and observes, that he that would have the mind or reason preside, would have God and the laws rule; but he that would have a man to reign, adds also a lust, or one led by his own lust: so it follows:
he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself;…
In accordance with the instructions of God, Samuel told the people all the words of Jehovah, i.e., all that God had said to him, as related in Sa1 8:7-9, and then proclaimed to them the right of the king.
Sa1 8:11
"He will take your sons, and set them for himself upon his chariots, and upon his saddle-horses, and they will run before his chariot;" i.e., he will make the sons of the people his retainers at court, his charioteers, riders, and runners. The singular suffix attached to בּמרכּבתּו is not to be altered, as Thenius suggests, into the plural form, according to the lxx, Chald., and Syr., since the word refers, not to war-chariots, but to the king's state-carriage; and פּרשׁ does not m…
While the people wanted a king to judge them, Samuel warned that the king would reign over them. They wanted a leader but received a ruler.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 8:9
But warn them.6See Bereishis 43:3. Warn them that the fear of their king be upon them.7In order to impress Bnei Yisroel with awe for the monarchy, i.e., the king’s position, Shmuel was instructed to teach them the honor due to a king of Yisroel.
