1 Samuel 8:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 8:7
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
Hearken
שְׁמַע֙she.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
voice
בְּק֣וֹלbe.Kol
H6963
a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
people
הָעָ֔םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
say
יֹאמְר֖וּyo.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
rejected
מָאָ֔סוּma.'A.su
H3988
to spurn · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
rejected
מָאֲס֖וּma.'a.Su
H3988
to spurn · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
reign
מִמְּלֹ֥ךְmi.me.Lokh
H4427
to reign · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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
Luke 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
1 Samuel 10:19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him,…
Exodus 16:8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the…
Hosea 13:10-11 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
Luke 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
Matthew 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
1 Samuel 12:17-19 Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wicked…
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…
the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us--Personal and family feelings might affect his views of this public movement. But his dissatisfaction arose principally from the proposed change being revolutionary in its character. Though it would not entirely subvert their theocratic government, the appointment of a visible monarch would necessarily tend to throw out of view their unseen King and Head. God intimated, through Samuel, that their request would, in anger, be granted, while at the same time he apprised them of some of the evils that would result from their choice.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 8:7
They have rejected me - They wish to put that government in the hands of a mortal, which was always in the hands of their God. But hearken unto their voice - grant them what they request. So we find God grants that in his displeasure which he withholds in his mercy.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 8:7
And the Lord said unto Samuel,.... He appeared to him in a vision or dream, and by an articulate voice delivered to him what follows:
hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; not as approving of what they said, but permitting and allowing what they asked, as a punishment of them for their disloyalty and ingratitude, and as resenting their ill behaviour to him; for it was in anger he assented to their request, Hosea 13:11.
for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them; most interpreters supply the word "only", as if the sense was, that they had not only rejected Samuel from judging them, but the Lord also from reigni…
The Church Fathers
It is becoming, therefore, that you also should be obedient to your bishop and contradict him in nothing; for it is a fearful thing to contradict any such person. For no one does [by such conduct] deceive him that is visible but does [in reality] seek to mock him that is invisible, who, however, cannot be mocked by anyone. And every such act has respect not to man but to God. For God says to Samuel, "They have not mocked you, but me."
But the Lord said to Samuel: "Listen to the voice of the people," etc. Do not take away their free will, but give the power to become children of God, to those who were unwilling to believe, and do not grieve the reproach of men resulting from the rejection of the people. For they have not rejected your teaching in the person speaking, but my divine teaching operating through you, so that I may not grant them an eternal kingdom in you. This is similar to what he himself said: "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me" (John VII).
To some, indeed, who lack patience, the Lord God, in his wrath, grants them what they ask, just as, on the other hand, he refused it to his apostle, in his mercy. We read what and how the Israelites asked and received, but, when their lust had been satisfied, their lack of patience was severely punished. And when they asked, he gave them a king, as it is written, according to their heart, but not according to his heart.… These things are written that no one may think well of himself if his prayer is heard, when he has asked impatiently for what it would be better for him not to receive, and that no one may be cast down and may despair of the divine mercy toward him if his prayer has not been heard, when he has, perhaps, asked for something which would bring him more bitter suffering if he received it or would cause his downfall if he were ruined by prosperity. In such circumstances, then, we know not what we should pray for as we ought.
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
Elder — A name frequently used in the Old Testament as denoting a person clothed with authority, and entitled to respect and reverence (Gen. 50:7). It also denoted a political office (Num. 22:7). The “elders…
King — Is in Scripture very generally used to denote one invested with authority, whether extensive or limited. There were thirty-one kings in Canaan (Josh. 12:9, 24), whom Joshua subdued. Adonibezek…
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…
Theocracy — A word first used by Josephus to denote that the Jews were under the direct government of God himself. The nation was in all things subject to the will of their invisible King. All the people were…
God · By Israel — By Israel
Ingratitude · 2:6,7; — 2:6,7;
Jews, The · Under the theocracy until the time of Samuel — Under the theocracy until the time of Samuel
Kings · Israel in seeking, rejected God as their king — Israel in seeking, rejected God as their king
Rebellion Against God · Exhibited in: Rejecting his government — Exhibited in: Rejecting his government
Samuel · People — People
Theocracy · Rejected by Israel — Rejected by Israel
Theocracy, The, Or Immediate Government By God · Lasted from the deliverance out of Egypt until the appointment of kings
Nevertheless "the thing displeased Samuel when they said," etc. This serves to explain הדּבר, and precludes the supposition that Samuel's displeasure had reference to what they had said concerning his own age and the conduct of his sons. At the same time, the reason why the petition for a king displeased the prophet, was not that he regarded the earthly monarchy as irreconcilable with the sovereignty of God, or even as untimely; for in both these cases he would not have entered into the question at all, but would simply have refused the request as ungodly or unseasonable. But "Samuel prayed to the Lord," i.e., he laid the matter before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord said (Sa1 8:7): "Hearke…
Do everything they say: God rarely instructed a prophet to heed the voice of the errant populace. The will of the people and the will of God would converge in King David (see 2 Sam 7:8-17). • they are rejecting me: Their rejection of judgeship was a deeper rejection of God’s rule and sovereignty (see also 1 Sam 12:1-17).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 8:6
The matter was wrong. Because they said, "to judge us like all the nations."5 Shmuel was not displeased at the Bnei Yisroel’s request, because the Torah explicitly permits the institution of the monarchy in Devarim 17:15. It therefore seems that seeking to appoint a new king, now that the nation had settled in Eretz Yisroel was appropriate. What disturbed Shmuel was that the motive behind the request was not a desire to fulfill a mitzvah of appointing a king. Rather, they were complaining and rejecting Shmuel’s leadership [below verse 8] and their reason for seeking to appoint a king was because of their desire to be “…like all the nations…”
— Lasted from the deliverance out of Egypt until the appointment of kings
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).
