1 Samuel 10:25

25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Yahweh. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

1 Samuel 10:25 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 10:25

Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom,
&e.] According to Ben Gersom, he laid before them the power a king had over his people, and the punishment he might inflict upon them, if they rebelled against him; and some think this is the same he delivered in ( 1 Samuel 8:10-17 ) concerning the arbitrary power of their kings, and how they would be used by them; and which he here repeated, and then wrote it, that it might be a testimony against them hereafter; with which what Josephus F13 says pretty much agrees, that in the hearing of the king he foretold what would befall them, and then wrote it, and laid it up, that it might be a witness of his predictions; but that in 1Sa 8:10-17.
Samuel said, was the manner of their king, or how he would use them, but this the manner of the kingdom, and how the government of it was to be managed and submitted to, what was the office of a king, and what the duties of the subject; and yet was different from, at least not the same with that in ( Deuteronomy 17:15-17 ) , for that had been written and laid up already:

and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord;
in the ark of the Lord; as Kimchi; or rather by the ark of the Lord, on one side of it, as Ben Gersom; or best of all, as Josephus F14, in the tabernacle of the Lord, where recourse might be had to it, at any time, at least by a priest, and where it would be safe, and be preserved to future times:

and Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house;
for though Saul was chosen king, he did not take upon him the exercise of government directly, but left it to Samuel to dismiss the people, who had been for many years their chief magistrate.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 6.
F14 Ibid.

1 Samuel 10:25 In-Context

23 They ran and fetched him there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.
24 Samuel said to all the people, "You see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, [Long] live the king.
25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Yahweh. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
26 Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched.
27 But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
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