1 Samuel 8:16

16 He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men and your donkeys and {will use them for his projects}.

1 Samuel 8:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:16

And he will take your manservants, and your maidservants,
&c.] Into his own family, for his own use and service, if he wants them, or likes them better than what he has:

and your goodliest young men:
that are tall and lusty, comely and beautiful, of a proper stature and good aspect; and such in all countries used to be chosen for officers in courts, or attendants there; and so the Turks to this day pitch upon young men to attend on great personages, who are of a comely form, have admirable features, and are well shaped, (See Gill on Daniel 1:4),

and your asses, and put them to his work;
employ them in ploughing his fields, drawing his carriages, or bearing his burdens; and so any other cattle that would serve the same purposes, as oxen, camels

1 Samuel 8:16 In-Context

14 He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive trees and will give [them] to his servants.
15 He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give [it] to his high officials and to his servants.
16 He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men and your donkeys and {will use them for his projects}.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you [yourselves] will become his servants.
18 So you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Yahweh will not answer you on that day!"

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. LXX reads "cattle"
  • [b]. Literally "will put [them] to his work"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.