1 Samuel 8:6

6 When Samuel heard their demand - "Give us a king to rule us!" - he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.

1 Samuel 8:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:6

But the thing displeased Samuel
Not that they called him an old man, and suggested that he was incapacitated for his office, nor for observing the unbecoming walk of his sons, but for what follows:

when they said, give us a king to judge us;
what displeased him was, that they were for changing their form of government, not only to remove it from him, and his sons, but from the Lord himself, who was king over them; the ill consequences of which, many of them at least, he easily foresaw, and which gave him great uneasiness, both on account of the glory of God, and their own good; insomuch, as Josephus F25 says, he could neither eat nor sleep, but watched all night, and spent it in prayer, as follows:

and Samuel prayed unto the Lord;
to know his mind and will, and what answer he should return unto them.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 3.) sect. 3.

1 Samuel 8:6 In-Context

4 Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah.
5 They presented their case: "Look, you're an old man, and your sons aren't following in your footsteps. Here's what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else."
6 When Samuel heard their demand - "Give us a king to rule us!" - he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.
7 God answered Samuel, "Go ahead and do what they're asking. They are not rejecting you. They've rejected me as their King.
8 From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they've been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they're doing it to you.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.