1 Samuel 8:6

6 And the word displeased in the eyes of Samuel, for they had said, Give thou to us a king, that he deem us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. (And this request displeased Samuel, for they had said, Give thou a king to us, so that he can judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.)

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Samuel 8:6 In-Context

4 Therefore all the greater men in birth of Israel were gathered together, and came to Samuel into Ramah. (And so all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of Israel gathered together, and came to Samuel in Ramah.)

5 And they said to him, Lo! thou hast waxed eld, and thy sons go not in thy ways; ordain thou a king to us, that he deem us, as also all other nations have. (And they said to him, Lo! thou hast grown old, and thy sons do not go in thy ways; ordain thou a king for us, so that he can judge, or can rule, us, like all the other nations have.)

6 And the word displeased in the eyes of Samuel, for they had said, Give thou to us a king, that he deem us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. (And this request displeased Samuel, for they had said, Give thou a king to us, so that he can judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.)

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hear thou the voice of the people in all things that they speak to thee; for they have not cast away thee (for they have not thrown thee away), but me, (so) that I reign not upon them.

8 By all the works that they have done, from the day in which I led them out of Egypt unto this day, as they have forsaken me, and they have served alien gods, so they do also to thee (and they have served foreign, or other, gods, and now they also do to thee).