1 Samuel 8:5 - John Wesley's Notes

1 Samuel 8:5

3 But his sons ^adid not walk in his ways; they turned aside ^bafter dishonest gain, ^ctook bribes, and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^amake us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

6 But the thing ^adispleased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ^bprayed to the Lord.

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^athey have not rejected you, but ^bthey have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^ashow them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

Commentaries:

John Wesley's Notes

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1 Samuel 8:5

A king - Their desires exceed their reasons, which extended no farther than to the removal of Samuel's sons from their places, and the procuring some other just: and prudent assistance to Samuel's age. Nor was the grant of their desire a remedy for their disease, but rather an aggravation of it. For the sons of their king were likely to he as corrupt as Samuel's sons and, if they were, would not be so easily removed. Like other nations - That is, as most of the nations about us have. But there was not the like reason; because God had separated them from all other nations, and cautioned them against the imitation of their examples, and had taken them into his own immediate care and government; which privilege other nations had not.

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