1 Samuël 8:11

11 En zeide: Dit zal des konings wijze zijn, die over u regeren zal: hij zal uw zonen nemen, dat hij hen zich stelle tot zijn wagen, en tot zijn ruiteren, dat zij voor zijn wagen henen lopen;

1 Samuël 8:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:11

And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall
reign over you
Not in which he ought to proceed, but what he will do: and this not the manner of one king, or of the first only, but of all of them, more or less; of kings in general, who are commonly inclined to arbitrary power. So Aristotle ^F1 in opposition to theocracy, describes a full and absolute kingdom, as he calls it, when a king does all things according to his will: and observes, that he that would have the mind or reason preside, would have God and the laws rule; but he that would have a man to reign, adds also a lust, or one led by his own lust: so it follows,

he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself;
for his own use and service, to wait upon him, to be his pages, or grooms, or guards:

for his chariots;
to take care of them, and drive them, though not without paying them for it; yet this being but a mean and servile employment, and what they should be obliged to, whether they would or no, is observed to show the tyranny and bondage to which they would be subject, when their sons otherwise might be free men, and possessed of estates and carriages of their own:

and to be his horsemen;
or rather "for his horses", to take care of them, and go out along with him, and attend his person, whether when going to war, or on pleasure:

and some shall run before his chariots;
be his running footmen, being swift of foot, and trained up for that service; some are naturally swift, as Asahel was ( 2 Samuel 2:18 ) . Pliny ^F2 speaks of some swifter than horses; and of the swiftness of some he elsewhere gives ^F3 many surprising instances. It seems as if it was usual to have fifty such men to run before them, see ( 2 Samuel 15:1 ) ( 1 Kings 1:5 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 In Politicis, l. 3. c. 16.
F2 Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 2.
F3 Ibid. c. 20.

1 Samuël 8:11 In-Context

9 Hoor dan nu naar hun stem; doch als gij hen op het hoogste zult betuigd hebben, zo zult gij hen te kennen geven de wijze des konings, die over hen regeren zal.

10 Samuel nu zeide al de woorden des HEEREN het volk aan, hetwelk een koning van hem begeerde.

11 En zeide: Dit zal des konings wijze zijn, die over u regeren zal: hij zal uw zonen nemen, dat hij hen zich stelle tot zijn wagen, en tot zijn ruiteren, dat zij voor zijn wagen henen lopen;

12 En dat hij hen zich stelle tot oversten der duizenden, en tot oversten der vijftigen; en dat zij zijn akker ploegen, en dat zij zijn oogst oogsten, en dat zij zijn krijgswapenen maken, mitsgaders zijn wapentuig.

13 En uw dochteren zal hij nemen tot apothekeressen, en tot keukenmaagden, en tot baksters.