Passage

1 Samuel 8

Book: 1 Samuel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2. Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice. 4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; 5. and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. 7. And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. 8. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10. And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king. 11. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; 12. and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. 13. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16. And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17. He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. 18. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day. 19. But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us, 20. that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah. 22. And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city." (1 Samuel 8:1-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3. His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah. 5. They said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh. 7. Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king 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, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so they also do to you. 9. Now therefore listen to their voice. However you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who will reign over them.” 10. Samuel told all Yahweh’s words to the people who asked him for a king. 11. He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots. 12. He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. 13. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even their best, and give them to his servants. 15. He will take one tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers, and to his servants. 16. He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work. 17. He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. 18. You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and Yahweh will not answer you in that day.” 19. But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No; but we will have a king over us, 20. that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” 21. Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Yahweh. 22. Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go to your own city.”" (1 Samuel 8:1-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 3. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. ^{displeased: Heb. was evil in the eyes of} 7. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they 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 unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. ^{hearken: or, obey} ^{howbeit: or, notwithstanding when thou hast solemnly protested against them then thou shalt} 10. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. ^{officers: Heb. eunuchs} 16. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20. That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city." (1 Samuel 8:1-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And it cometh to pass, when Samuel [is] aged, that he maketh his sons judges over Israel. 2. And the name of his first-born son is Joel, and the name of his second Abiah, judges in Beer-Sheba: 3. and his sons have not walked in his ways, and turn aside after the dishonest gain, and take a bribe, and turn aside judgment. 4. And all the elders of Israel gather themselves together, and come in unto Samuel to Ramath, 5. and say unto him, 'Lo, thou hast become aged, and thy sons have not walked in thy ways; now, appoint to us a king, to judge us, like all the nations.' 6. And the thing is evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they have said, 'Give to us a king to judge us;' and Samuel prayeth unto Jehovah. 7. And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, 'Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them. 8. According to all the works that they have done from the day of My bringing them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, when they forsake Me, and serve other gods, so they are doing also to thee. 9. And now, hearken to their voice; only, surely thou dost certainly protest to them, and hast declared to them the custom of the king who doth reign over them.' 10. And Samuel speaketh all the words of Jehovah unto the people who are asking from him a king, 11. and saith, 'This is the custom of the king who doth reign over you: Your sons he doth take, and hath appointed for himself among his chariots, and among his horsemen, and they have run before his chariots; 12. also to appoint for himself heads of thousands, and heads of fifties; also to plow his plowing, and to reap his reaping; and to make instruments of his war, and instruments of his charioteer. 13. 'And your daughters he doth take for perfumers, and for cooks, and for bakers; 14. and your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, the best, he doth take, and hath given to his servants. 15. And your seed and your vineyards he doth tithe, and hath given to his eunuchs, and to his servants. 16. And your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your young men, the best, and your asses, he doth take, and hath prepared for his own work; 17. your flock he doth tithe, and ye are to him for servants. 18. And ye have cried out in that day because of the king whom ye have chosen for yourselves, and Jehovah doth not answer you in that day.' 19. And the people refuse to hearken to the voice of Samuel, and say, 'Nay, but a king is over us, 20. and we have been, even we, like all the nations; and our king hath judged us, and gone out before us, and fought our battles.' 21. And Samuel heareth all the words of the people, and speaketh them in the ears of Jehovah; 22. and Jehovah saith unto Samuel, 'Hearken to their voice, and thou hast caused to reign over them a king.' And Samuel saith unto the men of Israel, 'Go ye each to his city.'" (1 Samuel 8:1-22, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.