He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
- NASB He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to gather in his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
- NLT Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king will conscript their sons as officers and laborers for his fields and weapons of war.
Overview
Beyond military service, the king will press the people's sons into farming his land and manufacturing his arms. The pattern of compulsory labor recalls the bondage of Egypt that God had delivered them from. Israel risks trading the LORD's gracious rule for a master's heavy hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Kgs 4:27–28Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.
- 2 Chr 32:28–29He also made storehouses for the harvest of grain and new wine and oil, stalls for all kinds of livestock, and pens for the flocks.
- 1 Kgs 4:22–23Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
- 1 Chr 27:1–22This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty each month throughout the year. There were 24,000 men in each division:
- 1 Sam 22:7Then Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse giving all of you fields and vineyards and making you commanders of thousands or hundreds?
- 1 Kgs 4:7Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 8:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.