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.”
Parallel translations
- KJV 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.
- BSB “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
- NKJV and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
- NASB and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
- NLT “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
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 elders ask Samuel to appoint a king to judge them 'like all the nations.'
Overview
Citing Samuel's age and his sons' corruption, the elders demand a king modeled on the surrounding nations. The desire to be 'like all the nations' reveals the deeper sin: a longing to replace dependence on God with the security of human kingship. Though God had foreseen a king (Deuteronomy 17), their motive and manner amount to a rejection of the LORD's direct reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 17:14–15When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me”;
- 1 Sam 8:19–20But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No; but we will have a king over us,
- Hos 13:10–11Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’
- 1 Sam 8:6–8But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh.
- 1 Sam 12:17Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in Yahweh’s sight, in asking for a king.”
- Num 23:9For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.
- Acts 13:21Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:5 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.