Chapter commentary
1 Samuel Chapter 8
1
1Sa 8:1-18.
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English original
1Sa 8:1-18.
OCCASIONED BY THE ILL-GOVERNMENT OF SAMUEL'S SONS, THE ISRAELITES ASK A KING.
1-5. when Samuel was old--He was now about fifty-four years of age, having discharged the office of sole judge for twelve years. Unable, from growing infirmities, to prosecute his circuit journeys through the country, he at length confined his magisterial duties to Ramah and its neighborhood
(1Sa 7:15),
delegating to his sons as his deputies the administration of justice in the southern districts of Palestine, their provincial court being held at Beer-sheba. The young men, however, did not inherit the high qualities of their father. Having corrupted the fountains of justice for their own private aggrandizement, a deputation of the leading men in the country lodged a complaint against them in headquarters, accompanied with a formal demand for a change in the government. The limited and occasional authority of the judges, the disunion and jealousy of the tribes under the administration of those rulers, had been creating a desire for a united and permanent form of government; while the advanced age of Samuel, together with the risk of his death happening in the then unsettled state of the people, was the occasion of calling forth an expression of this desire now.
6
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6-10. 撒母耳不喜悅他們說『立一個王治理我們』——個人和家庭的感情可能影響他對這個公眾運動的看法。但他的不滿主要出於所提議的改變在其性質上是革命性的。雖然這不會完全顛覆他們的神權政體，但設立一個有形的君主必然會傾向於使他們看不見的那位君王和元首被忽略。神藉著撒母耳暗示，他們的要求將在怒中蒙允，同時他也告訴他們他們的選擇將帶來的一些惡果。
English original
6-10. the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us--Personal and family feelings might affect his views of this public movement. But his dissatisfaction arose principally from the proposed change being revolutionary in its character. Though it would not entirely subvert their theocratic government, the appointment of a visible monarch would necessarily tend to throw out of view their unseen King and Head. God intimated, through Samuel, that their request would, in anger, be granted, while at the same time he apprised them of some of the evils that would result from their choice.
11
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繁體中文
11. 管轄你們的王必這樣行——以下是對東方古代至今仍然存在的專制政府的一個非常公正而生動的描述；希伯來君主政體，儘管有律法所規定的限制，也逐漸滑向與之相符的狀態。
他必派你們的兒子為他效力——東方君王聲稱有權隨意使用任何臣民的服務。
必奔走在他的車前——在整個東方（如在波斯至今仍是如此），王家的車輛通常有許多步行的隨從在前引路和陪同。
English original
11. This will be the manner of the king--The following is a very just and graphic picture of the despotic governments which anciently and still are found in the East, and into conformity with which the Hebrew monarchy, notwithstanding the restrictions prescribed by the law, gradually slid.
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself--Oriental sovereigns claim a right to the services of any of their subjects at pleasure.
some shall run before his chariots--The royal equipages were, generally throughout the East (as in Persia they still are), preceded and accompanied by a number of attendants who ran on foot.
12
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繁體中文
12. 又派他們作千夫長、五十夫長——在東方，一個人必須接受王所提名他擔任的任何職位，無論這對他的品味多麼不適合或對他的利益多麼有害。
English original
12. he will appoint him captains--In the East, a person must accept any office to which he may be nominated by the king, however irksome it may be to his taste or ruinous to his interests.
13
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繁體中文
13. 必取你們的女兒製造香膏——烹飪、烤餅和相關工作在東方國家是婦女的工作，即使在微小君王的宮殿中，也有成千的年輕女子從事這些職務。
English original
13. he will take your daughters to be confectionaries--Cookery, baking, and the kindred works are, in Eastern countries, female employment, and thousands of young women are occupied with these offices in the palaces even of petty princes.
14
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繁體中文
14-18. 他必取你們的田地 等——此處提到的情形可以用今日許多東方君王行為中確切的類比來說明。
English original
14-18. he will take your fields, &c.--The circumstances mentioned here might be illustrated by exact analogies in the conduct of many Oriental monarchs in the present day.
19
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繁體中文
19-22. 百姓竟不肯聽撒母耳的話——他們嘲笑撒母耳的描述，認為那是嚇唬他們的妖怪。他們不惜一切代價決心要達到目的，堅持要像其他列國一樣，儘管他們的榮耀和幸福正是在於與其他列國不同——以耶和華為他們的王和立法者
(Nu 23:9; De 33:28)。
他們的要求被允准了，因為君王的治理已在律法中有所預備；他們被打發去等候那神為自己保留的任命
(De 17:14-20)。
English original
19-22. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel--They sneered at Samuel's description as a bugbear to frighten them. Determined, at all hazards, to gain their object, they insisted on being made like all the other nations, though it was their glory and happiness to be unlike other nations in having the Lord for their King and Lawgiver
(Nu 23:9; De 33:28).
Their demand was conceded, for the government of a king had been provided for in the law; and they were dismissed to wait the appointment, which God had reserved to Himself
(De 17:14-20).
撒上8:1-18。
因撒母耳兒子的不善治理，以色列人求立一個王。
1-5. 撒母耳年紀老邁——此時約五十四歲，獨任士師已十二年。因日益衰弱無法繼續巡行全國，他終於把審判職責局限於拉瑪及其附近
(1Sa 7:15)，
把南部巴勒斯坦的司法交給他的兒子們代行，他們的省級法庭設在別是巴。然而這些年輕人沒有繼承父親的高尚品格。他們為了私自的擴張而敗壞了公正的源頭，於是國中首領們組成的代表團到總部投訴他們，並正式要求改變政體。士師們有限而偶然的權柄，各支派在這些統治者治理下的不團結和嫉妒，一直在催生對統一而永久之政體的渴望；而撒母耳年事已高，加上他若在百姓仍動盪不安之時去世的風險，成為如今表達這願望的契機。