Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.” New Living Translation and the LORD replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home. English Standard Version And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” Berean Standard Bible “Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.” King James Bible 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. New King James Version So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.” New American Standard Bible And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, every man to his city.” NASB 1995 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” NASB 1977 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” Legacy Standard Bible Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” Amplified Bible And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their request and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, each man to his own city.” Christian Standard Bible “Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.” Holman Christian Standard Bible “Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.” American Standard Version 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. Contemporary English Version "Do what they want," the LORD answered. "Give them a king." Samuel told the people to go back to their homes. English Revised Version 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. GOD'S WORD® Translation The LORD told him, "Listen to them, and give them a king." Then Samuel told the people of Israel, "Go [back] to your own cities." Good News Translation The LORD answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home. International Standard Version The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to them, and appoint a king for them." Then Samuel told the men of Israel, "Each of you go to his own town." Majority Standard Bible “Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.” NET Bible The LORD said to Samuel, "Do as they say and install a king over them." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Each of you go back to his own city." New Heart English Bible The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice, and make them a king." Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city." Webster's Bible Translation And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city. World English Bible 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.” Literal Translations Literal Standard Versionand YHWH says to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and you have caused a king to reign over them.” And Samuel says to the men of Israel, “Go, each man, to his city.” Young's Literal Translation 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.' Smith's Literal Translation And Jehovah will say to Samuel, Hear to their voice, and make a king for them. And Samuel will say to them, Go ye a man to his city. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleAnd the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city. Catholic Public Domain Version Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and appoint a king over them.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Let each one go to his own city.” New American Bible The LORD said: Listen to them! Appoint a king to rule over them. Then Samuel said to the people of Israel, “Return, each one of you, to your own city.” New Revised Standard Version The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and set a king over them.” Samuel then said to the people of Israel, “Each of you return home.” Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleAnd the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go every man to his city. Peshitta Holy Bible Translated And LORD JEHOVAH said to Shemueil: “Listen to their voice, and a King shall reign over them.” And Shemueil said to the people of Israel: “Go, each man to his town!” OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917And 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.' Brenton Septuagint Translation And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice, and appoint them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let each man depart to his city. Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context God Grants the Request…21Samuel listened to all the words of the people and repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22“Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.” Cross References Deuteronomy 17:14-20 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” / you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers. / But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ ... Hosea 13:10-11 Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? / So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. Judges 8:23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.” 1 Samuel 10:19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.” 1 Samuel 12:12-13 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. / Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you. 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 16:1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” 1 Kings 8:20 Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 1 Kings 12:15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 2 Kings 17:21 When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 2 Chronicles 10:15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. Psalm 106:15 So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them. Isaiah 3:4-5 “I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.” / The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. Acts 13:21-22 Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. / After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’ Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. / Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Treasury of Scripture And the LORD said to Samuel, Listen to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go you every man to his city. 1 Samuel 8:7 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. Hosea 13:11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Jump to Previous Appoint Caused City Ear Hearken Israel Reign Samuel VoiceJump to Next Appoint Caused City Ear Hearken Israel Reign Samuel Voice1 Samuel 8 1. By occasion of the ill government of Samuel's sons, the Israelites ask a king6. Samuel praying in grief is comforted by God 10. He tells the manner of a king 19. God wills Samuel to yield unto the importunity of the people Listen to their voice The Hebrew word for "listen" is "שָׁמַע" (shama), which implies not just hearing but understanding and obeying. In this context, God is instructing Samuel to heed the people's request, despite it being a rejection of His kingship. This highlights the divine respect for human free will, even when it leads to choices that are not aligned with God's perfect will. It serves as a reminder of the importance of listening to others, understanding their desires, and the consequences of those desires. and appoint a king for them Then Samuel told the men of Israel Everyone must go back to his city So now, with the self-same words with which He had spoken to the seer when at the first he laid the petition of Israel before the eternal throne, He finally directs Samuel respecting the course of action he was to pursue on this momentous occasion. The men of Israel.--That is, to the elders. The words which follow, "Go ye every man unto his city," show that these elders were in truth a representative body, drawn from the chief centres of the land. Attention has already been drawn to the perfect trust which the Eternal must have placed in Samuel the judge, seeing that He entrusted him with all the arrangements connected with this vital change in the Hebrew constitution, although his own downfall from power was necessarily involved in it. The confidence of the God-Friend of Israel in their upright judge was evidently shared in by the people. It was to their ruler, to the earthly head of their republic, that they in the first instance carried, through their representative chiefs, their request, which in other words said, "Let kings for the future, and not judges like yourself, rule over us." The elders of Israel seem to have listened respectfully to the urgent remonstrances of their great judge, and to have deliberated carefully over them, and then, still respectfully, but firmly, to have reiterated their first request, which asked for a king instead of a judge. Again they watched him go alone into the presence of the Eternal, and after the seer's solitary prayer, the "elders," at the bidding of their judge, dispersed quietly, each one journeying to his own city. They loved and trusted the patriot Samuel, and though they were ready to depose him, they waited till he should give them a sign. Verse 22. - Hearken unto their voice. The Divine consent is now given for the third time to their request (see vers. 7, 9). For the will of God ever leaves the will of man free, even when overruling it to the carrying out of some higher and fore ordained purpose. Everything was ripe in Israel for the change, but it was due to the moderation and disinterestedness of Samuel that the revolution was made without bloodshed or armed struggle. Ordinary rulers too often resist a popular demand, and stem back the flowing current of thought till it breaks through the opposing barrier, and sweeps with resistless violence all opposition away. Samuel yielded, and the nation trusted him so thoroughly that they left the choice of the king entirely to him, permitted him to settle the terms and limits of the monarchy, or, as we should say, to give the nation a constitution (1 Samuel 10:25), and treated him throughout the rest of his life with the deepest respect. He was deprived neither of his prophetic rank nor of his judicial functions, for "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 7:15), i.e. he remained to the last a coordinate power by the side of a king so self-willed and energetic even as Saul. Go ye every man unto his city. Prudence forbade a hasty choice. It would be well to let the agitation subside, or otherwise some busy intriguer among the elders might have managed to get himself selected by the popular voice. We gather from 1 Samuel 10:27 that there were leading men who felt aggrieved when the choice fell on none of them. But how wonderful is the confidence reposed in Samuel by the nation, when thus it left to the ruler whom virtually it was setting aside the choice of the person to whom he should cede his powers.
Hebrew “Listenשְׁמַ֣ע (šə·ma‘) Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently to their voice,” בְּקוֹלָ֔ם (bə·qō·w·lām) Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural Strong's 6963: A voice, sound the LORD יְהוָ֤ה (Yah·weh) Noun - proper - masculine singular Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel said וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 559: To utter, say to Samuel. שְׁמוּאֵל֙ (šə·mū·’êl) Noun - proper - masculine singular Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel “Appoint a king וְהִמְלַכְתָּ֥ (wə·him·laḵ·tā) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular Strong's 4427: To reign, inceptively, to ascend the throne, to induct into royalty, to take counsel for them.” מֶ֑לֶךְ (me·leḵ) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 4428: A king Then Samuel שְׁמוּאֵל֙ (šə·mū·’êl) Noun - proper - masculine singular Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel told וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 559: To utter, say the men אַנְשֵׁ֣י (’an·šê) Noun - masculine plural construct Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person of Israel, יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל (yiś·rā·’êl) Noun - proper - masculine singular Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc “Everyone אִ֥ישׁ (’îš) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person must go back לְכ֖וּ (lə·ḵū) Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk to his city.” לְעִירֽוֹ׃ (lə·‘î·rōw) Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular Strong's 5892: Excitement Links 1 Samuel 8:22 NIV1 Samuel 8:22 NLT 1 Samuel 8:22 ESV 1 Samuel 8:22 NASB 1 Samuel 8:22 KJV 1 Samuel 8:22 BibleApps.com 1 Samuel 8:22 Biblia Paralela 1 Samuel 8:22 Chinese Bible 1 Samuel 8:22 French Bible 1 Samuel 8:22 Catholic Bible OT History: 1 Samuel 8:22 Yahweh said to Samuel Listen to their (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa) |
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