Bible Strands
1 Samuel 8:15
He will take a tenth of your grain and grape harvest and give it to his officials and servants.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Samuel delivers a prophetic warning to the assembled elders of Israel regarding the institutional demands of a future human monarch.
The words — יַעְשֹׂ֑ר (ya'.Sor) means “he will take a tenth,” and לְ/סָרִיסָ֖י/ו (le./sa.ri.Sa/v) denotes “to his officials” or eunuchs.
The thread — The administration of royal officials and conscripted labor appears in Genesis 37:36, Isaiah 39:7, and Daniel 1:3.
Why it lands — The text states that a king will systematically extract agricultural yield and labor for his court, requiring readers to assess the concrete economic and social costs of submitting to centralized political authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
- Isaiah 39:7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
- Daniel 1:3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
- Daniel 1:7 The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
- Daniel 1:18 Now at the end of the time specified by the king, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.