Bible Strands
1 Samuel 8:8
Just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the prophet Samuel during a national assembly where Israel's elders demand a human monarch. The statement occurs immediately after God notes that the people have rejected Him as their king, not Samuel.
The words — The phrase מַעֲשִׂים אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ (ma.'a.Sim 'a.Sher 'a.Su) renders "the deeds which they have done," emphasizing the concrete actions behind their request. The verb עָשׂוּ ('a.Su) is in the perfect tense, marking a completed historical pattern that extends from the day God brought them out of Egypt (הַעֲלֹתִי אֹתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם) to the present moment.
The thread — This repeated abandonment of God for other deities mirrors the immediate idolatry at Sinai (Exodus 32:1) and the wilderness murmuring recorded in Exodus 14:11. The same historical cycle is later summarized in Psalm 106:34.
Why it lands — The text states that demanding a human king is functionally identical to forsaking God and serving other gods. It requires the reader to identify where visible leadership or political solutions are substituted for direct reliance on divine 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
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
- Psalms 106:34 They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
- Exodus 14:11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exodus 16:3 “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
- Exodus 17:2 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
- Numbers 14:2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 16:2 a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.
- Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Deuteronomy 9:24 You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.
- Judges 2:2 and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?