Bible Strands
1 Samuel 8:9
Now listen to their voice; but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Samuel at the precise moment the Israelite elders demand a human monarch to replace divine rule. (1 Samuel 8:8-9)
The words — The verbs שְׁמַע (shĕma‘, "listen") and תָּעִיד (tā‘îd, "you will warn") establish the dual command to comply with the request while formally cautioning the people. (1 Samuel 8:9)
The thread — This prophetic warning structure mirrors God's command to Ezekiel to declare impending judgment to the wicked (Ezekiel 3:18) and precedes Samuel's later act of recording the kingdom's legal boundaries (1 Samuel 10:25). (Ezekiel 3:18; 1 Samuel 10:25)
Why it lands — The text requires leaders to disclose the concrete burdens of authority before granting a popular demand, forcing readers to evaluate the practical costs of any new power structure.
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
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 10:25 Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.
- 1 Samuel 8:11 He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to serve his own chariots and horses, and to run in front of his chariots.
- Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Ezekiel 46:18 The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.’”
- 1 Samuel 2:13 or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling
- 1 Samuel 14:52 And the war with the Philistines was fierce for all the days of Saul. So whenever he noticed any strong or brave man, Saul would enlist him.
- Ezekiel 45:7 Now the prince will have the area bordering each side of the area formed by the holy district and the property of the city, extending westward from the western side and eastward from the eastern side, running lengthwise from the western boundary to the eastern boundary and parallel to one of the tribal portions.