Chapter Note Matthew Henry Commentary (Complete)
F I R S T S A M U E L
CHAP. VIII.
Things went so very well with Israel, in the chapter before, under Samuel's administration, that, methinks, it is a pity to find him so quickly, as we do in this chapter, old, and going off, and things working towards a revolution. But so it is; Israel's good days seldom continue long. We have here, I. Samuel decaying, 1 Samuel 8:1 . II. His sons degenerating, 1 Samuel 8:2 ; 1 Samuel 8:3 . III. Israel discontented with the present government and anxious to see a change. For 1. They petition Samuel to set a king over them, 1 Samuel 8:4 ; 1 Samuel 8:5 . 2. Samuel brings the matter to God, 1 Samuel 8:6 . 3. God directs him what answer to give them, by way of reproof 1 Samuel 8:7 ; 1 Samuel 8:8 ), and by way of remonstrance, setting forth the consequences of a change of the government, and how uneasy they would soon be under it, 1 Samuel 8:9 - 18 . 4. They insist upon their petition, 1 Samuel 8:19 ; 1 Samuel 8:20 . 5. Samuel promises them, from God, that they shall shortly be gratified, 1 Samuel 8:21 ; 1 Samuel 8:22 . Thus hard is it for people to know when they are well off.
Book Note Matthew Henry Commentary (Complete)
AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,
OF THE FIRST BOOK OF
S A M U E L.
This book, and that which follows it, bear the name of Samuel in the title, not because he was the penman of them (except of so much of them as fell within his own time, to the twenty-fifth chapter of the first book, in which we have an account of his death), but because the first book begins with a large account of him, his birth and childhood, his life and government; and the rest of these two volumes that are denominated from him contains the history of the reigns of Saul and David, who were both anointed by him. And, because the history of these two kings takes up the greatest part of these books, the Vulgar Latin calls them the First and Second Books of the Kings, and the two that follow the Third and Fourth, which the titles in our English Bibles take notice of with an alias: otherwise called the First Book of the Kings, c. The LXX. calls them the first and second Book of the Kingdoms. It is needless to contend about it, but there is no occasion to vary from the Hebrew verity. These two books contain the history of the last two of the judges, Eli and Samuel, who were not, as the rest, men of war, but priests (and so much of them is an appendix to the book of Judges), and of the first two of the kings, Saul and David, and so much of them is an entrance upon the history of the kings. They contain a considerable part of the sacred history, are sometimes referred to in the New Testament, and often in the titles of David's Psalms, which, if placed in their order, would fall in these books. It is uncertain who was the penman of them it is probable that Samuel wrote the history of his own time, and that, after him, some of the prophets that were with David (Nathan as likely as any) continued it. This first book gives us a full account of Eli's fall and Samuel's rise and good government, 1 Samuel 1:1 - 81 Samuel 1:1 - 8 Of Samuel's resignation of the government and Saul's advancement and mal-administration, 1 Samuel 9:1 - 151 Samuel 9:1 - 15 The choice of David, his struggles with Saul, Saul's ruin at last, and the opening of the way for David to the throne, 1 Samuel 16:1 - 311 Samuel 16:1 - 31 And these things are written for our learning.
