1st Samuel Chapter 8 verse 7 Holy Bible
And Jehovah 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 be king over them.
read chapter 8 in ASV
And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And Jehovah said to 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.
read chapter 8 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 8 in KJV
And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
read chapter 8 in WBT
Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.
read chapter 8 in WEB
And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them.
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 7. - In prayer then the answer came to him that the request of the people must be granted, however wrongly it had been urged. In itself it was wrong; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. As we saw above, they wanted no theocratic king, whose first duty would be to maintain the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 17:18, 19), and protect the priest and prophet in the discharge of their legitimate functions; all they wanted was a soldier who would put an end to their state of anarchy, and enable them to cultivate their fields without the danger of seeing the produce swept off by marauders.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(7) Hearken unto the voice of the people.--The words spoken to Samuel, probably in a vision, by the Most High are very touching and very sad. Very touching, in their extreme tenderness to the noble old man. Take courage, they seem to say, "my old true servant, and be not dismayed at this apparently bitter proof of the ingratitude of the people you loved so well. This deliberate complaint on the part of Israel is directed not against you, the judge, but against Me, the invisible King. They have ever been the same--incapable of becoming my true subjects, and of winning on earth the lofty position I would have given them; you must give them now their hearts' desire. It has all been foreseen and provided for; only make them understand what they are asking. Then give them their earthly king." Very sad, for it was the deliberate abandonment by the Eternal God of His first intention as regarded Israel--the deliberate lowering of the grand ideal once formed for His chosen people. Here, as is not unfrequent in the Divine records, we have a corner of the veil which hangs between the creature and the Creator lifted for a moment. We see how sadly possible it is for man in the exercise of his perfect freewill to mar the glorious work arranged for him by his God. We see too in the records of such a transaction as this (see Deuteronomy 17:14) how all was foreseen by the King of heaven, and we catch sight of the sorrowful regret--if we may use the term--of the Creator for the perverse folly of His creatures.
