And ye have this day rejected your God — Samuel makes a sharp accusation: by demanding a king, Israel has 'rejected' (ma'astem) God. The statement is theologically loaded: Israel's request for a human king is presented as rejection of God's own kingship. who himself is your saviour, when he was in trouble and distress — God himself is Israel's 'saviour' (moshi'a), the one who has repeatedly delivered the nation. The phrase 'when you were in trouble and distress' (b'tzara'techa uv'tzukatheḵa) recalls the pattern of Israel's history: distress followed by God's deliverance. and ye said unto him, Nay; but set a king over us — despite God's role as savior, Israel has rejected that claim and demanded a human king (nay, set a king over us—'lo, ki melekh tamlokh 'aleinu'). The 'but' (ki) marks the contrast between what God has done and what the people have demanded.

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