And the LORD said to Samuel: Listen to their voice and appoint for them a king—the divine mandate (*qol YHWH shema be-kolam vesham lahem melekh*) is final and absolute. *Vesham lahem melekh* (and make for them a king) becomes the authority by which the monarchic period begins. The LORD's concession to human desire marks the boundary between the judges and the kings, the period of theocratic immediacy and the era of mediated rule. Samuel is instructed to facilitate what he opposes—a test of prophetic obedience to the divine will, even when that will accommodates human rebellion.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse