1 Samuel 8:20
in 1 Samuel 8Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
KJV
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseMay judge us - This appears to be a rejection of Samuel. Go out before us - Be in every respect our head and governor. And fight our battles - Be the general of our armies.
This site's exposition
the people refused to listen to Samuel
on 1 Samuel 8:19-20
The people refuse the warning outright and say, “We must have a king over us”. Verse 20 repeats “like all the other nations” from verse 5 and adds a king “to go out before us, and to fight our battles”, the role Samuel filled by prayer in chapter seven. The warning leaves the demand standing, restated in fuller and plainer form.
This site's exposition
Then we will be like all the other nations
The people add a war leader to their demand. Albert Barnes connects it with 12:12, where the threat of Nahash the Ammonite already stood behind the request. Adam Clarke reads the wish for a king to judge them as a rejection of Samuel himself.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
14, 15 ), and perhaps they had some intimation that the time was at hand; but they are all in haste: "We, in our day, will have this king over us." Could they but have waited ten or twelve years longer they would have had David, a king of God's giving in mercy, and all the calamities that attended the setting up of Saul would have been prevented.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
That we also may be like all the nations,.... Even though they were slaves, like them; a king they would have, as they had, such was their stupidity.
That we also may be like all the nations,.... Even though they were slaves, like them; a king they would have, as they had, such was their stupidity.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel--They sneered at Samuel's description as a bugbear to frighten them. Determined, at all hazards, to gain their object, they insisted on being made like all the other nations, though it was their glory and happiness to be unlike other nations in having the Lord for their King and Lawgiver (Nu 23:9;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
May judge us - This appears to be a rejection of Samuel. Go out before us - Be in every respect our head and governor. And fight our battles - Be the general of our armies.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Fight our battles - It appears from 1Sa 12:12, that the warlike movements of Nahash had already begun to excite alarm.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Fight our battles - It appears from 1Sa 12:12, that the warlike movements of Nahash had already begun to excite alarm.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיִ֥ינוּ | vehayinu | and we will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֲנַ֖חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| כְּכָל־ | kekhol- | like all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֑ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | |
| וּשְׁפָטָ֤נוּ | ushefatanu | and he will judge us | H8199 → | 202 times |
| מַלְכֵּ֙נוּ֙ | malkenu | king our | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וְיָצָ֣א | veyatza' | and he will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ | lefaneinu | <to> before us | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְנִלְחַ֖ם | venilcham | and he will fight | H3898 → | 177 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִלְחֲמֹתֵֽנוּ׃ | milchamotenu | battles our | H4421 → | 320 times |
וְהָיִ֥ינוּand we will be
vehayinuH1961 →3559 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנַ֖חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
כְּכָל־like all
kekhol-H3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֑םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →
וּשְׁפָטָ֤נוּand he will judge us
ushefatanuH8199 →202 times
מַלְכֵּ֙נוּ֙king our
malkenuH4428 →2525 times
וְיָצָ֣אand he will go out
veyatza'H3318 →1067 times
לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ<to> before us
lefaneinuH6440 →2123 times
וְנִלְחַ֖םand he will fight
venilchamH3898 →177 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִלְחֲמֹתֵֽנוּ׃battles our
milchamotenuH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Philippians 3:20But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:19
Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
- Colossians 3:1–3
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- Hebrews 12:22
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
- 1 Peter 1:3–4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Ephesians 2:19
Through
Exodus 33:16For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
- Numbers 14:14
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face…
- Deuteronomy 4:7
Through
Numbers 23:9For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:28
So Israel dwells securely; the fountain of Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine, where even the heavens drip with dew.
- Deuteronomy 33:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
