Reference: King
Easton
is in Scripture very generally used to denote one invested with authority, whether extensive or limited. There were thirty-one kings in Canaan (Jos 12:9,24), whom Joshua subdued. Adonibezek subdued seventy kings (Jg 1:7). In the New Testament the Roman emperor is spoken of as a king (1Pe 2:13,17); and Herod Antipas, who was only a tetrarch, is also called a king (Mt 14:9; Mr 6:22).
This title is applied to God (1Ti 1:17), and to Christ, the Son of God (1Ti 6:15-16; Mt 27:11). The people of God are also called "kings" (Da 7:22,27; Mt 19:28; Re 1:6, etc.). Death is called the "king of terrors" (Job 18:14).
Jehovah was the sole King of the Jewish nation (1Sa 8:7; Isa 33:22). But there came a time in the history of that people when a king was demanded, that they might be like other nations (1Sa 8:5). The prophet Samuel remonstrated with them, but the people cried out, "Nay, but we will have a king over us." The misconduct of Samuel's sons was the immediate cause of this demand.
The Hebrew kings did not rule in their own right, nor in name of the people who had chosen them, but partly as servants and partly as representatives of Jehovah, the true King of Israel (1Sa 10:1). The limits of the king's power were prescribed (1Sa 10:25). The officers of his court were, (1) the recorder or remembrancer (2Sa 8:16; 1Ki 4:3); (2) the scribe (2Sa 8:17; 20:25); (3) the officer over the house, the chief steward (Isa 22:15); (4) the "king's friend," a confidential companion (1Ki 4:5); (5) the keeper of the wardrobe (2Ki 22:14); (6) captain of the bodyguard (2Sa 20:23); (7) officers over the king's treasures, etc. (1Ch 27:25-31); (8) commander-in-chief of the army (1Ch 27:34); (9) the royal counsellor (1Ch 27:32; 2Sa 16:20-23).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there.
They said to him, "Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.
Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, "{Has not} Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?
Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote [the rules] down on a scroll and laid [it] before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house.
Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] secretary. Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [were] priests and Seraiah [was] scribe.
Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites.
Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the governors, and Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, an advisor to the king.
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she [was] living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her,
And over the treasury rooms of the king [was] Azmaveth the son of Adiel. And over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the unwalled villages, and in the towers [was] Jonathan the son of Uzziah. And over those who did the work in the field to till the soil [was] Ezri the son of Kelub. read more. And over the vineyards [was] Shemei the Ramathite. And over the produce in the vineyards for the storehouses of the wine [was] Zabdi the Shiphmite. And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that [were] in the Shephelah [was] Baal-Hanan the Gederite. And over the treasury houses of olive oil [was] Joash. And over the cattle pastured in the Sharon [was] Shitrai the Sharonite. And over the cattle in the valley [was] Shaphat the son of Adlai. And over the camels [was] Obil the Ishmaelite. And over the female donkeys [was] Jehdeiah the Meronothite. And over the sheep [was] Jaziz the Hagrite. All of these [were] officials of the property of King David. And Jehonathan the uncle of David [was] an adviser, a man of insight, and he was a scribe. And Jehiel the son of Hachmoni [was] with the sons of the king.
And after Ahithophel [came] Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. And Joab [was] the commander of the king's army.
He is torn from his tent {in which he trusted}, and it brought him to the king of terrors.
The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this: "Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna, who [is] over the house:
For Yahweh [is] our judge; Yahweh [is] our lawgiver. Yahweh [is] our king; he [is the one who] will save us.
until the Ancient of Days came and gave judgment to [the] holy ones of [the] Most High; and the time arrived and [the] holy ones took possession of the kingdom.
And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to [the] nation of [the] holy ones of the Most High; his kingdom {is an everlasting kingdom}, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.'
And [although] the king was distressed, because of his oaths and his {dinner guests} he commanded [the request] to be granted.
And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that in the renewal [of the world], when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me--you also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
So Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus said, "You say [so]."
And [when] the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced and pleased Herod and {his dinner guests}, the king said to the girl, "Ask me [for] whatever you want, and I will give [it] to you."
Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, to the only God, [be] honor and glory {forever and ever}. Amen.
which he will make known in his own time, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the [one who] alone possesses immortality, who lives [in] unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom [be] honor and eternal power. Amen.
Subject yourselves to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority,
Honor all [people], love the community of believers, fear God, honor the king.
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father--to him [be] the glory and the power {forever and ever}. Amen.
Fausets
Moses (De 17:14-17) contemplated the contingency of a king being set up in Israel as in all the adjoining nations. The theocracy and the law could be maintained under kings as under a commonwealth. God's promise was," kings of people shall be of Sarah" (Ge 17:16). Other allusions to kings to come occur (Ge 36:31; Nu 24:17; De 28:36). The request of the people (1Sa 8:5, etc.), "make us a king to judge us like all the nations," evidently is molded after De 17:14; so Samuel's language in presenting Saul to the people (1Sa 10:24) as "him whom the Lord hath chosen" alludes to Moses' direction (De 17:15), "thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose." It was not the mere desire for a king which is blamed, but the spirit of their request and the circumstances under which they made it.
They set aside Samuel, though appointed by the heavenly King, on the pretext "behold thou art old," though he took a leading part in state affairs for 35 years afterward (1Sa 8:5), "they have not rejected thee but ... Me that I should not reign over them"; they distrusted God's power and will to save them from Nahash (1Sa 12:12), though He had delivered them from the Philistines (1 Samuel 7). Samuel's sons were corrupt, but that did not warrant their desire to set aside himself, whom none could accuse of corruption (1 Samuel 12). Impatience of God's yoke (the laws of the theocracy), eagerness to imitate the nations around, and unbelief in trial, instead of seeking for the cause of their misfortunes in themselves, were the sin of their request. God in retribution "gave them a king in His anger" (Ho 13:10-11).
Samuel by God's direction warned them of the evil results of their desire, the prerogative to dispose of their property and their children at will, which he would claim; yet they refused to obey: "nay, but we will have a king, that we also may be like all the nations, and that the king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." The sacred record of Solomon's multiplying horses and chariots from Egypt, and foreign wives who turned away his heart, alludes to the prohibition (De 17:16-17; compare De 7:3-4; Ex 34:16), and proceeds to verify the prediction of the results of disobedience to it. God saves not by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord His people's God (Ho 1:7). Moses' caution against "returning to Egypt" accords with his experience (Nu 14:4). After the kingdom was set up in Israel the danger was no longer of a literal (but see Jer 42:14) but of a spiritual backsliding return to Egypt (Ho 11:5; Isa 30:1-2; 36:9; Eze 17:15).
Solomon's multiplication of horses and chariots from Egypt entailed constant traffic with that idolatrous nation, which the prohibition, De 17:16, was designed to prevent. The king when set up, as the judge previously, was but God's viceroy, enjoying only a delegated authority. The high priest, priests, and Levites, as God's ministers, were magistrates as well as religious officers. Saul was elected by the divine oracle from an obscure family, so that all saw his authority was held solely at God's pleasure. The king had the executive power under God; God reserved to Himself the executive. The words "Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Lawgiver, Jehovah is our King," embody the theocracy (Isa 33:22). The land itself was His (Le 25:23-42,55); and the people, as His servants, could not be permanently bondservants to men.
The king was closely connected with the priesthood, and was bound to "write (i.e. have written for him) a copy of the law out of that before the priests and Levites; he should read therein all his life, to keep all the words, that his heart might not be lifted up above his brethren, to the end that he might prolong his days in his kingdom" (De 17:18-20). Instead of being, like Eastern kings, of a distinct royal caste, he was simply to be first among equals, like his subjects bound by the fundamental law of the nation (compare Mt 23:9). None of the Israelite kings usurped the right to legislate. The people chose their king, but only in accordance with God's "choice" and from their "brethren" (1Sa 9:15; 10:24; 16:12; 1Ki 19:16; 1Ch 22:10). The rule ("one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee," De 17:15) that no stronger should reign gives point to the question (See JESUS CHRIST), Mt 22:17, "is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?" (Jer 30:21).
The unlimited polygamy of Eastern kings was forbidden. Samuel wrote down "the manner of the kingdom" (1Sa 10:25), i.e. the rights and duties of the king in relation to Jehovah the supreme King, and to the nation. Despotic murders were committed as that of the 85 priests at Nob, besides the other inhabitants, by Saul (1Sa 22:18-19); but mostly the kings observed forms of law. Even Ahab did not seize at once Naboth's vineyard, but did it with the show of a trial. David slew Rechab and Baanah because they were self convicted of Ishbosheth's murder. The king was commander in chief, supreme judge, and imposer of taxes (Menahem, 2Ki 15:19-20; Jehoiakim, 2Ki 23:35) and levies of men (1Ki 5:13-15). He was "the Lord's anointed," consecrated with the holy oil heretofore reserved for the priests (Ex 30:23-33; 1Ki 1:39; 2Sa 7:14; Ps 89:19-20,26-27; 2:2,6-7). It was sacrilegious to kill him, even at his own request (1Sa 24:5-6,10; 26:9,16; 2Sa 1:14; La 4:20).
Type of Messiah (Da 9:26). The prophets were his advisers, reprovers (12/type/leb'>2 Samuel 12, 1 Kings 21) and intercessors with God (1Ki 12:21-24; Isa 37:22-36; Jer 37:17; 38:2,4,14-26). He was bound to consult God by the Urim and Thummim of the high priest in every important step (1Sa 14:18-19; 28:6; 2Sa 2:1; 5:19,23). He held office on condition of loyalty to his supreme Lord. Saul, failing herein, forfeited his throne; he usurped the place of God's will: "we inquired not at the ark in the days of Saul" (1Ch 13:3). David, on the contrary, could not bear that God's throne, the ark, should lie neglected while his throne was so elevated, and he stripped off his royal robe for the linen ephod to do homage before the symbol of God's throne (2Sa 6:14).
The king selected his successor, under God's direction, as David chose Solomon before the elder son Adonijah (1Ki 1:30; 2:22; 2Sa 12:24-25); compare 2Ch 11:21-22, Rehoboam, Abijah; the firstborn was usually appointed (2Ch 21:3-4). The queen mother was regent during a son's minority, and always held a high position of power at court (1Ki 2:19; 2Ki 24:12,15; 11:1-3; Athaliah). His chief officers were the recorder, who wrote annals of his reign (2Sa 8:16); the scribe or secretary wrote dispatches and conducted his correspondence (2Sa 8:17); the officer over the house, arrayed in a distinctive robe of office and girdle (Isa 22:15, etc., Isa 36:3); the king's friend or companion (1Ki 4:5); the captain of the body guard (2Sa 20:23; 1Ki 2:25,34,46), who was also chief executioner; the commander in chief under the king (2Sa 3:30-39; 20:23); his counselor (25/type/leb'>2Sa 24:25,25; 1Ch 27:32). Besides demesnes, flocks, tenths (1Sa 8:15), levies, he enjoyed a large revenue by "presents," which virtually became a regular tax.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and {she shall give rise to nations}. Kings of peoples shall come from her."
Now these [are] the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the {Israelites}.
"And take for yourself top quality balsam oils, five hundred [shekels of] flowing myrrh, half [as much]--two hundred and fifty [shekels of] fragrant cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty [shekels of] fragrant reed, and five hundred [shekels of] cassia, according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. read more. And you will make it [into] holy anointing oil, a spice blend of a fragrant ointment [the] work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil. And you will anoint with it the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its equipment and the lampstand and its equipment and the incense altar, and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment and the basin and its stand. And you will consecrate them, and they will be most holy things; {anyone who} touches them will be holy. And you will anoint Aaron and his sons, and you will consecrate them to serve as priests for me. "And you will speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It will not be poured on human flesh, and with its measurements you will not make [any] like it; it is holy; it will be holy to you. Anyone who compounds perfume like it and who puts it on a stranger will be cut off from his people.'"
and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute [themselves] after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute [themselves] after their gods.
" 'But the land must not be sold in perpetuity, because the land [is] mine, because you [are] aliens and temporary residents with me. And in all your property's land you must provide redemption for the land. read more. " 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee. However, village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered {open country}; [there] is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out [of the buyer's hand]. " 'As for the cities of the Levites, [that is], the houses in their property's cities, it shall be {a lasting redemption} for the Levites. And whatever [anyone] redeems from the Levites then must go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, [including] a house's selling {in his city's property}, because the houses in the cities of the Levites [are] their property in the midst of the {Israelites}. But a field of their cities' pastureland must not be sold, because {it is their property for all time}. " 'And if your countryman becomes poor and {if he becomes dependent on you}, then you shall support him [like] an alien and [like] a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. You must not take interest or usury from him, but you shall revere your God, and your countryman shall live with you. You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit. I [am] Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give {you} the land of Canaan, to be as God for you. " 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}.
Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"
{They said to each other}, "Let us appoint a leader, and we will return [to] Egypt."
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star will go out from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel; it will crush the foreheads of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.
And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son. For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.
"When you have come to that land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you and you have taken possession of it and you have settled in it, and you say, 'I will set over me a king like all the nations that [are] around me,'
"When you have come to that land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you and you have taken possession of it and you have settled in it, and you say, 'I will set over me a king like all the nations that [are] around me,' indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who [is] not your countryman.
indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who [is] not your countryman.
indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who [is] not your countryman. Except, he may {not make numerous} for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to [to go] to Egypt {in order to increase horses}, for Yahweh has said to you that {you may never return}.
Except, he may {not make numerous} for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to [to go] to Egypt {in order to increase horses}, for Yahweh has said to you that {you may never return}.
Except, he may {not make numerous} for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to [to go] to Egypt {in order to increase horses}, for Yahweh has said to you that {you may never return}. And he must not {acquire many} wives for himself, so that his heart [would] turn aside; and {he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively}.
And he must not {acquire many} wives for himself, so that his heart [would] turn aside; and {he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively}. "{And then} {when he is sitting} on the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll {before} the Levitical priests. read more. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere Yahweh your God by {diligently observing} all the word of this law and these rules, [so as] not to exalt his heart above his countrymen and not to turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that {he may reign long over his kingdom}, he and his children in the midst of Israel."
Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods [of] wood and stone.
They said to him, "Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.
They said to him, "Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.
He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give [it] to his high officials and to his servants.
Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!"
Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!" Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote [the rules] down on a scroll and laid [it] before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house.
"And when you saw that Nahash, the king of [the] {Ammonites}, was coming against you, you said to me, 'No! A king shall reign over us,' although Yahweh your God [is] your king.
Then Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring near the ark of God" (for the ark of God was {at that time} with the {Israelites}). While Saul was still speaking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of [the] Philistines {increased more and more}, so Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand!"
So he sent and brought him. Now he [was] ruddy with beautiful eyes and of {handsome} appearance. And Yahweh said, "Arise, anoint him, for this [is] he."
Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and attack the priests!" So Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests himself, and on that day he killed eighty-five men who wore [the] linen ephod. And {he put to the sword} Nob, the city of the priests, from man to woman, from child to infant, and ox and donkey and sheep; [all] {to the sword}.
{And then} afterward David {felt guilty}, because he had cut {the hem of Saul's robe}. He said to his men, "Far be it from me in Yahweh, that I do this thing to my lord, to Yahweh's anointed one, by stretching out my hand against him! For he [is] the anointed one of Yahweh."
Look, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you. But {I took pity} on you and said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, because he [is] Yahweh's anointed one.'
But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh's anointed one and remained blameless?"
This thing that you have done [is] not good. {As Yahweh lives}, {surely you people deserve to die} since you have not kept watch over your lord, over Yahweh's anointed one! So then, see where the king's spear [is] and the jar of water that [was] near his head!"
And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.
So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed Asahel, their brother, at Gibeon in the battle. David said to Joab and to all the people who [were] with him, "Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." Now King David [was] following after the bier. read more. And they buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. The king sang a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner have died the death of a fool? Your hands [were] not tied and your feet [were] not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness." Then {all the people wept over him again}. Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down." All the people noticed, and it [was] good in their eyes, as everything that the king did [was] good in the eyes of all the people. Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that {the king had not desired} to kill Abner the son of Ner. Then the king said to his servants, "Did you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel? I [am] weak today even though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, [are] crueler than I [am]. May Yahweh pay them back for doing wickedness according to their [own] wickedness."
Now David [was] dancing with all [his] might before Yahweh, and David [was] wearing a linen ephod.
Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] secretary. Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [were] priests and Seraiah [was] scribe.
Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites.
Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites.
David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
surely as I swore to you by Yahweh the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son shall surely be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' surely I shall do so this [very] day."
Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah, and the king got up to meet her, bowed down to her, and then sat on his throne. Then he set up a throne for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.
King Solomon answered and said to his mother, "Why are you asking Abishag the Shunnamite for Adonijah? Ask for him also the kingdom, for he is my brother, older than I; and [ask] for him also Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah."
Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the governors, and Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, an advisor to the king.
Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor [numbered] thirty thousand men. He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand {every month}; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor. read more. Solomon had seventy thousand {common laborers} and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country.
When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand {choice troops} to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. Then the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, read more. "Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the remainder of the people, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh: "You shall not go up and you shall not fight with your brothers the {Israelites}. Return each of you to his house, for this thing was from me." '" So they heeded the word of Yahweh, and they returned to go home according to the word of Yahweh.
Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him {to strengthen his hold on the kingdom}. Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all {the very rich}, to give to the king of Assyria fifty shekels of silver for each one. Then the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land.
The silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; however, he taxed the land to give the silver {to meet the demands of Pharaoh}. Each according to assessment, he exacted [payment] of the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Neco.
Then let us bring around the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."
And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines (for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief and crown prince over his brothers, in order to make him king.
And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuables, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he [was] the firstborn. When Jehoram ascended to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and murdered all his brothers with the sword, and even some of the princes of Israel.
[The] kings of [the] earth establish themselves, and the rulers conspire together against Yahweh and his anointed:
"But as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain." I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Formerly you spoke in a vision to your faithful ones, and said, "I have bestowed help on a mighty man; I have exalted one chosen from [the] people. I have found David, my servant. With my holy oil I have anointed him,
He will call out [to] me, 'You [are] my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' I will also make him [the] firstborn, [the] highest of [the] kings of [the] earth.
The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this: "Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna, who [is] over the house:
"Oh rebellious children!" {declares} Yahweh, "to make a plan, but not from me, and pour out a libation, but not [from] my Spirit, {so as to add} sin to sin. Who go to go down [to] Egypt, but they do not ask [of] my mouth, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt.
For Yahweh [is] our judge; Yahweh [is] our lawgiver. Yahweh [is] our king; he [is the one who] will save us.
And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was in charge of the palace}, came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.
But how can you drive back {one governor among the least of my master's servants}, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
this [is] the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes [her] head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you taunted and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised up [your] voice and lifted your eyes upward? To the holy one of Israel! read more. By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard. I myself dug and drank waters, and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet." Have you not heard from {a long time ago}? I have made it from days of primeval time, and I formed it. Now I have brought it [about], and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones. And their inhabitants [are] {weak}; they are dismayed, and they are ashamed; they have become [like] plants of [the] field, and [like] greens of grass, [like] grass on [the] roofs and a cultivated field {before} the standing grain. And I know your sitting down and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging {against} me. Because you were enraged {against} me, and your noise has come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back on the way [by] which you came. And this [shall be] the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants this year, and in the second year self-seeded plants, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall {grow} roots downwards and make fruit upwards. For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem and survivors from mountain Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.' Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come to this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, and he shall not meet it [with] a shield, and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her. He shall return by the way that he came, and he shall not come to this city,' {declares} Yahweh. 'And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.'" And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When they rose in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses.
And their noble will be from them, and their ruler will come out from their midst. And I will bring him near and he will approach me. For who [is] he that would pledge his heart to approach me?' {declares} Yahweh.
Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, "Is there a word from Yahweh?" And Jeremiah said, "There is." And he said, "You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon."
"Thus says Yahweh, 'The [one who] stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the [one who] goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.'
Then the officials said to the king, "Please, this man must be killed, {because} he [is] making slack the hands of {the soldiers} who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man [is] not seeking for welfare to this people, {but only} for harm."
And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to [the] third entrance that [was] at the {temple} of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] asking you {something}, you must not hide {anything} from me." And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, will you not surely kill me? {Besides}, if I advise you, you will not listen to me. read more. So Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremiah in secret, {saying}, "{As Yahweh lives}, who has made for us this life, I will not kill you and I will not give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life." Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If only you will go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then {you} will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you will live, you and your house. But if you [do] not go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.'" And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me." And Jeremiah said, "They will not give [you over]. Please obey the voice of Yahweh with regard to what I [am] saying to you, and it will go well with you, and {you} will live. But if you [are] refusing to surrender, this [is] the thing that Yahweh has shown me. Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah [are] being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, [they are] saying, '{Your trusted friends} have misled you, and they have prevailed against you. Your feet are stuck in the mud, [so] they turned backward.' And all your wives and your children [will be] led out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape from their hand, but by the hand of the king of Babylon you will be seized, and this city will burn with fire." And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "No man must know about these words so that you will not die. And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, 'Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal [it] from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?' Then you shall say to them, 'I [was] presenting my plea {before} the king, to not cause me to return [to] the house of Jonathan to die there.'"
saying, "No, for we will go [to] the land of Egypt where we will not see war, and we will not hear [the] sound of a horn, and we will not be hungry for bread, and there we will stay,"
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Yahweh, was captured in their pits; of whom we said, "In his shadow we will live among the nations."
But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers [to] Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these [things], and can he break [the] covenant and escape?
"And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off, and {he shall have nothing}, and [the] people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end [will be] with the flood and [on] to [the] end [there shall be] war; [these] desolations are determined.
But I will have pity [on] the house of Judah and I will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen.
He will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to return.
Where now [is] your king that he may save you? [Where] in all your cities [are] your judges, of whom you said, "Give to me a king and rulers?" I gave you a king in my anger, and I took [him] in my wrath.
Therefore tell us what you think. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
And do not call [anyone] your father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father.
Hastings
KING
1. Etymology and use of the term.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
made war with Bera, the king of Sodom, and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah, Shinab, the king of Admah, and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that [is], Zoar).
"When you have come to that land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you and you have taken possession of it and you have settled in it, and you say, 'I will set over me a king like all the nations that [are] around me,' indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who [is] not your countryman. read more. Except, he may {not make numerous} for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to [to go] to Egypt {in order to increase horses}, for Yahweh has said to you that {you may never return}. And he must not {acquire many} wives for himself, so that his heart [would] turn aside; and {he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively}. "{And then} {when he is sitting} on the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll {before} the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere Yahweh your God by {diligently observing} all the word of this law and these rules, [so as] not to exalt his heart above his countrymen and not to turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that {he may reign long over his kingdom}, he and his children in the midst of Israel."
The men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your sons, and your sons' son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.
"{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh."
He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give [it] to his high officials and to his servants.
He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give [it] to his high officials and to his servants.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you [yourselves] will become his servants.
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, "{Has not} Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?
Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!"
However, some {worthless men} said, "How can this [man] deliver us?" So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.
When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, {they reported these things to} the people. Then all the people lifted up their voices and wept.
{And the} next day Saul placed the people [in] three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp {at the early morning watch} and struck down {the Ammonites} until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered {so that no two among them remained together}.
Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingship there."
So Saul said, "Bring here to me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." Then he offered up the burnt offering. {Just as} he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Samuel was coming. So Saul went out to meet him [and] to bless him. read more. But Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "Because I saw that the army {was scattering} from me and you did not come {at the appointed time} and [that the] Philistines had gathered at Micmash,
{One day} Jonathan the son of Saul said to {his armor bearer}, "Come and let us go over to the garrison of [the] Philistines which [is] over there." But he did not tell his father.
So they reported [it] to Saul, saying, "Look! The troops [are] sinning against Yahweh by eating [the animals] with the blood!" And he said, "You have dealt treacherously! Roll to me a large stone {today}!"
Then Saul defeated [the] Amalekites from Havilah as one goes to Shur which [is] {east of} Egypt.
And Jesse took a donkey [loaded with] bread and a skin of wine and one {young goat} and sent [them] to Saul by the hand of David his son.
And the men of Israel said, "Did you see this man who has come up? For he [is] going up to defy Israel! It will be [that] the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and will make his father's house free in Israel."
Then {Saul became angry} at Jonathan and said to him, "[You] son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
And [the] Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and [the] Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul.
It happened [that] when the carriers of the ark of Yahweh had marched six steps that he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
They brought the ark of Yahweh and set it in its place in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the presence of Yahweh. When David had finished from the sacrificing of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.
Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] secretary. Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [were] priests and Seraiah [was] scribe. read more. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was over] the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David [were] priests.
Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, "We have fought against Rabbah, and we captured the city of the waters.
Then the king asked her, "{What do you want}?" And she said, "Truly I [am] a widow, and my husband [is] dead.
Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood {beside} the road [at] the gate; {anyone} who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, "{Where are you from?}" And he would say, "Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel."
Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites.
Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites. Adoram [was] over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] the recorder.
Again Yahweh [was] angry with Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go count Israel and Judah."
David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
He said, "You know that the kingship was mine and that all Israel had set their face toward me as king, but the kingship turned around and became my brother's, for it was from Yahweh for him [to have it].
Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the governors, and Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, an advisor to the king.
Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, and they sustained the king and his palace, {each one was to sustain for each month of the year}.
King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred [measures of] gold went up over each shield.
King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred [measures of] gold went up over each shield.
When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand {choice troops} to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered [sacrifices] on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. He offered [sacrifices] on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the {Israelites}, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.
It happened after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which [was] in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king;
Then the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up [to] Ramoth-Gilead.
When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar, so he went near to the altar and went up on it.
Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah [with] torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Acbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying,
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she [was] living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her,
So the king sent [word], and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. Then the king went up [to] the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem [were] with him, [including] the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their {hearing} he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh. read more. Then the king stood by the pillar, and he {made} a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes, with all of [his] heart and with his all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people {joined} in the covenant.
The silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; however, he taxed the land to give the silver {to meet the demands of Pharaoh}. Each according to assessment, he exacted [payment] of the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Neco.
And over those who did the work in the field to till the soil [was] Ezri the son of Kelub.
And Ahithophel [was] an adviser to the king, and Hushai the Arkite [was] a friend of the king.
And he put troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had taken.
And he appointed judges in the land and in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. And he said to the judges, "Consider what you are doing, for you are not judging for a man but for Yahweh. Now [he is] with you in speaking justice. read more. So now, let the fear of Yahweh be upon you all. {Be careful what you do}, for there is neither wickedness nor {showing partiality} and taking bribes with Yahweh our God." Moreover, Jehoshaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of the Levites and the priests and heads of the {families} of Israel as judges and to decide legal disputes for Yahweh. And they sat [in] Jerusalem. And he commanded them, saying, "Thus you must do in the fear of Yahweh in faithfulness and with a whole heart. Any legal dispute that comes before you from your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, and justice, you must warn them, so that they do not incur guilt before Yahweh, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you must do that you do not incur guilt. And behold, Amariah the chief priest [is] over you in all matters of the word of Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all matters of the king, and the Levites [shall be] before you [as] officials. Be strong and do [well]! May Yahweh be with the upright."
Yahweh [is] king forever and ever; the nations have perished from his land.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and rise up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory may enter.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory may enter.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory may enter. Who is the king of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He [is] the king of glory! Selah
But God [has been] my king from long ago, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
Even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, near your altars, O Yahweh [of] hosts, my king and my God.
Ah! Those who {join} house with house, they join field together with field until {there is no place} and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this: "Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna, who [is] over the house:
See, a king will rule according to righteousness, and princes will rule according to justice.
And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was in charge of the palace}, came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [was] over the {palace}, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder, came to Hezekiah [with] torn garments and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
I [am] Yahweh, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king."
Thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel, and its redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: "I [am the] first, and I [am the] last, and there is no god besides me.
They have grown fat, they have grown sleek, also, {their evil deeds have no limit}. They do not judge [with] justice, [the] legal cause of [the] orphan, or allow it to succeed, and [the] legal case of [the] poor, they do not defend.
And [a portion will be] for the prince {on both sides} of {the holy district}, and [both sides] of the property of the city, [and] {alongside} the property of the city {on the west}, and [alongside the property] {on the east}. And [also] [its] length {corresponds to one of the tribal portions to the west} [running] {to the eastern border}. [This] shall be to him {with respect to the land} as property in Israel; [and so] my princes shall not again oppress my people, but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes."
And the rest [shall be] to the prince, {on both sides} {of the holy district} and of the property of the city {extending from} twenty-five thousand [cubits] [of the] contribution up to [the] boundary of [the] east, and westwards {extending} twenty-five thousand [cubits] to the boundary of [the] sea {alongside} [the] [tribal] portions. They shall be for the prince, and it shall be {the holy district}, and the sanctuary of the temple will be in its middle.
And I will cut off [the] ruler from its midst and I will kill all of its officials with him," says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals! Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father {have sexual relations with} the same girl, so that [they] profane my holy name.
This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, [he] is going to form locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the second crop, and look, after the mowings of the king.
Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "[Is] not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us."
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king comes to you; he [is] righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a male donkey, {the foal of} a female donkey!
Now [after] Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
It happened that in the days of Herod, king of Judea, [there was] a certain priest, Zechariah by name, of the division of Abijah. And {he had a wife} from the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elizabeth.
Then Pilate entered again into the governor's residence and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
Then Pilate said to him, "So then you are a king!" Jesus replied, "You say that I am a king. For this [reason] I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."
Now [after] some days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus.
These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him [are] called and chosen and faithful."
Smith
King,
a chief ruler, one invested with supreme authority over a nation, tribe or country. --Webster. In the Bible the word does not necessarily imply great power or great extent of country. Many persons are called kings whom we should rather call chiefs or leaders. The word is applied in the Bible to God as the sovereign and ruler of the universe, and to Christ the Son of God as the head and governor of the Church. The Hebrews were ruled by a king during a period of about 500 years previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, B.C. 586. The immediate occasion of the substitution of a regal form of government for that of judges seems to have been the siege of Jabesh-gilead by Nahash king of the Ammonites.
The conviction seems to have forced itself on the Israelites that they could not resist their formidable neighbor unless they placed themselves under the sway of a king, like surrounding nations. The original idea of a Hebrew King was twofold: first, that he should lead the people to battle in time of war; and, a second, that he should execute judgment and justice to them in war and in peace.
In both respects the desired end was attained. Besides being commander-in-chief of the army, supreme judge, and absolute master, as it were, of the lives of his subjects, the king exercised the power of imposing taxes on them, and of exacting from them personal service and labor. In addition to these earthly powers, the king of Israel had a more awful claim to respect and obedience. He was the vicegerent of Jehovah,
and as it were his son, if just and holy.
he had been set apart as a consecrated ruler. Upon his dead had been poured the holy anointing oil, which had hitherto been reserved exclusively for the priests of Jehovah. He had become, in fact, emphatically "the Lord's anointed." He had a court of Oriental magnificence. The king was dressed in royal robes,
his insignia were, a crown or diadem of pure gold, or perhaps radiant with precious gems,
2Sa 1:10; 12:30; 2Ki 11:12; Ps 21:3
and a royal sceptre. Those who approached him did him obeisance, bowing down and touching the ground with their foreheads,
and this was done even by a king's wife, the mother of Solomon.
His officers and subjects called themselves his servants or slaves. He had a large harem, which was guarded by eunuchs. The law of succession to the throne is somewhat obscure, but it seems most probable that the king during his lifetime named his successor. At the same time, if no partiality for a favorite wife or son intervened, there would always be a natural bias of affection in favor of the eldest son.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
so that we {also} may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles."
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, "{Has not} Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?
Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "{Make a treaty with us} and we will serve you."
"And when you saw that Nahash, the king of [the] {Ammonites}, was coming against you, you said to me, 'No! A king shall reign over us,' although Yahweh your God [is] your king.
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day {on}. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
Then David got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked after him, David knelt down [with his] face to the ground and bowed down.
So I stood over him and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after his falling; I took the crown that [was] on his head and [the] bracelet which [was] on his arm; and here, I have brought them to my lord.
I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of the {human beings}.
He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight [was] a talent of gold, and there [was] a precious stone [in it] and it [was] put on David's head.) He brought out the plunder of the city {in great abundance}.
Bathsheba knelt and bowed down before the king, and the king asked, "{What do you want}?"
The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah [were] each sitting on his throne, dressed [in their] robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, [with] all the prophets prophesying before them.
"But as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain." I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
For you meet him [with] blessings of good [things]. You set on his head a crown of fine gold.
He will call out [to] me, 'You [are] my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' I will also make him [the] firstborn, [the] highest of [the] kings of [the] earth.