1Sa 8:5 | TNotes | STEP | 8:5 you are now old, and your sons are not like you: Judges tended to be local leaders; kings, as national leaders, were more capable of uniting a whole nation in times of crisis (8:20 ). However, a spiritual problem underlay the request for a king (8:7-8 ). • Other nations, such as Egypt and Sumer, had monarchies for almost 2,000 years before Samuel’s time.

‏ 1 Samuel 8:5

8:5 ^a you are now old, and your sons are not like you: Judges tended to be local leaders; kings, as national leaders, were more capable of uniting a whole nation in times of crisis (8:20 ^b). However, a spiritual problem underlay the request for a king (8:7-8 ^c).

• Other nations, such as Egypt and Sumer, had monarchies for almost 2,000 years before Samuel’s time.