1 Samuel 8:20

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

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.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְהָיִ֥ינוּ גַם־אֲנַ֖חְנוּ כְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִ֑ם וּשְׁפָטָ֤נוּ מַלְכֵּ֙נוּ֙ וְיָצָ֣א לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַ֖ם אֶת־מִלְחֲמֹתֵֽנוּ׃

Transliteration

And wəhāyînû also-ʾănaḥnû like-all-haggôyim, and ûšəp̄āṭānû malkēnû and wəyāṣāʾ before-us and wənilḥam ʾeṯ-milḥămōṯēnû.

Grammar Details

• *wəhāyînû*: conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 1st common plural - and we will be
• *ʾănaḥnû*: independent personal pronoun, 1st common plural - we
• *haggôyim*: definite article + noun, masculine plural - the nations
• *ûšəp̄āṭānû*: conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular with 1st common plural suffix - and he will judge us
• *malkēnû*: noun, masculine singular construct with 1st common plural suffix - our king
• *wəyāṣāʾ*: conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he will go out
• *wənilḥam*: conjunction + verb, niphal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he will fight
• *milḥămōṯēnû*: noun, feminine plural construct with 1st common plural suffix - our battles

Word Meanings

• *wəhāyînû*: we will be/we will become
• *haggôyim*: the nations/peoples/gentiles
• *ûšəp̄āṭānû*: he will judge us/govern us/rule us
• *wəyāṣāʾ*: he will go out/lead out
• *wənilḥam*: he will fight/wage war
• *milḥămōṯēnû*: our battles/wars/conflicts

Referenced Verses

• 1 Sam 8:5 : 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
• Ps 106:35 : 35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
• John 15:19 : 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
• Rom 12:12 : 12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
• 2 Cor 6:17 : 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
• Phil 3:20 : 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
• 1 Pet 2:9 : 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
• Exod 33:16 : 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
• Lev 20:24-26 : 24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
• Num 23:9 : 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
• Deut 7:6 : 6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.