What Does 1 Samuel 10:25 Mean in the King James?
Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king’s rule is not free-standing: its terms are written and laid before the LORD, while the people are sent forth to their homes.
THE MEANING
Rule is made legible: its terms are spoken aloud, written down, and laid before the LORD, where a ruler’s will does not stand alone. The people are sent forth to their own houses, so this verse holds authority together with release back into ordinary life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A crown gives a ruler the right to define what is right by personal will. Here, kingship is placed under written terms and before the LORD.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁפַּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-ṭ
To judge, decide, or set what is right; by extension, to govern.
“manner” in this verse is mishpat. Mishpat carries the sense of a judgment or order by which rule can be measured, not merely a description of royal custom. Here, the terms of kingship are spoken, written, and placed before the LORD, so the king does not define his own measure.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: to judge or decide
שָׁפַט
The root verb shows that the kingdom’s manner involves decisions about what is right and due.
shofet: judge
שֹׁפֵט
A judge applies a measure beyond personal preference, illuminating the standard implied in the kingdom’s written terms.
mishpatim: judgments or ordinances
מִשְׁפָּטִים
These are particular rulings or terms; the verse presents kingship as having terms that can be recorded and examined.
וַיְשַׁלַּח
vayeshalach
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send forth, dispatch, or release.
“sent ... away” in this verse is vayeshalach. The verse ends with shalach: Samuel sends the people forth, each to his own house. The same root holds sending and release together, so the closing movement is not merely departure but a letting-go back into ordinary life.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: messenger, one who is sent
שָׁלִיחַ
The sent person carries something outward; here, Samuel sends the people away from the gathering.
shiluach: sending away or dismissal
שִׁלּוּחַ
This noun makes the release in the verse visible: the assembly concludes and the people return home.
THE PATTERN
A ruler’s authority is measured by an order beyond the ruler’s own will.
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.THE THREAD
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.Both verses use mishpat, the judgment or terms of rule: 10:25 says those terms are written and laid before the LORD, while 8:11 shows what royal power takes. The shared word turns the record into a measure by which kingship can be seen clearly.
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