1 Samuel 9 · a question people ask
Why does the LORD say "prince" and not "king"?
The people had asked, "Give us a king to judge us" (8:6), and the LORD had told Samuel, "make them a king" (8:22). But in this chapter the LORD says, "you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel" (9:16). In Hebrew, prince is nagid, not melekh, the word for king (tap prince). The chapter doesn't say why. Christians read it in two main ways, each resting on verses. Both agree that 1 Samuel uses both words of Saul: "prince over his inheritance" (10:1) and "The LORD anointed you king over Israel" (15:17).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The LORD's people, under the LORD
Those who read it this way point to what the LORD said when the people asked: "they have rejected me as the king over them" (8:7). In 9:16-17 the LORD calls Israel "my people" four times, and when Samuel anoints Saul he asks, "Hasn’t the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?" (10:1). Read this way, nagid names a ruler set over people who still belong to the LORD.
1 Samuel 8:7 · 1 Samuel 9:16-17 · 1 Samuel 10:1
Another word for the same office
Those who read it this way point out that the book uses the words side by side. Samuel tells Saul, "The LORD anointed you king over Israel" (15:17), and tells the people, "Behold, the LORD has set a king over you" (12:13). Nagid is used of David too: Abigail speaks of the day the LORD "has appointed you prince over Israel" (25:30), and the LORD's word for David is "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel" (2 Samuel 7:8).
1 Samuel 15:17 · 1 Samuel 12:13 · 1 Samuel 25:30 · 2 Samuel 7:4-8
The verses
“But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to the LORD.”
“The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go to your own city.””
““Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.””
“Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, then kissed him and said, “Hasn’t the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?”