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God appoints kings and rulers5/26/2023 ![]() ![]() But more important, the book of Deuteronomy provides many rules to limit the king’s power ( Deut 17:14-20): the king must be from the people of Israel and chosen by their deity he must not multiply horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire them he must not multiply wives for himself and he must not acquire excessive silver and gold for himself. The people had to respect the office of the monarch: Exod 22:27 forbids the people from cursing G-d or the prince ( nasi, a term sometimes used for the monarch). Friction over these rights of the king, especially the right to forced labor, may even have led to the dissolution of the united monarchy ( 1Kgs 12:1-19).īiblical law codes provide some instruction about kingship. Samuel’s speech to Israel in 1Sam 8:10-18 indicates that the king has the right to take men for military service women for domestic service and land and a tenth part of the harvest, flocks, and herds for the support of the monarchy, and to require state service by both the people and their animals. Israel was not always happy with the idea of kingship. Ps 72 calls upon G-d to grant the king divine justice and righteousness so that he might rule the people properly, and Isa 32:1-2 calls upon the king to rule in righteousness so that his officers will govern with justice (see Isa 9:5-9, Isa 11:1-9). ![]() Since Yhwh was in charge, he was responsible for protecting the king of Israel from threats by enemies ( 2Sam 7, Ps 2) and for punishing him and even removing him if he did not fulfill divine expectations ( 1Sam 13-14, 2Sam 7, 1Kgs 11:29-39). In a similar way, powerful kings in ancient treaties called their lesser allies “sons.” Thus, Israelites saw their king as a lesser agent of their god, ruling on his behalf (see Hag 2:20-23). Ps 2 calls the Davidic king a “son” of Yhwh. ![]() Yhwh’s prophets would generally announce such judgment against wayward kings when the court officials and priests failed to act.īiblical authors claim that the kings of Israel and Judah were divinely chosen and that they were expected to abide by the covenant (see, for example, Deut 17:14-17, 1Sam 8-12, 1Kgs 2:3-4). Although they were granted wide powers to carry out these tasks, the ancients believed that the kings would suffer divine punishment if they violated the covenant and laws. They were expected to observe his covenant and laws, to defend the nation and engage in offensive war when deemed necessary, and to rule the people with justice ( mishpat) and righteousness ( tsedaqah). The kings of Israel and Judah were believed to serve as Yhwh’s agents to rule the nation. ![]()
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