The second chapter of Sanhedrin is primarily focused on the rules pertaining to a king: his rights and obligations and, especially, his unique position in the legal system. On balance, the mishnahs of this chapter (all written by the tannaim, of course), paint a portrait of a relatively unfettered king with few checks on his power. In the Gemara’s discussion, however, some of the amoraim challenge the extent of the king’s power.
On today’s daf, we encounter a debate about the proper interpretation of 1 Samuel 8, a famous chapter of the Hebrew Bible in which the Israelites, having come through the enormously destabilizing period of the judges, ask the prophet Samuel to appoint a king over them. Samuel is distressed and consults with God, who is also disappointed in the people, telling Samuel: “Heed the demand of the people in everything they say to you. For it is not you that they have rejected; it is me they have rejected as their king … Heed their demand, but warn them solemnly, and tell them about the practices of any king who will rule over them.”
Samuel proceeds to do as God commands, warning the people at length (verses 11–18) about the alarming things a king will do to them, including conscription and forced labor, expropriating property and levying taxes. Samuel concludes this speech with a dire prediction: “The day will come when you cry out because of the king whom you yourselves have chosen; and the Lord will not answer you on that day.”
The rabbis debate whether Samuel’s speech is meant as a prescriptive statement outlining the rights of a king or warning of how a king will likely abuse his power.
Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: Concerning all the actions that are stated in the biblical passage about the king, it is permitted for a king to perform them.Rav says: This passage was stated only in order to threaten the Jewish people, as it is stated: “You shall set a king over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15), meaning that it is necessary that his fear should be upon you.
Lest you think this is only a debate among the amoraim, the Gemara points out that Rav and Shmuel’s dispute is parallel to a dispute between two tannaim, Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Yosei holds like Shmuel that a king is permitted to do all actions listed in the passage in Samuel, and Rabbi Yehuda holds like Rav that this litany was intended only to inspire fear, not to outline kingly rights. There’s yet more evidence on today’s daf that at least some tannaim were wary about the position and power of a king — if not in theory, then at least in the way the role ultimately manifests. The Gemara cites another beraita:
Rabbi Eliezer says: The elders of Samuel’s generation asked appropriately, as it is stated: “Give us a king to judge us,” (I Samuel 8:6) since they wanted a steady leader in place of Samuel. But the ignoramuses among them ruined it, as it is stated: “But the people refused to heed the voice of Samuel; and they said: No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and emerge before us, and fight our battles.”
According to the tanna Rabbi Eliezer, as Rashi explains it, the elders sought only to replace their competent leader, Samuel, with another steady, powerful leader who could judge them justly and establish order. But amei ha’aretz (“the ignoramuses”) instead requested, functionally, a warlord: They wanted someone to lead their battles, just like all other peoples had.
This chapter continues for a few more pages, examining the extent and nature of the king’s powers. The tannaim and amoraim’s disputes will continue to reveal a wide spectrum of views with regard to whether a king is an ideal or simply an existent reality, and just how extensive a king’s control should be.
Read all of Sanhedrin 20 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on January 6, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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