Israel Asks for a King
Israel gave up being ruled by God as their king through the prophets, and called for a man as king. For this very reason they also slipped from the commandment: for Solomon was the first to worship the Baals (1 Kings 11:5–8), and then after him Jeroboam set up the heifers (1 Kings 12:28–29).
“And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice,’” and so on (1 Samuel 8:22). Though their affairs were going well for them and were set in the best of order, the wretched people planned bitter things against themselves. Shaking off, as it were, the yoke of the kingdom under God, they came to the blessed Samuel, saying: “Appoint a king over us to judge us” (1 Samuel 8:5), and the rest. Then, when the blessed Samuel announced to them the rights of the king (1 Samuel 8:11–18), filling them with many terrors, and very earnestly trying to turn them away…
Greek
{Κυρίλλου.} Ἀπεφοίτησε μὲν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ βασιλεύεσθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ διὰ προφητῶν· ἐκαλέσατο δὲ βασιλέα ἄνθρωπον. Ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ἀπώλισθε τῆς ‹69.681› ἐντολῆς· πρῶτος γὰρ Σολομὼν προσεκύνησε τοῖς Βααλείμ· εἶτα μετ' αὐτὸν Ἱεροβοὰμ τὰς δαμάλεις ἀνέστησεν. Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς Σαμουήλ· Ἄκουε τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῶν, κ.τ.λ. {Κυρίλλου.} Ἐχόντων εὖ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐν τάξει τῇ παναρίστῃ κειμένων, πικρὰ καθ' ἑαυτῶν οἱ δείλαιοι πεφρονήκασιν. Ἀποσειόμενοι δὲ ὥσπερ τῆς ὑπὸ Θεῷ βασιλείας τὸν ζυγὸν, προσῄεσαν λέγοντες τῷ μακαρίῳ Σαμουήλ· Κατάστησον ἐφ' ἡμᾶς βασιλέα δικάζειν ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· Εἶτα τοῦ μακαρίου Σαμουὴλ τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ βασιλέως καταγγέλλοντος αὐτοῖς, καὶ πολλοῖς ἄγαν καταπτοοῦντος δείμασιν, ἀφιστάντος δὲ καὶ μάλα γοργῶς