Abarbanel on I Samuel

Abarbanel on I Samuel 8:4:8

The second question is understanding their views: And that is that there is no doubt that the elders of Israel and their leaders made this request, and the cause of their request was because the sons of Samuel sought graft, took bribes, and distorted justice. So if they were disgusted with this, how could it be thought that they would seek a king who would act according to his will and not humble himself and submit himself to the laws of the Torah and its commandments? As they would be choosing something more evil than what they had with the sons of Samuel. Could it be thought that people would choose a king or leader and they would say that he can do whatever he wants and not keep the righteous precepts and laws? Behold, the thinker (Aristotle) mentioned in Politics that there are two [types of] leaders, one who fears sin and one who is a criminal taskmaster. The definition of one who fears sin is only one who leads by the will of those led and according to the law. And the criminal taskmaster is only one who leads them by force and according to his will. So how could the intellect of people accept that wise and intelligent people would seek a leader, officer, ruler, or king who would lead them in an evil way and flee from the ways of justice? And if it happens that many times criminal kings called tyrants are found, they would surely [become like] this when they are already entrenched in their monarchy, not that they would be installed for that purpose! And this is part of what indicates that God forbid that the elders of Israel would request a king unless he would lead with righteousness, justice, and correctness and submit himself to the Torah of God, may He be blessed, which has righteous statutes and laws. And [even] if [the Jews] were installing a king that would not submit to the laws of the Torah, they would have installed him on their own, and they would not have come to the prophet Samuel to remove the yoke of Torah and the commandments from upon their necks, since the prophet would not actively install [such] a man as king in such conditions. And would he himself transgress the Torah and install [such] a man in contradiction to what God, may He be blessed, had commanded? The third question is if the installation of a king of the first type was a fine thing and a divine commandment, why did Joshua not install one in his days or at the time of his death? And why did the other judges and the Jewish people not install one in their days? And why did they not [even] arouse themselves to it? And even now, the Jewish people only requested it from the combination of two causes, and these were the elderliness of Samuel and the evil of his sons. But behold, if it were a commandment, it would have been proper to request a king without [these reasons]. So, without a doubt, this opinion — with all of the elegance found in it — is not true. And we should [also] not say that the Jewish people sinned by that which they said, "Place a king upon us," whereas it would have been fit to say, "Ask the Lord that He should give us a king," as I also have found among the Christian sages. For since they did not install him as a king on their own, and they came before the prophet Samuel to ask him, it is known that they would rest according to the word of the Lord and they would go according to the word of the Lord [alluding to Numbers 9:18], and that they only [meant for Samuel to] give us a king according to his prophecy from God. Behold, I have hence mentioned six opinions in this teaching, yet all of them are carried away by the wind from the contradictions against them that I have raised.