– Israel was born from the junction of several ethnic groups and lived together in small communities:
Gen 49:13 : Zabulon lives by the sea, on the coast, where ships dock, and its flank extends to Sydonia.
– Yahweh was the king of Israel. His worship, very simple, on earth altars or poorly carved stones, was led by the elders:
Ex 20,22-26 : You shall not make gods of silver, nor gods of gold to place beside me.
– But when they saw that each people around had its king, they also asked Samuel for a king:
1Sm 8,4-5 : Give us a king to rule over us, like all nations.
– The Lord sends Samuel to serve them, although with this they are rejecting the reign of the Lord:
1Sm 8,7-9 : It is not you they reject, but me, for they no longer want me to reign over them.
– Samuel warns the people about the evils that will come with the choice of a king:
1Sm 8,11-18 : He will take your sons to his chariots and his cavalry, or to run before his chariot.
– Nevertheless, the people do not listen to his warnings and want a king anyway:
1Sm 8,19-20 : The people refused to listen to Samuel’s voice. “No,” they said, “we must have a king!”
– The Lord responds to Samuel’s query and orders him to be answered:
1Sm 8,21-22 : Samuel heard all the words of the people and referred them to the Lord.
– The first king was Saul:
1Sm 10,1 : Samuel took a small bottle of oil and poured it on Saul’s head.
– Next was David anointed:
1Sm 16,12-13 : And Jesse sent for him. […] The Lord said: “Come on, anoint him: it is he”.
– And, right after his son, Solomon:
1 Kings 1:39 : Sadoc the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon with it.
– The cult was centralized by the king who now took care of the temple where the people had to go:
2 Kings 2 :3 : The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to meet Elisha.
1Ch 22 – 29: And David said: “This is the house of the Lord God and this is the altar of the burnt offerings of Israel”.
– The king received several epithets, such as untouchable:
1Sm 24,7 : God keep me from ever committing this crime, stretching out my hand against the anointed of the Lord, my lord.
– Shepherd of the people:
2Sm 5,2 : The Lord said to you: “It is you who will shepherd my people and you will be the leader of Israel”.
– Lord of the universe, although tradition applied it to the future Messiah:
Ps 2 : The kings of the earth stand together, and the princes unite to conspire against the Lord and against his Christ.
Ps 17 : Said: I love you, Lord, my strength! The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.
Psalm 71 : O God, entrust your judgments to the king. Deliver justice into the hands of the royal son.
Psalm 109 : Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
– Jesus is king:
Mt 2,2 : Where is the king of the Jews who has just been born? We saw his star in the East and came to worship him.
Mt 27:42 : If he is king of Israel, come down from the cross now and we will believe in him!
John 1:49 : Nathanael said to him: “Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”.
Jn 12:15 : Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming riding on a donkey’s colt.
Jo 19,3.14-15.19 : They approached him and said: “Hail, king of the Jews!”.
Revelation 1 :5 : And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler over the kings of the earth.
– But his kingdom is not of this world:
Jn 18,33-38 : Pilate entered the praetorium, called Jesus and asked him: “Are you the King of the Jews?”.
– And for this reason he does not accept being acclaimed a dominating and earthly king:
Mt 4,9-10 : I will give you all this if, prostrating yourself before me, you adore me.
Jn 6:15 : Jesus, perceiving that they wanted to seize him and make him king, withdrew again to the mountain alone.
