I recently read Jerry Hwang’s article, “Yahweh’s Poetic Mishpat in Israel’s Kingship: A Reassessment of 1 Samuel 8-12,” Westminster Theological Journal 73, no. 2 (Winter 2011): 341-61.
Hwang has some helpful individual exegetical comments, while other exegetical claims seem unlikely. I think if he argued that Saul was given to Israel as judgment because they were rejecting God as king, he would have a good case. However, he wanted too much to maintain a dialectic between so-called pro-monarchical passages and anti-monarchical passages, which led him to be too negative toward kingship as a whole (even while granting that God would use it for a redemptive purpose).
Perhaps the most interesting part of the article was his treatment of 1 Samuel 8:9. The NASB adjusted for Hwang’s interpretation would read:
1 Samuel 8:7–9—The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. “Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. “Now then, listen to their voice; surely, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the judgment of the king who will reign over them.”
Here are other translations:
AV 1873Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
NKJVNow therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
ESVNow then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
NIVNow listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
NASB95“Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
LSB“So now, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly testify to them and tell them of the custom of the king who will reign over them.”
HCSBListen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.”
CSBListen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”
Steinmann: Now listen to them. Yet be sure to warn them and tell them the rights of the king who will reign over them.”
Hoffner: Now then, obey their voice; but make sure to give them solemn warning and inform them of the prerogatives of the king who will reign over them.”
Firth: But now, listen to their voice. However, you shall surely testify against them, and declare to them the ‘justice‘ of the king who will reign over them.”
I think Hwang may be correct that אַ֗ךְ should be translated “surely” and that what follows is a statement of judgment. However, I don’t think that translating מִשְׁפַּ֣ט as judgment works because it won’t work in the parallel in 1 Samuel 10:25.
I prefer Firth’s translation. In 1 Sam 8:9, 11 Samuel was warning Israel about the kind of “justice” they would receive from the kind of king they were asking for (not a king under Yhwh, but a king in place of Yhwh).
The wording of 1 Sam 10:25 intentionally links back to 8:9. There Israel was warned about the way the kind of king they were asking for would think of “justice.” Here Samuel set out before the people Yhwh’s conception of justice that the king should adhere to. Since the idea of a king is not the problem, the people (and Saul) could still change course and fear and submit to God with a king. This is what Samuel in chapter 10 and 12 (see esp. vv. 14-15, 20-25) is seeking to encourage the people to do.