Saturday, February 09, 2013

The Rights of a King


When the people ask Shmuel (Samuel) to appoint a King of Israel, he threatens them that the king will conscript their sons for soldiering and labor, take women for servants, and confiscate their property.  It is noteworty that he does not threaten that the king will take their daughters as wives and concubines, given that this disregard for women’s rights was commonplace throughout the ancient world and appears repeatedly within the Tanach (bible.)  It seems that such licentiousness is completely unthinkable for a God-fearing person, even one with absolute power.

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