ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף יחזקאל 5:7

If our portion is written in the present tense, describing future requests by the Jewish people, it alludes to the events in Samuel's time. Even the very words "like all the other nations," are a hint of things to come. This provides the clue to understanding why the people's request was granted. It had been foreseen and foretold so long ago. The fact that Israel's misconduct is repeatedly explained by the verse "in those days there was no king in Israel," is ample evidence that the institution of a monarchy itself was deemed desirable. The people had to be disabused of the idea however, that their troubles were due to their not having a king to lead them rather than to the fact that they had been disobedient to G'd. Samuel spelled out to them that a king's success would be contingent on their being obedient to G'ds laws. He added that in the event of disobedience to G'd by either the king or the nation, they would not only have to suffer the yoke of foreign oppression but also the yoke of their own king. When Samuel used the example of rain falling during the summer season as proof that their attitude had not met with G'ds approval, he meant to teach them another lesson. Rain during the summer is not only not a blessing, it is an impediment for the farmer in Israel. True, it might provide temporary relief from intense heat, but its long term effect would be negative. Similarly, the temporary relief from foreign invaders that the appointment of a king would bring in its wake, would be outweighed by the many negative factors, such as interference with the gathering in of the harvest for instance- that establishment of a monarchy would bring in its wake. The Sifri quoted at the beginning of the chapter seems to feel that each city requires a central government, i.e. authority. The point of Rabbi Yehudah then would be that in addition to that, the nation as a whole requires a central authority, something in addition to the many local authorities. Legislators, judges and law enforcement officers, police, between them constitute what is known as ruach eytza u-gevurah, a spirit of counsel and might. Since judges are frequently referred to by the Torah as elohim, i.e. as performing functions similar to the judicial functions of G'd Himself, namely re-establishing harmony where same had been lacking, one can imagine the dire consequences if these functions were to be performed piecemeal by competing authorities. The syndrome of everyone doing his own thing, will be avoided once a central authority is appointed. The more comprehensive the areas in which the king displays his leadership, the closer his function becomes to that of the Almighty Himself. The eglah arufah passage at the end of the Parshah illustrates that matters which appear to be of purely local significance, such as the finding of the corpse of a murdered person on the wayside, are, in the last analysis a national issue.

"One verse says: 'after the ways of the surrounding nations you have done' (Ezek. 11:12), while in another verse it says [in contradiction] 'after the ways of the surrounding nations you have not done' (Ezek. 5:7). How can this be reconciled? As follows - their good ways you have not copied; their evil ones you have followed."