If Shemuel's prophetic leadership sufficed to keep the Philistine threat at bay (see Shemuel I 7:13-14), why did the Israelites find it insufficient to ward off the Amonite threat?
The haftara for Parashat Korach is taken from Sefer Shemuel I (chapter 12), and contains Shemuel's address to Benei Yisrael after the second – and conclusive – coronation of Shaul as king. Shemuel reiterates his disapproval of the nation's request for a king, and his presentation seems to shed some light on the nature of this request: "You saw that Nachash king of the Ammonites was advancing against you, and you said to me, 'No, we must have a king reigning over us' – even though the Lord your God is your king" (Shemuel I 12:12). Shemuel here implies that the nation's request of a king was prompted by the threat posed by the nation of Amon. The question arises, Benei Yisrael already found themselves threatened by the Pelishtim, the nation living along the Mediterranean coastline that terrorized Israel from the end of the period of the shoftim through the early part of King David's reign. If Shemuel's prophetic leadership sufficed to keep the Philistine threat at bay (see Shemuel I 7:13-14), why did they find it insufficient to ward off the Amonite threat?
We might suggest that the answer lies in the geographical difference between these two military threats. The Pelishtim threatened the Israelite heartland. They were situated in Eretz Yisrael itself, and would launch their offensives primarily against the territory of Yehuda, in the center of the country. (In fact, King David's decisive battle against the Pelishtim, as recorded in Sefer Shemuel II, chapter 5, occurred at Emek Refaim, near Jerusalem.) The Amonites, by contrast, resided along Israel's eastern border and threatened mainly the peripheral, sparsely populated Trans-Jordanian region. Indeed, shortly after King Shaul ascends the throne, the Amonite king threatens the people of Yavesh Gilad, a region to the east of the Jordan, and agrees to peace only on condition that they all remove an eye (Shemuel I, chapter 11). Benei Yisrael perhaps feared that when confronting a threat of this nature, that endangers peripheral communities, a strong, centralized government is necessary. A loose federation of tribes sufficed to ward off the Pelishtim, who threatened mainly the strongest and most influential tribe, Yehuda. But the people of Yavesh Gilad could be saved only with a centralized authority, which would bear equal responsibility for all the nation's citizens. It was therefore when the people foresaw the looming threat of Amon that they approached Shemuel and demanded a king.
The reason behind Shemuel's adamant opposition to the establishment of a kingship represents one of the most fundamental questions that must be addressed when studying Sefer Shemuel. The question becomes somewhat more pressing in light of what we have just discussed. Seemingly, the people advance a compelling argument. How could they ensure the security of outlying areas without a strong, centralized government?
One answer perhaps emerges from Rashi's approach to Shemuel's opposition, which he expresses in his commentary to Masekhet Sanhedrin (20b). According to Rashi (in explaining the Gemara), while the nation's elders asked for a king for purposes of law enforcement and judicial stability, which was an acceptable and even admirable request, the masses sought a king for military purposes, to fight their wars. Apparently, in Rashi's view, God did not want Benei Yisrael to feel dependent on a king, rather than on the Almighty, for military success. Indeed, the section of the Torah authorizing – and perhaps even requiring – the establishment of a monarchy begins, "If, after you have entered the land… and taken possession of it and settled in it, you decide, 'I will set a king over me… ' you shall indeed set a king over yourself" (Devarim 17:14-15). The Torah clearly speaks of establishing a kingdom only after Benei Yisrael's successful conquest and settlement of Eretz Yisrael. God wanted it to be perfectly clear that it was He, and not any human king, who led the nation to victory and won them the land. Only after the completion of this process were Benei Yisrael free, and perhaps obligated, to establish the monarchy.
Understandably, then, Shemuel did not see the Amonite threat as a reason to establish a kingship. The process of conquest and securing borders was to be led by only the King of kings, and not by a human monarch. Therefore, rather than responding to Amon by appointing a human ruler, he admonished them to turn to God for assistance.
In the end, of course, God instructed Shemuel to acquiesce to the nation's demand, and he indeed appoints Shaul, who routs the Amonites in battle. The question of why the Almighty sanctioned the appointment of a king at this time lies beyond the scope of our discussion.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il