## Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 156

###### Sifrei Devarim 156:1
[Sifrei Devarim 156:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:1)

(דברים יז יד) **כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ** – עֲשֵׂה מִצְוָה הָאֲמוּרָה בָּעִנְיָן, שֶׁבִּשְׂכָרָהּ תִּכָּנֵס לָאָרֶץ.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
(Devarim 17:14) "When you come to the land": Do the mitzvah prescribed herein, in reward of which you will enter the land.


###### Sifrei Devarim 156:2
[Sifrei Devarim 156:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:2)

**אֲשֶׁר ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ** – בִּזְכוּתְךָ.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
"which the L-rd your G-d gives to you": in your merit.


###### Sifrei Devarim 156:3
[Sifrei Devarim 156:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:3)

**וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּה בָּהּ** – בִּשְׂכַר שֶׁתִּירַשׁ תֵּשֵׁב.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
"and you inherit it and you inhabit it": As a reward for inheriting it, you will inhabit it.


###### Sifrei Devarim 156:4
[Sifrei Devarim 156:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:4)

**וְאָמַרְתָּ אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ**, רַבִּי נְהוֹרַי אוֹמֵר: הֲרֵי זֶה דְּבַר גְּנַי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ח ז): ״כִּי לֹא אוֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ כִּי אוֹתִי מָאֲסוּ מִמְּלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם״.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
"and you say: I shall place over myself a king, as all the nations that are around me": R. Nehorai says: This verse speaks in denigration of Israel, as in (I Samuel 8:7) "For it is not you (Samuel) that they have rejected (in asking for a king), but it is Me whom they have rejected from reigning over them."


###### Sifrei Devarim 156:5
[Sifrei Devarim 156:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:5)

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה: וַהֲלֹא מִצְוָה מִן הַתּוֹרָה לִשְׁאוֹל לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יז טו): ״שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ״! לָמָּה נֶעֶנְשׁוּ בִּימֵי שְׁמוּאֵל? לְפִי שֶׁהִקְדִּימוּ עַל יָדָם.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
R. Yehudah said: Is it not a mitzvah of the Torah to ask for a king? viz. (*Ibid*. 15) "Place shall you place over yourself a king, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose"? Why, then, was Israel punished for this in the days of Samuel? — Because they (the "ignoramuses" of that generation) preempted them (the elders) by placing "like all the nations that are around us" (before "to *judge* us").


###### Sifrei Devarim 156:6
[Sifrei Devarim 156:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/156:6)

**כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתָי**, רַבִּי נְהוֹרַי אוֹמֵר: לֹא בִקְשׁוּ לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ אֶלָּא לְהַעֲבִידָם עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ח כ): ״וְהָיִינוּ גַם אֲנַחְנוּ כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם וּשְׁפָטָנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ וְיָצָא לְפָנֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם אֶת מִלְחֲמֹתֵינוּ״.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
R. Nehorai said: They sought a king only to lead them to idolatry, as it is written (I Samuel, *Ibid*. 20) "*And we, too, will be like all the nations*, and our king will judge us and go out before us, and fight our wars."