And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.

and he will take them that he may appoint for himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and that they may plough his ground, and reap his harvest, and make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots.

also to appoint for himself heads of thousands, and heads of fifties; also to plow his plowing, and to reap his reaping; and to make instruments of his war, and instruments of his charioteer.

And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.

And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands, and commanders of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and gather his vintage, and to make his implements of war, and the equipment of his chariots.

And he will appoint them to be his tribunes and centurions, and the plowmen of his fields, and the harvesters of the grain, and the makers of his weapons and chariots.

This organization was as old as the time of Moses Numbers 31:14; Deuteronomy 1:15, and prevailed among the Philistines also 1-Samuel 29:2. The civil and military divisions were identical, and the civil officers were the same as the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, in time of war.
To ear his ground - literally, "to plow his plowing." "To ear" is an old English word, now obsolete, for to plow.

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties,.... Which though posts of honour, yet when they are not matter of choice, and especially being precarious, and depending on the arbitrary will of a prince, are not eligible, and less so to persons that choose another sort of life:
and will set them to ear his ground; to plough it; not the same persons made captains of thousands and fifties, but others, whom he will employ in tilling and manuring his fields, and oblige them to it:
and to reap his harvest; when it is ripe, and gather it in, and bring it home into his barns and garners:
and to make his instruments of war: as swords, spears, bows and arrows, most commonly used in those times:
and instruments of chariots; which seem to design chariots of war, and the iron spikes and scythes which were joined to them, to cut down the foot soldiers, when driven among them in battle, which are commonly called chariots of iron; see Joshua 17:16.

he will appoint him captains--In the East, a person must accept any office to which he may be nominated by the king, however irksome it may be to his taste or ruinous to his interests.

"And to make himself chiefs over thousands and over fifties;" - the greatest and smallest military officers are mentioned, instead of all the soldiers and officers (comp. Numbers 31:14; 2-Kings 1:9., with Exodus 18:21, Exodus 18:25). ולשׂוּם is also dependent upon יקּח (1-Samuel 8:11), - "and to plough his field (חרישׁ, lit. the ploughed), and reap his harvest, and make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots."

Will appoint - Hebrews. To, or for himself; for his own fancy, or glory, and not only when the necessities of the kingdom require it. And though this might seem to he no incumbrance, but an honour to the persons so advanced, yet even in them that honour was accompanied with great dangers, and pernicious snares of many kinds, which those faint shadows of glory could not recompense; and as to the public, their pomp and power proved very burdensome to the people, whose lands and fruits were taken from them, and bestowed upon these, for the support of their state. Will set them - At his own pleasure, when possibly their own fields required all their time and pains. He will press them for all sorts of his work, and that upon his own terms.