Editing Divine right of kings (section)

=== Judaism ===
While the earliest references to kingship among [[Israelites|Israel]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]] proclaim that  <blockquote>14.When you come [[Canaan|to the land]] that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me'.

15. You may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.([[Book of Deuteronomy|Deut]] 17:14-15). </blockquote>Significant debate on the legitimacy of kingship has persisted in Rabbinical Judaism until [[Maimonides]], though many mainstream currents continue to reject the notion.

The controversy is highlighted by the instructions to the Israelites in the above-quoted passage, as well as the passages in 1 Samuel 8 and 12, concerning the dispute over kingship; and ''[[Shofetim (parashah)|Perashat Shoftim]].''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Polish |first=David |date=1991 |title=RABBINIC VIEWS ON KINGSHIP — A STUDY IN JEWISH SOVEREIGNTY |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25834198 |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |volume=3 |issue=1/2 |pages=67–90 |jstor=25834198 |issn=0792-335X}}</ref>  It is from 1 Samuel 8 that the [[Israelites|people of Israel]] receive ''mishpat ha-melech,'' the ''ius regium'', or the law of kingship, and from this passage that Maimonides finally concludes that Judaism supports the institution of monarchy, stating that the Israelites had been given three commandments upon entering the [[Promised Land]] - to designate a king for themselves, to wipe out the memory of [[Amalek]], and to build the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Polish |first=David |date=Spring 1991 |title=RABBINIC VIEWS ON KINGSHIP — A STUDY IN JEWISH SOVEREIGNTY |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25834198 |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |publisher=[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]] |location=Jerusalem |volume=3 |issue=1/2 |pages=67–90 |jstor=25834198 |issn=0792-335X}}</ref>

The debate has primarily centered around the problem of being told to "designate" a king, which some rabbinical sources have argued is an invocation ''against'' a divine right of kings, and a call to elect a leader, in opposition to a notion of a divine right.  Other rabbinical arguments have put forward an idea that it is through the collective decision of the people that God's will is made manifest, and that the king does therefore have a divine right - once appointed by the nation, he is God's emissary.

[[Halakha|Jewish law]] requires one to recite a special blessing upon seeing a monarch: "Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Who has given from His glory to flesh and blood".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Yehuda|last=Shurpin |title=Rabbi, Is There a Blessing for the Czar? How about the president? |website=Chabad |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5205488/jewish/Rabbi-Is-There-a-Blessing-for-the-Czar.htm}}</ref>