Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 8:1-6
The People Seek For The Appointment of a King Over Them (1 Samuel 8:1).
Outwardly the desire of the elders for a king appears reasonable, but what they ignored was the fact that once there was a dynasty there could be good kings followed by bad kings. It was a lesson that they should have learned from Eli's sons and Samuel's sons. What they should therefore rather have done was to trust in YHWH, and fully follow Him, for while they did so His appointees would always be dependable. Unfortunately, however, their desire arose from an evil heart of unbelief, and it was thus a rejection of YHWH's kingship.
Analysis.
a And it came about that when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel (1 Samuel 8:1).
b Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after ill-gotten gain, and took bribes, and perverted justice (1 Samuel 8:2).
c Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Rama (1 Samuel 8:4).
b And they said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).
a But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to YHWH (1 Samuel 8:6)
Note that in ‘a' Samuel makes his sons judges over Israel, and in the parallel they seek rather for a king to be judge over them. In ‘b his sons do not walk in his ways, and in the parallel that is the complaint of the elders about them. In ‘c' all the elders gather in an assembly of the tribes at Rama in order to settle the future leadership question.
‘ And it came about that when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.'
Samuel had been mainly responsible for judgeship in the central part of Israel, but as a prophet of YHWH his influence would have reached much further throughout the whole of Israel. Thus when he was growing old he assigned to the judgeship of his sons the southernmost region of Israel to his sons. The fact that he did so when he had not been acting there himself would suggest the probability that the people around Beersheba had come to him asking for suitable ‘judges' to rule over them. In response to their request he had felt that he could trust his sons. No father likes to feel that his sons cannot be trusted, and he felt that they were now ready to take independent authority. Unfortunately he was to be proved wrong. Perhaps it was because he had been neglectful over the bringing up of his own sons. Many a man who blesses many fails to be the blessing to his own family that he should be
‘ Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.
The names of his sons are given. His firstborn was Joel, while his second son was called Abijah. It will be noted that both names compound with the name of YHWH, Yo-el (Yah is God) and Abi-yah (My divine father is Yah), and witness to Samuel's faith. In 1 Chronicles 6:28, however, they are named ‘the firstborn Vashni and Abijah'. This is quite possible because it was not unusual in Israel for a man to have two names. They were appointed as joint judges in Beersheba which was the southernmost region in Israel (compare 1 Samuel 3:20).
(Many, however, think that in 1 Chronicles 6:28 the name Joel has somehow slipped out of the text, and that it should read, ‘the firstborn Joel and the second Abijah', for vashni could be pointed to signify ‘and the second'. There is, however, no textual evidence to support the suggestion. LXX reads ‘the first-born Sani, and Abia' which supports MT).
‘ And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after ill-gotten gain, and took bribes, and perverted justice.'
Sadly, as so often happens, their authority went to their heads and instead of walking in their father's ways they used their positions for their own ends. Thus they used their new positions in order to build up personal wealth. They sought to obtain ill-gotten gains, accepted bribes and perverted justice. And it was not a momentary lapse. For this to come to the notice of all Israel it must have gone on for a few years.
‘ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah'
The behaviour of Samuel's sons clearly had a profound effect on many of the elders of Israel who were no doubt watching to see how the sons got on. And it was seemingly that that brought them to a decision, for it was soon clear to them that the sons were not walking in the prophetic tradition of their father, and would not be able to follow in his footsteps. So summoning all the elders of the tribes together, and no doubt discussing the matter thoroughly, they came to Samuel at Ramah.
“The elders of Israel.” Israel had been run by a group of ‘elders' while in Egypt (Exodus 3:16), and ‘elders' were appointed from among the tribal elders to support Moses in judging Israel in the wilderness (Numbers 11:16; Numbers 11:24). Elders of the different cities were responsible for jurisdiction in that city (Deuteronomy 21:3; Joshua 20:4; Judges 8:16; 1 Samuel 4:2). So ‘elder' was the name given to those in authority both at a local and a tribal level. The elders mentioned here would be the ‘senior' elders who ruled over the different tribes and sub-tribes. While not all old, the tendency would be for them to be older men, simply because it was such who would be ‘fathers' of wider families, and because age was thought to bring wisdom.
‘ And they said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” '
And there they announced the decision that they had made. In view of the fact that Samuel was ageing, and that his sons had proved unsuitable, they wanted a king to act from now on as their judge and war-leader, a king ‘like all the nations round about'. Outwardly they were simply asking for what Moses had said that they would one day want to ask in Deuteronomy 17:14. But they were doing it in the wrong way, and in the wrong circumstances. Their request was not that YHWH provide them with another prophetic man or a man of God, nor that He appoint a suitable replacement for Samuel. It was not even a request for a king in line with YHWH's intentions as expressed in Genesis 49:10; Deuteronomy 17:14, someone appointed alongside a suitable prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15). There was no spiritual basis for their request at all. Basically they were indicating that they no longer wanted to go along in the same old way of having to look to YHWH every time they wanted a ‘judge'. They wanted something more permanent, just as the other nations had.
They had had plenty of opportunity to study other kings, for each city state in Canaan had its own king, as had the Philistine cities (even if the Philistines did call them ‘seren'), and they were envious at the way that this appeared to ensure a relatively smooth transition of leadership, and provide a war-leader when trouble lay ahead. They had seen how they could also set up efficient standing armies. (They only noted the successful ones). And with the danger of the Philistines ever looming once Samuel had gone they wanted to be prepared. They felt that having a king appointed while Samuel was still alive would take away the uncertainty. And that was what they wanted, at whatever cost. YHWH did not come into it except to help them in choosing a king.
‘ But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to YHWH.'
But their words displeased Samuel when they said ‘give us a king to judge us'. He recognised it for what it was, an unwillingness to continue trusting in YHWH to provide them with leadership. They wanted a more independent regime, not totally dependent on YHWH, and to depend on a man and his descendants. And so Samuel did the only thing that he could think of. He took the whole matter before YHWH. Godly man that he was, he knew that it was not for him to make the decision.