1 Samuel 8:1

ISRAEL DEMANDS A KING ... LIKE ALL THE NATIONS

This is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. Right here is the very tap root of the evil that mined Israel. In this chapter, they rejected God, demanded a king like other nations, and set in motion a chain of events that culminated in the frenzied cry of the Sanhedrin before Pilate, "We have no king but Caesar."

SAMUEL'S SONS NO BETTER THAN THOSE OF ELI

The big event in this chapter is Israel's demand for a king. There were a number of reasons for this development, but the `trigger situation' that precipitated the demand of the elders of Israel is revealed in this first paragraph.

"When Samuel became old he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his first-born son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice."

"Sons judges over Israel" (1 Samuel 8:1). This cannot mean that they replaced Samuel in any official sense, but that they were deputies appointed by Samuel and empowered to exercise authority that belonged to their father. It seems that the examples God allowed in the reprobate sons of both Eli and Samuel, and also in the instance of Abimelech the son of Gideon, should have been a sufficient warning to Israel against any system that called for hereditary succession of authority; but Israel did not heed it.

"Joel ... Abijah" (1 Samuel 8:2). The devotion of their godly father is evident in the names bestowed upon his sons. Joel means `The Lord is God,' and Abijah (or Abiah) means `God is father'[1] The statement here that they performed their judgeship in Beersheba emphasizes the extension of Israel's authority under Samuel to that southern landmark. Josephus states that one of Samuel's sons judged at Bethel,[2] but this presents no difficulty. As Samuel's judgeships were performed at a number of different cities, his sons probably, at one time or another judged at all of them. The narrative here and that of Josephus do not necessarily refer to exactly the same time periods. We receive both accounts as true.