to be old · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
made
וַיָּ֧שֶׂםvai.Ya.sem
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sons
בָּנָ֛יוba.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
judges
שֹׁפְטִ֖יםsho.fe.Tim
H8199
to judge · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Israel
לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽלle.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 16:18-19 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge t…
1 Timothy 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before anot…
Judges 8:22-23 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from…
Judges 12:14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
2 Chronicles 19:5-6 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,
Nehemiah 7:2 That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above…
Judges 5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
Judges 10:4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in t…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 8:1-3
Two sad things we find here, but not strange things: - 1. A good and useful man growing old and unfit for service (Sa1 8:1): Samuel was old, and could not judge Israel, as he had done. He is not reckoned to be past sixty years of age now, perhaps not so much; but he was a man betimes, was full of thoughts and cared when he was a child, which perhaps hastened the infirmities of age upon him. The fruits that are the first ripe keep the worst. He had spent his strength and spirits in the fatigue of public business, and now, if he think to shake himself as at other times, he finds he is mistaken: old age has cut his hair. Those that are in the prime of their time ought to be busy in doing the wo…
When Samuel was old - Supposed to be about sixty.
He made his sons judges - He appointed them as his lieutenants to superintend certain affairs in Beer-sheba, which he could not conveniently attend to himself. But they were never judges in the proper sense of the word; Samuel was the last judge in Israel, and he judged it to the day of his death. See Sa1 7:16.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 8:1
And it came to pass, when Samuel was old,.... The common notion of the Jews is, that he lived but fifty two years (t); when a man is not usually called an old man, unless the infirmities of old age came upon him sooner than they commonly do, through his indefatigable labours from his childhood, and the cares and burdens of government he had long bore; though some think he was about sixty years of age; and Abarbinel is of opinion that he was more than seventy. It is a rule with the Jews (u), that a man is called an old man at sixty, and a grey headed man at seventy:
that he made his sons judges over Israel; under himself, not being able through old age to go the circuits he used; he sent the…
Sa1 8:1-2
The reason assigned for the appointment of Samuel's sons as judges is his own advanced age. The inference which we might draw from this alone, namely, that they were simply to support their father in the administration of justice, and that Samuel had no intention of laying down his office, and still less of making the supreme office of judge hereditary in his family, is still more apparent from the fact that they were stationed as judges of the nation in Beersheba, which was on the southern border of Canaan (Jdg 20:1, etc.; see at Gen 21:31). The sons are also mentioned again in Ch1 6:13, though the name of the elder has either been dropped out of the Masoretic text or has become c…
The Church Fathers
Therefore, repeating all things in summary, let us see what edification they contain in themselves according to another meaning. Because we said that in Samuel the new priesthood is signified, what does it mean that he grew old, except that while the holy Church is led through the passing spans of time, the beauty of conduct grows old in some priests? Now Samuel grew old because the vigor of authority withered. For Samuel was as if young when the order of priests, yearning only for heavenly desires, while seeking nothing earthly, the more effectively it could preach heavenly things, the more it nonetheless kindled the souls of those subject to them toward those things by words and examples. For he was strong in vigor and radiated with youthful beauty, while he displayed the power of the heavenly word in the splendor of holy conduct: because whatever he could powerfully preach by speaking, he strove also to show by living sublimely. For he both gave life to dead souls by the word; but shining forth with the wondrous flower of youth, he raised dead bodies by his command. Since he both gave sight to the blind, walking to the lame, and healing to all infirmities, and he so radiated with the beauty of most holy conduct, that it was of greater virtue to be able to live in this manner than to aid others in that way. Therefore Samuel flourished as if in youth, when in the order of priests there equally shone forth both the wonderful virtue of works and such immense beauty of holy conduct. But it has already been a long time since Samuel grew old. For many ages have elapsed, during which many of those by whose virtue the joys of the world should have been driven from the hearts of others follow the love of the world. Yet we do not say this as though the holy Church has no religious men: but that few are those who at the height of preaching have perfectly known how to despise the world and cling to the highest desires. Therefore it is aptly said that Samuel is both old and prophesies. He is indeed old, because he has lost the rigor of austere conduct in many: yet he does not cease to prophesy, because while he has some spiritual strength, he powerfully displays the virtue of the provident spirit. This can fittingly be understood of one and the same preacher. They are indeed old and prophesy, who are so dissolved through negligence that they teach well but live badly.…
1. The deeds of holy men who came before are often the consolations of the elect who follow. For by a wonderful dispensation of divine counsel, they were raised to the citadel of the highest way of life in such a way that they might do mighty things for themselves and provide right governance for their subjects; yet sometimes so left to themselves that those things which they arranged with right intention would not turn out rightly according to God's providence — so that their weakness might become the strength of the elect who follow: because even though as men they can err in managing the affairs of the holy Church, those ecclesiastical arrangements themselves are not to be abandoned. For behold it is said: (1 Kings 8:1–3) And it came to pass when Samuel had grown old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. And the name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of the second was Abiah, judges in Beersheba. And his sons did not walk in his ways. 2. Behold, he who had been full of the spirit of prophecy did not know that those whom he was appointing as judges of Israel would afterward turn aside after greed, and accept bribes, and pervert judgment. What wonder, then, if those who do not receive the grace of prophecy can be deceived in arranging appointments—if those who have the spirit of prophecy do not have that same spirit for disposing all things? Who would doubt concerning so great a man that, if he had foreknown the future perversity of his sons, he certainly would not have advanced them to public honors? Those, therefore, who knowingly promote the reprobate can in no way flatter themselves with this example of the prophet, because it is done innocently only when no signs of subsequent iniquity were apparent in them at the time they were promoted. For this reason also, those who were appointed by Samuel as judges of Israel were fittingly called his sons when they were appointed, so that from this they might be believed not only to have been begotten from him according to the flesh, but also adorned with the splendors of his manner of life. For this reason also their names are carefully recorded, so that from the title of the name that form of virtue which was then in them might be recognized. The name of one, he says, was Joel, and of the other Abiah; they were judges in Beersheba. But also concerning those who are said to have turned aside to…
Dictionary and topics
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Abia · 2. — 2.
Bribery · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Judge · .Samuel’s — .Samuel’s
Samuel · Makes his corrupt — Makes his corrupt
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
During Israel’s transition to a monarchy, neither God (8:7-9) nor Samuel (12:1-25) was pleased by the people’s demand for a king. Saul, the first king (chs 9–11), failed in his role (chs 13–31) and fulfilled Samuel’s warnings (see 8:10-18; cp. 16:1-13).
