1 Samuel 8:4

4 So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah.

1 Samuel 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:4

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together,
&c.] At some place of rendezvous appointed; these were the heads of the tribes, and fathers of the houses and families of Israel, the principal persons of age and authority:

and came to Samuel unto Ramah;
the place of his nativity and abode, and where he now dwelt, and judged Israel; they went in a very respectable body with an address to him.

1 Samuel 8:4 In-Context

2 The name of his oldest son was Joel; the name of the second was Abijah. They served as judges in Beer-sheba.

3 But Samuel's sons didn't follow in his footsteps. They tried to turn a profit, they accepted bribes, and they perverted justice.

4 So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah.

5 They said to him, "Listen. You are old now, and your sons don't follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have."

6 It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us," so he prayed to the LORD.