1 Samuel 8:3

3 His sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

1 Samuel 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:3

And his sons walked not in his ways
The meaning of which is not that they did not go the circuit he did, which is too low a sense of the words some Jewish writers give; but they did not walk in the fear of God, in the paths of religion and righteousness, truth and holiness; they neither served God, nor did justice to men, as Samuel had done:

but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment;
indulged to covetousness, sought to get riches at any rate, took bribes, which blind the eyes of judges; and so passed wrong judgment, and gave the cause to those that gave the largest gifts, right or wrong.

1 Samuel 8:3 In-Context

1 It happened, when Shemu'el was old, that he made his sons judges over Yisra'el.

2 Now the name of his firstborn was Yo'el; and the name of his second, Aviyah: they were judges in Be'er-Sheva.

3 His sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

4 Then all the Zakenim of Yisra'el gathered themselves together, and came to Shemu'el to Ramah;

5 and they said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.