Shmuel Alef 8:3

3 And his banim walked not in his drakhim, but turned aside after betza (dishonest gain), and took shochad (bribe[s]), and perverted mishpat (justice).

Shmuel Alef 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.

Shmuel Alef 8:3 In-Context

1 And it came to pass, when Shmuel was old, that he made his banim shofetim over Yisroel.

2 Now the shem of his ben habechor was Yoel; and the shem of his mishneh (second), Aviyah; they were shofetim at Be’er Sheva.

3 And his banim walked not in his drakhim, but turned aside after betza (dishonest gain), and took shochad (bribe[s]), and perverted mishpat (justice).

4 Then kol Ziknei Yisroel gathered themselves together, and came to Shmuel unto Ramah,

5 And said unto him, Hinei, thou art old, and thy banim walk not in thy drakhim; now appoint for us a Melech to judge us like kol HaGoyim.