1 Samuel 8:3

3 And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

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 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.

2 Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.

3 And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4 Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha.

5 And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.