But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
Parallel translations
- WEB His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- KJV And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
- BSB But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
- NKJV But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- NASB His sons, however, did not walk in his ways but turned aside after dishonest gain, and they took bribes and perverted justice.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samuel's sons reject his ways, pursuing dishonest gain, taking bribes, and perverting justice.
Overview
Their corruption violates the clear demands of God's law against bribery and injustice (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19). This recalls the earlier failure of Eli's sons and shows that godly leadership is not automatically inherited. Their sin gives the elders a genuine grievance, even as it does not justify rejecting God's rule.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 16:19You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Ps 15:5he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.
- 1 Tim 6:10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
- Exod 23:8“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Exod 18:21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- 2 Sam 15:4Absalom said moreover, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!”
- 1 Tim 3:3not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
- Isa 33:15He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil —
- Eccl 2:19Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
- Jer 22:15–17“Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
- 1 Kgs 12:6–11King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me to answer these people?”
- Ps 26:10in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes.
- 2 Kgs 21:1–3Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 8:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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