So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah.
- KJV Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
- NKJV Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,
- NASB Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;
- NLT Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel.
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
All the elders of Israel gather and come to Samuel at Ramah.
Overview
The united elders represent the whole nation bringing a formal request to its leader. Their assembly signals a momentous turning point in Israel's history. What they ask for will reshape the nation's government for generations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Sam 7:17Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.
- 2 Sam 5:3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
- Exod 24:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
- Exod 3:16Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:4 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.