Then he would come back is literally “And his return.” Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation use a verb to translate a Hebrew noun, as do most modern versions. In many languages translators will do well to follow Revised English Bible, which brings out the fact that this was something that Samuel did repeatedly: “but always he went back to Ramah.”

For his home was there: the initial conjunction may be translated “because.” This introduces the reason the city of Ramah was the starting and ending point of Samuel’s travels. This does not mean simply that he had a house in that city. Rather this was his “home town” or “the place where he had been born.”

Administered justice: Good News Translation translates this same verb as “settled disputes” and “ruled” in verses 6 and 15, but Good News Translation here takes it in the more limited sense of serving as judge. A better translation may be “he governed Israel” (Revised English Bible).

He built there, that is, in Ramah (see Good News Translation).

Altar: see the comments on 2.28, 33.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

There is no way of knowing precisely how old Samuel had become at this point, but the context suggests that he was at least old enough to be unable to fulfill his functions as a leader of Israel. It is also clear that by this time he had more than one adult son.

He made: literally “he set [or, put],” in the sense of “appointed” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Since verse 2 states that Samuel had two sons, one may translate verse 1 as follows: “he made [or, appointed] his two sons.” Some languages, however, will use a causative form of the verb “become.”

The word judges is a participle in Hebrew, used as a noun. On the meaning of this verb, see 4.18 and 7.6.

The Hebrew preposition translated over may be translated in various ways, depending on the context. Some interpreters consider the area over which they served to be central here and translate with a word indicating location such as “in Israel” (Good News Translation). Others see the preposition here to be indicating “for the benefit of.” Klein, for example, says “for Israel.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

First-born son … second: the translations “older” and “younger” are more idiomatic English. The meaning is not merely that Joel was older than Abijah, with the possibility that there were other sons older than both of them. Samuel had only two sons. The name Joel means “Yaw (Yahweh) is God.” The name Abijah means “my father is Yahweh.”

Since Samuel had only two sons, it may be more natural to say “the other” in place of his second. And in some languages it may also be more natural to reorder the first part of this verse along the following lines: “Joel was the name of the first-born son and Abijah was the name of the other one.”

Judges: as in verse 1.

Beer-sheba: a town in the Judean desert at the southern end of Israelite territory (see the comment on 3.20). Their father Samuel had carried out his work in the central hill country to the north.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse seems to call for a contrastive transition word. Yet seems inappropriate, since it has the meaning “In spite of this.” “But” (New International Version, Contemporary English Version, and others) is more appropriate here.

Walk: this verb frequently has a figurative meaning, “to conduct one’s life,” “to behave,” or “to live one’s life.” In this context it is possible to translate “did not behave as their father did,” “did not live as he did” (New Century Version), or “did not follow his example” (New American Bible).

His ways: that is, the ways of Samuel. Ways or “paths” continues the figurative language and refers to conduct, customs, example, or way of living.

Turned aside: that is, instead of walking straight ahead in the ways of their father (see 12.3-5), they abandoned his ways and violated the law against perverting justice (see Exo 23.2, 6 and Deut 24.17). Good News Translation shows one possible rendering of the whole figure in nonfigurative language.

Gain: the word may also be translated “profit,” specifically profit obtained illegally or in some inappropriate manner. In some cases it may be most natural to say directly “for the sake of money” or “for their own benefit.”

Took bribes: the word “bribe” refers to something given or paid to a person (often in secret) in order to encourage him to act the way the giver wants him to act, even if the act is wrong or unjust. The acceptance of such gifts is strictly forbidden in Exo 23.2, 6 and in Deut 16.19. In some cases this may be naturally expressed as “allowed people to give them gifts” or “accepted money secretly.”

Perverted justice: the verb perverted is a form of the same verb translated turned aside in this verse. The sons “bent” justice. This is not a separate action from took bribes. Rather they accepted money given to them for the purpose of influencing their decisions about who was right or wrong. For this reason the conjunction and may not be appropriate between these two elements. New Century Version reads “accepted money secretly to make wrong judgments.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The transition word Then represents the common conjunction. But here it seems to suggest the passage of a certain amount of time before the leaders of Israel took action. New American Bible translates it “Finally.” However, it may also be taken as a logical connector introducing what the leaders did as a result of the inappropriate behavior of the sons of Samuel. Revised English Bible and Fox take it this way, translating “So.”

The elders were heads of families or groups of families (see the comment on 4.3). The Septuagint says “men of Israel” instead of all the elders of Israel, and it is followed by Anchor Bible.

Ramah was the town where Samuel lived and ruled over Israel (see 7.17).

Came: the decision about whether to use the verb “came” or “went” (Good News Translation) may depend on where the writer is thought to have been. Good News Translation assumes that the writer of Samuel was not at Ramah. New Jerusalem Bible similarly has “went back.” And New Century Version avoids the problem by using the verb “met.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Behold: the Hebrew word draws attention to the words that follow. If translators have a similar focusing particle in their own languages, it should probably be used here.

Do not walk in your ways: or, “do not follow your example” (New American Bible). This uses the same figure as in verse 3.

Now translates a temporal adverb. In addition to the temporal force, this adverb may also express a logical relationship. The words “So then” (Good News Translation) highlight this logical use, which connects the two parts of this verse. Klein renders this word “Therefore” (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). If translators have a word or words in their language that express both temporal and logical relationship, such a term may be used here. Since the Hebrew adverb here does not have a waw prefixed to it, the relationship is perhaps more one of time (Revised Standard Version) than one of logic (Good News Translation).

Appoint: this translates the same verb as in the first verse of this chapter, where Samuel is said to have made his sons judges. The elders are asking, in effect, that Samuel replace his sons with someone else. The new element, however, in their request is that the person named be a king, that is, a single individual recognized as the supreme authority over all the people of Israel, as in 2.10. This contrasts with the idea of Yahweh as the supreme authority, who had certain people acting as judges in his behalf. In some languages it will be difficult to find different words for judge and king, but some kind of distinction is crucial. While it is not totally satisfactory, the only way found in some cases is to use the word for “chief” for judge and “big chief” for king.

To govern us: literally “to judge us.” See the comments on this verb in 4.18 and 7.6.

All the nations: the reference is to all the pagan peoples or nations in distinction from the Israelite people. In some languages it may be necessary to add the word “other” (Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), since the Israelite people are not included in the nations.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Revised Standard Version reflects the form of the Hebrew text by repeating the words of the people as a direct quotation. Good News Translation restructures and says “their request for a king.” This model may serve well in other languages where direct quotations are used less frequently than in Hebrew.

Displeased Samuel: literally “was evil in the eyes of Samuel” (so Fox, Chouraqui). In many languages it will be more natural to change the order of the words in this part of the verse, making Samuel the subject of the sentence instead of the thing. Some other possible renderings are “Samuel was not pleased” (New Century Version) and “Samuel thought that it was wrong of them…” (New Jerusalem Bible).

To govern: as in verse 5, this is the same Hebrew word translated “judge” elsewhere.

The conjunction introducing the final sentence of this verse may be understood as a marker of result. It was because of the elders’ request that Samuel felt the need to pray to Yahweh. For this reason the conjunction may be rendered “so” (New Jerusalem Bible and New International Version as well as Good News Translation). Many English versions, however, leave it untranslated.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Hearken to the voice of the people: or, in more modern language, “Listen to the voice of the people” (New Revised Standard Version). But the meaning is not simply that Samuel was to listen to what they were saying. Rather he was being instructed to accept and act on what they desired. New American Bible is correct in translating “grant the people’s every request.” The same basic advice is repeated in verses 9 and 22 of this chapter. In 12.1 Samuel reminds the people that he had indeed paid attention to what they requested.

In all that they say to you: or “whatever the people say to you” (New Century Version). The idea is that Samuel should do everything that they asked.

For: the Hebrew transition word so translated is often used to show a relationship of cause and effect. Apparently the reason why Samuel should feel free to accept the elders’ proposal is that it does not constitute a personal rejection of his leadership. It is rather God’s leadership that is being rejected. This Hebrew word ky may also be understood as a demonstrative particle of emphasis. Fox, for example, has “indeed, it is not you whom they have rejected, indeed it is I whom they have rejected.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .