1 Samuel 8:2

1Sa 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: [they were] judges in Beersheba.

Ver. 2. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel.] Which some {a} will have to be Joel the prophet, the son of Pethuel, that is, of Samuel, say they, {Joe 1:1} as this Joel is called Vashni. {1Ch 6:28; 1Ch 6:33} He might afterwards repent of his government without righteousness, which is but robbery by authority, and be a prophet as was his father. Howsoever, he had a good son - viz., Heman the music master and a prophet. {1Ki 4:31 1Ch 6:33; 1Ch 25:1 Psa 88:1}

They were judges in Beersheba,] i.e., From Dan to Beersheba, saith Junius: the one in Dan, the other in Beersheba, saith Josephus. Pellican thinketh they dwelt both at Beersheba, purposely to vex the people with long journeys for judgment: or at least out of a neglect toward them. Others hold that their father set them there to exercise that authority by him delegated unto them in the southern parts of the land, because they were so far remote from Ramah, and that he knew not of their bribery, &c.

{a} Alsted.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 8:2. They were judges in Beer-sheba — In the southern borders of the land of Canaan, which were very remote from his house at Ramah; where, and in the neighbouring places, Samuel himself still executed the office of judge.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:2 Samuel’s two oldest sons functioned as judges in Beersheba, fifty miles south of their father’s home.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Who was also called Vasheni, 1 Chron. 6:28.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

2. Now the name, &c.] Joel = “Jehovah is God:” Abiah = “Jah is my father:” names significant of a protest against the prevalent idolatry. The text of 1Ch_6:28, where the names are given as “the firstborn Vashni and Abiah,” is corrupt. “Joel” has dropped out after “the firstborn,” and “Vashni” is an obvious corruption of the Heb. word meaning “and the second.”

judges in Beer-sheba] See note on ch. 1Sa_3:20. Beer-sheba was the most convenient centre for the southern district, which Samuel assigned to his sons, retaining the northern himself. Josephus says that “resigning his office to his sons he divided the people between them, and placed them in Bethel and Beer-sheba,” a statement which is probably his own conjecture, and does not agree with ch. 1Sa_7:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now the name of his firstborn was Joel,.... In Ch1 6:28 he is called Vashni; See Gill on Ch1 6:28. This was not Joel the prophet, as some have thought, neither his parentage, nor his office, nor his times, will agree with this:

and the name of his second Abiah: which two sons seem to be all he had:

they were judges in Beersheba; in the utmost border of the land, to the south, as Ramah, where Samuel dwelt and judged, was more to the north; where they were placed by their father, for the greater convenience of the people of Israel that lived southward, to bring their causes to them, as those lived more northward might bring them to him: according to Josephus (w), they were placed by their father, the one in Bethel, one of the places Samuel used to go to in his circuit and judge, and the other at Beersheba. But some, as Junius and others, think it should be rendered, "unto Beersheba"; and so takes in its opposite, Dan, which lay at the utmost border of the land northward; hence the phrase, "from Dan to Beersheba"; and that the one was settled at Dan for the sake of the northern part of the land, and the other at Beersheba, for the sake of the southern: or rather these sons of Samuel placed themselves at Beersheba; which was an ill judged thing, to be both in one place, and which must give the people of Israel a great deal of trouble, and put them to a large expense to come from all quarters thither, to have their causes tried; but that is not the worst.

(w) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 3.) sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The mention of Beer-sheba, on the extreme southern frontier of Judah, as the place where Samuel’s sons judged Israel is remarkable. It was probably due to the recovery of territory from the usurpation of the Philistines 1Sa 7:14.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In, or "as far as" Bersabee, from Dan, that is, throughout Palestine. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In the southern border of the land of Canaan, where he placed his sons, because these parts were very remote from his house at Ramah; where, and in the neighbouring places, Samuel himself still executed the office of the judge; sending his sons to reside and judge in distant places, for the ease and convenience of the people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. In Beer-sheba — Their chief seat was there, as Samuel’s was at Ramah. Probably the recovery under Samuel of many cities from the Philistines (1Sa_7:14) made it expedient to have some kind of magistrates appointed in the southern part of the country.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The name of his firstborn was Joel. The names of Samuel"s sons are pledges of his faith Joel meaning Jehovah is God, and Abiah Jab is Father. The name given in 1Ch_6:28, Vashni, is a mistake. It means, "and the second," the name of Joel the firstborn having somehow been omitted. The names of Saul"s sons, and even of Jonathan"s, unlike those in Samuel"s family, bear witness to their religion having been of a curiously mixed character. In Beer-sheba. Not, therefore, in any of the places to which Samuel went in person, and which were all near Ramah, his home. Beer-sheba was in the extreme south of the tribe of Judah, (see on Gen_21:31) on the Philistine border, and his being able to place his sons there in authority proves, not merely that his rule was acknowledged throughout the whole country, but also that the Philistines did not interfere much with the internal arrangements of the Israelites.

Josephus ("Antiq.," 6:3, 2) represents only one son as placed at Beer-sheba, and says that the other was judge at Dan, but it may be doubted whether the northern tribes were sufficiently under control to submit to be governed by a southern judge.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Beer-sheba - In the southern border of the land of Canaan, which were very remote from his house at Ramah; where, and in the neighbouring places Samuel himself still executing the office of judge.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.