Trembled - There was evidently something unusual in Samuel’s coming to Bethlehem; and the elders, knowing that Samuel was no longer at friendship with Saul, foreboded some evil.
Related Commentaries of 1 Samuel 16:4
1 Samuel 16:4
4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?