And said unto him. — They ground their request — which, however, they framed almost in the very terms used in the prophecy of the Law (Deuteronomy 17:14) — upon two circumstances: first, the age of Samuel, and his consequent inability to act as their leader in those perpetual wars and forays with the surrounding hostile nations; secondly, the degeneracy of his sons, who, placed by their father in positions of great trust, naturally looked to succeed him in his high dignity. They felt that the cares and duties of government were too weighty for Samuel, now growing old; and the men who through their kinship to him would naturally succeed him were utterly unfit for his office. The prospect before them was, they felt, a gloomy one. The Philistine power, too, was becoming daily greater in the south.
But what confidence must this assembly of elders have reposed in their aged judge to have used such a plea — his own growing infirmity and the unworthiness of his own sons, whom he had himself appointed to high offices! The elders of the people knew Samuel, the man of God, would do what was right and just — would give them the wisest counsel, utterly regardless of any private interest or feeling. The result justified their perfect confidence.