What Does 1 Samuel 8:1 Mean in the King James?

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

1 Samuel 8:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The work of judgment is entrusted to people, so an office carries the weight of the decisions made in its name.

THE MEANING

Judgment reaches the people through those entrusted to decide for them. The verse places that responsibility in human hands, where the work of judging is carried out in the lives of others.

THE ROOT

שֹׁפְטִים

shofetim judges

GROWS FROM

שפט

sh-p-t

To judge, decide, or govern.

The word for judges grows from a root that names the act of deciding and the authority to govern. English can make “judges” sound like a title; the Hebrew keeps the office joined to the work it requires.

ALSO GROWS

shaphat: To judge or decide

שָׁפַט

The verb makes clear that the office is an active responsibility: someone must make decisions that shape the people’s lives.

mishpat: Judgment or justice

מִשְׁפָּט

This branch names the judgment itself, the outcome by which the work of the judges can be seen.

shofet: A judge

שֹׁפֵט

This singular form names the person who carries the authority, joining the role directly to the root’s work of judging.

THE PATTERN

Judgment is entrusted to human hands, and its rightness depends on the quality of the judgment they carry out.

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Deuteronomy 16:18 · KJVThe appointment of judges is joined to the charge that their judgment be just.

And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

2 Chronicles 19:6 · KJVThe verse places the judges’ decisions under an authority greater than their own office.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

John 7:24 · KJVThe command exposes the difference between holding the power to judge and judging rightly.

THE THREAD

And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

1 Samuel 8:3 · KJV

“Judgment” here is ⁨מִשְׁפָּט⁩ (mishpat), from the same root ⁨שפט⁩ (sh-p-t) as “judges” in the current verse. The next verse shows how the entrusted work can be bent when those carrying it turn aside.

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