Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah;
The critical complaint that the reason for Israel's request for a king, "Here (in this passage), is motivated by maladministration of justice, whereas in  1 Samuel 8:20 it is due to a desire for a leader in war,"[3] is a strange complaint indeed.  Apparently, the critic had never heard of multiple motivations!  A more discerning scholar listed a number of motivations for the request of Israel's elders: