Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah;
Samuel experienced rejection by the people he led just as Moses, Jesus Christ, and so many of God’s faithful servants have throughout history (cf. Luke 19:14). One writer suggested that the end of 1 Samuel 8:8 should read, ". . . so they are also making a king." [Note: Scott L. Harris, "1 Samuel VIII 7-8," Vetus Testamentum 31:1 (January 1981):79-80.] Even though this translation minimizes what seems to some to be a contradiction between 1 Samuel 8:7-8, it is inferior, I believe.