It happened, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
"Joel ...  Abijah"  (1 Samuel 8:2).  The devotion of their godly father is evident in the names bestowed upon his sons.  Joel means `The Lord is God,' and Abijah (or Abiah) means `God is father'[1] The statement here that they performed their judgeship in Beersheba emphasizes the extension of Israel's authority under Samuel to that southern landmark.  Josephus states that one of Samuel's sons judged at Bethel,[2] but this presents no difficulty.  As Samuel's judgeships were performed at a number of different cities, his sons probably, at one time or another judged at all of them. The narrative here and that of Josephus do not necessarily refer to exactly the same time periods.  We receive both accounts as true.