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1 Samuel 8:2
ESV The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.
NIV The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
NASB The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba.
CSB His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.
NLT Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba.
KJV Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.
NKJV The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

What does 1 Samuel 8:2 mean?

Samuel is old, and he has appointed his two sons as judges over Israel (1 Samuel 8:1). Their names are Joel and Abijah, and they serve as judges in Beersheba.

It's unclear what exact role Samuel's sons played in "judging" over Israel. Beersheba was far to the south of the territory Samuel served in north of Jerusalem. It may be that the role of his sons was simply to oversee disputes and issues in that local area, as described in Deuteronomy 16:18. It may also have been that they were being groomed to replace Samuel as judge or deliverer over the entire nation (Judges 2:16–19) after his death.

This would have been highly unusual. Throughout the book of Judges, God always appointed a new judge. It was not an inherited position. Gideon specifically refused to allow for his role as judge to be expanded into any type of kingship or for his sons to take over for him after he died (Judges 8:22–23).
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