1 SAMUEL 12 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Samuel’s Farewell Speech

1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you.

CLARKE, "And Samuel said - It is very likely that it was at this public meeting Samuel delivered the following address; no other time seems to be given for it, and this is the most proper that could be chosen.

GILL, "And Samuel said unto all Israel,.... When assembled at Gilgal, after they had recognized Saul as their king, and he was established in the kingdom, and while in the midst of their mirth and joy: behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye have said unto me; respecting the affair of a king, to which it must be limited, as appears by what follows; otherwise it is possible, in some things they might apply to him about, he did not think fit to hearken to them, and grant their request, or speak for them: and have made a king over you; that is, had by the direction and appointment of God chosen one by lot, anointed and declared him king; for it was the Lord alone, that, properly speaking, made him a king.

HENRY 1-2, "Here, I. Samuel gives them a short account of the late revolution, and of the present posture of their government, by way of preface to what he had further to say to them, 1Sa_12:1, 1Sa_12:2. 1. For his own part, he had spent his days in their

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service; he began betimes to be useful among them, and had continued long so: “I have walked before you, as a guide to direct you, as a shepherd that leads his flock (Psa_80:1), from my childhood unto this day.” As soon as he was illuminated with the light of prophecy, in his early days, he began to be a burning and shining light to Israel; “and now my best days are done: I am old and gray-headed;” therefore they were the more unkind to cast him off, yet therefore he was the more willing to resign, finding the weight of government heavy upon his stooping shoulders. He was old, and therefore the more able to advise them, and the more observant they should have been of what he said, for days shall speak and the multitude of years shall teach wisdom; and there is a particular reverence due to the aged, especially aged magistrates and aged ministers. “I am old, and therefore not likely to live long, perhaps may never have an opportunity of speaking to you again, and therefore take notice of what I say.” 2. As for his sons, “Behold” (says he), “they are with you, you may, if you please, call them to an account for any thing they have done amiss. They are present with you, and have not, upon this revolution, fled from their country. They are upon the level with you, subjects to the new king as well as you; if you can prove them guilty of any wrong, you may prosecute them now by a due course of law, punish them, and oblige them to make restitution.” 3. As for their new king, Samuel had gratified them in setting him over them (1Sa_12:1): “I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, being desirous to please you, if possible, and make you easy, though to the discarding of myself and family; and now will you hearken to me, and take my advice?” The change was now perfected: “Behold, the king walketh before you” (1Sa_12:2); he appears in public, ready to serve you in public business. Now that you have made yourselves like the nations in your civil government, and have cast off the divine administration in that, take heed lest you make yourselves like the nations in religion and cast off the worship of God.

JAMISON, "1Sa_12:1-5. Samuel testifies his integrity.Samuel said unto all Israel — This public address was made after the solemn re-installment of Saul, and before the convention at Gilgal separated. Samuel, having challenged a review of his public life, received a unanimous testimony to the unsullied honor of his personal character, as well as the justice and integrity of his public administration.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:1. Samuel said unto all Israel — While they were assembled together in Gilgal. And this is another instance of Samuel’s great wisdom and integrity. He would not reprove the people for their sin, in desiring a king, while Saul was unsettled in his kingdom; lest, through their accustomed levity, they should as hastily cast off their king, as they had passionately desired him; and therefore he chooseth this season for it, because Saul’s kingdom was now confirmed by an eminent victory, and because the people rejoiced greatly, applauded themselves for their desires of a king, and interpreted the success which God had given them as a divine approbation of those desires. Samuel, therefore, thinks fit to temper their joys, and to excite them to that repentance which he saw wanting in

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them, and which he knew to be necessary to prevent the curse of God upon their new king and the whole kingdom.COFFMAN, "SAMUEL ADDRESSES THE NATION OF ISRAELSome have called this, `Samuel's Farewell Address,'[1] but that is an error. Samuel by no means retired from his ministry of guiding Israel into the new system of government, as subsequent chapters of First Samuel abundantly prove. "This speech has a defense of Samuel's administrative leadership, which he is now relinquishing to Saul; but he is not laying down his priestly functions nor his office as the first of the great prophets of God after Moses."[2]

The placement of this chapter is exactly correct, the events reported happening very probably, as admitted by many scholars, upon the occasion at Gilgal when Saul was finally actually acclaimed King of Israel. The fact of this address by Samuel coming just here strongly indicates, as we pointed out earlier, that there were three definite phases in the process of making Saul king, culminating in his popular acceptance at Gilgal.

"There are several particulars in this chapter which assume a knowledge of what was presented in previous chapters or point forward to events in subsequent chapters, indicating that 1 Samuel 12 cannot be isolated from surrounding material."[3]

In our study of this chapter we shall follow the paragraphing suggested by Willis.

SAMUEL'S DECLARATION OF HIS FAITHFULNESSAnd Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me, and I will restore it to you." They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken

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anything from any man's hand." And he said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." And they said, "He is witness."

The purpose of Samuel's plea here is that of emphasizing that it was not his abuse of the powers entrusted in him that, in any sense, justified the people's rejection of Samuel's judgeship and their demand for a king.

"I ... have made a king over you" (1 Samuel 12:1). Samuel is not here claiming any glory for this. He later stated in 1 Samuel 12:13 that it was God who had accomplished this.

"Samuel here laid down his office as judge, but without therefore ceasing as prophet to represent the people before God, and to retain the rights of God in relation to the king."[4]

"A bribe" (1 Samuel 12:3). The word from which this is translated in the Hebrew is actually ransom "The fine paid by a criminal in lieu of bonds or death."[5] Specifically, "Here it means a bribe offered to a judge to persuade him to acquit a murderer"[6]

The great significance of this paragraph, as pointed out by Keil, lay in the fact that by their witness of the honesty and integrity of Samuel's judgeship, "They thereby acknowledge on oath that there was no ground for their dissatisfaction with Samuel and their demand for a king."[7]COKE, ". And Samuel said unto all Israel— Saul being now publicly recognised for the king of Israel, Samuel takes the occasion of this solemn meeting to appeal to the people in the presence of their king, in justification of himself and his conduct since he had been judge over them: his office ceasing of course, now that God had given them a king.CONSTABLE, "Samuel's self-vindication 12:1-5

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Why did Samuel feel the need to justify his behavior publicly? Perhaps he knew that because the people had rebelled against God by demanding a king, they would experience discipline from the Lord. When it came, he did not want anyone to think he was responsible for it. Also, it is likely that Samuel took the people's request for a king as a personal rejection of himself. [Note: Wood, Israel's United . . ., p. 70.] He probably wanted to show the people that they had no reason to reject him because of his behavior. Samuel's words may seem to expose personal pride. I think more probably they express his concern that no one should conclude that living a life of commitment to God, as he had lived, would bring God's discipline. The discipline to come would be a result of the sin of the people, not Samuel's. Furthermore, by his life and ministry among them, Samuel had given the people no reason for demanding a king. He was also seeking to vindicate the type of rule he represented that was God's will for Israel then."Here, as in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, a keyword is the verb take: if kingship was to be characterized by the tendency to take rather than to give, it was otherwise with the prophet. As he stepped down from high office, Samuel's hands were empty (1 Samuel 12:5)." [Note: David Payne, pp. 57-58.] The writer wrote chapters 12-15 very skillfully to parallel chapters 8-11. Each section begins with Samuel warning the people about the dangers of their requesting a king (chs. 8 and 12). Each one also follows with a description of Saul's exploits (chs. 9-10 and 13-14) and ends with Saul leading Israel in battle (chs. 11 and 15). This parallel structure vividly sets off the contrast between Saul's early success as Israel's king and his subsequent failure. The reason he failed is the primary theological lesson of these chapters, and it advances the fertility motif.Chapter 12 is another most important theological passage in Samuel along with 1 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 7. Here Samuel explained Israel's future relationship with Yahweh and the Mosaic Law, since the people insisted on having a king and had rejected Yahweh and Samuel."With this address Samuel laid down his office as judge, but without therefore ceasing as prophet to represent the people before God, and to maintain the rights of God in relation to the king." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 115.]"This chapter . . . formally marks the end of the period of the judges ..." [Note: Gordon, p. 125.] ELLICOTT, " (1) And Samuel said unto all Israel.—We believe we possess in this section of our history, in the report the compiler of these memoirs has given us of the dialogue between the judge Samuel and the elders of Israel at the solemn

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assembly of Gilgal, many of the very words spoken on this momentous occasion by the old man. It is doubtless a true and detailed account of all that took place on that day—the real inauguration of the earthly monarchy; that great change in the life of Israel which became of vast importance in the succeeding generations. In such a recital the words used by that grand old man, who belonged both to the old order of things and to the new, who was the link between the judges and the kings—the link which joined men like Eleazar, the grandson of Aaron, Gideon, and Jephthah, heroes half-veiled in the mists which so quickly gather round an unlettered past, with men like David and Solomon, round whose lives no mist will ever gather—the words used by that old man, who, according to the cherished tradition in Israel, was the accredited minister of the invisible King when the Eternal made over the sovereignty to Saul, would surely be treasured up with a jealous care. This gives an especial and peculiar interest to the present chapter, which contains the summary of the proceedings of the Gilgal assembly. The old judge Samuel, with the hero-king Saul standing by his side, presents the king to the people of the Lord under the title of the “Anointed of the Eternal,” and then in a few pathetic words speaks first of his own pure and upright past. The elders reply to his moving words. Then he rehearses the glorious acts of the Eternal King, and repeats how He, over and over again, delivered the people from the miseries into which their own sins had plunged them; and yet, in full memory of all this, says the indignant old man, “in the place of this invisible Ruler, so full of mercy and pity, you asked for an earthly king. The Lord has granted your petition now. Behold your king !” pointing to Saul at his side.—The old man continues: “Even after your ingratitude to the true King, still He will be with you and the man He has chosen for you, if only you and he are obedient to the old well-known Divine commandments.” At this juncture Samuel strengthens his argument by invoking a sign from heaven. Awe-struck and appalled, the assembled elders, confessing their sin, ask for Samuel’s prayers. The old prophet closes the solemn scene with a promise that his intercession for king and people shall never cease.

Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.—This should be compared with 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 8:19-20; 1 Samuel 8:22, where the proceedings of the deputation of the people to Samuel at Ramah are related at length. Their wishes expressed on that public occasion had been scrupulously carried out by him. He would now say a few words respecting the past, as regards his (Samuel’s) administration, would ask the assembled elders of the nation a few grave questions, and then would leave them with their king. The account, as we possess it, of these proceedings at Gilgal on the occasion of the

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national reception of Saul as king, is in the form of a dialogue between the prophet Samuel and the elders of the people.HAWKER, "This Chapter contains the address to Samuel, on the resignation of his government, now Saul is king. He appeals to him concerning , his own integrity, in the administration of justice; brings the people to the acknowledgment of it: points out, yet once again, their sin and folly in the insisting upon a king: at the call of Samuel the Lord answers, in confirmation of what he had said of their sin and his rectitude, in sending thunder; and the chapter concludes with Samuel's assurances, that if the people obeyed the Lord, both they and their king should be preserved.Verse 1-2

(1) ¶ And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. (2) And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.

There is somewhat wonderfully affecting in the last address of departing persons, even in the commonest circumstances of life. But eminently more so in faithful ministers. Farewell discourses are generally very striking. Samuel had been called of God, from a very child, to minister unto the Lord's people; and now he was grown old among them. It is as if he had said, by this preface, I pray to be heard, before that I take my leave of you forever.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:1 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.

Ver. 1. And Samuel said unto all Israel] In this most excellent chapter the people giveth testimony to Samuel’s innocency, heareth his wisdom, seeth his patience, admireth his power with God.

Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice.] Which was so violent and impetuous. Now you must hearken to my voice, and be told that after your peace offerings God hath still a quarrel with you, and you must be yet further humbled, or else your sin will find you out, your iniquity will be your ruin. Great sins must be greatly

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repented of: otherwise men shall find that God may be angry enough with them, though they outwardly prosper.LANGE, " II. Samuel’s solemn concluding Transaction with the Assembly of the People at Gilgal

1 Samuel 12:1-25

1And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold I have hearkened unto your voice in 2 all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you, and I am old and gray-headed,[FN1] and behold, my sons [my sons, behold, they] are with you, and I have walked before you from my 3 childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am. Witness against me before the Lord [Jehovah] and before his Anointed: whose ox have I taken? or, whose ass have I taken? or, whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or, of whose hand have I received any [a] bribe to blind mine eyes therewith?[FN2] and I will 4 restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither 5 hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is [Jehovah be] witness against you, and his Anointed is [be] witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they[FN3] answered [said], He is witness6[Witness be they]. And Samuel said unto the people, It is [om. it is] the Lord [Jehovah][FN4] that [who] advanced [appointed] Moses and Aaron, and that [who] brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt!

7Now, therefore, [And now] stand still [stand forth] that I may [and I will] reason with you before the Lord [Jehovah][FN5] of all the righteous acts of the Lord8[Jehovah] which he did to you and to your fathers. When Jacob was come [came] into Egypt, and[FN6] your fathers cried unto the Lord [Jehovah], then the Lord [Jehovah] sent Moses and Aaron, which [and they] brought forth [om. forth] 9your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. And when [om. when] they forgat the Lord [Jehovah] their God, [ins. and] he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor,[FN7] and into the hand of the Philistines,10and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they cried unto the Lord [Jehovah] and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord [Jehovah], and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth; but [and] now 11 deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. And the Lord [Jehovah]

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sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan,[FN8] and Jephthah, and Samuel,8 and delivered 12 you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, when the Lord [Jehovah] your God was your king.

13Now, therefore, [And now] behold the king whom ye have chosen, and [om. and] whom ye have desired [demanded];[FN9] and behold, the Lord [Jehovah] hath set a 14 king over you. If ye will fear the Lord [Jehovah], and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord [Jehovah], then shall [om. then shall, ins. and] both ye and also [om. also] the king that reigneth over you [ins. will] continue following [follow] the Lord [Jehovah] your God, well.[FN10] 15But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord [Jehovah], but rebel against the commandment of the Lord [Jehovah], then shall the hand of the Lord [Jehovah] 16be against you, as it was against your fathers.[FN11] Now, therefore, [And now] stand 17 and see this great thing, which the Lord [Jehovah] will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto the Lord [Jehovah], and he shall [will] send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive [know] and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight [eyes] of the Lord [Jehovah] 18in asking you a king. So [And] Samuel called unto the Lord [Jehovah], and the Lord [Jehovah] sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord [Jehovah] and Samuel.

19And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord [Jehovah] thy God that we die not; for we have added unto all our sins this evil, 20to ask us a king. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not. Ye have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord [Jehovah], but serve 21 the Lord [Jehovah] with all your heart; And turn ye not aside, for[FN12] then should ye go [om. for then should ye go] after vain things, which cannot [do not] profit nor 22 deliver, for they are vain. For the Lord [Jehovah] will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake; because it hath pleased the Lord [Jehovah] to make 23 you his people. Moreover [om. moreover] as for me [ins. also], God forbid that I should [om. God forbid that I should, ins. far be it from me to] sin against the Lord [Jehovah] in ceasing to pray for you,[FN13] but I will teach you the good and 24 the [om. the] right way.[FN14] Only fear the Lord [Jehovah] and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider [see] how great things [how greatly] he hath 25 done [wrought] for you [towards you]. But if ye shall still [om. still] do wickedly, ye shall be

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consumed [destroyed] both ye and your king.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1 Samuel 12:1. And Samuel said to all Israel. That the following words were really spoken by Samuel is put beyond doubt by the direct impression of historical truth which this narrative in chap 12 makes, and by the homogeneity of the individual historical features of this picture with the historical picture given us in all that precedes. Ewald (Gesch. [History of Israel] I, 229, Rem2) calls this a narrative “which in its present form is inserted only for the sake of the exhortations to be put into Samuel’s mouth, and the occasional historical statements of which sound very discrepant,” against which we remark: 1) that the historical statements in this piece, as the exposition will show, do not at all contradict the foregoing historical account, and2) that if a mere insertion had been intended here, in order to put exhortations into Samuel’s mouth, it would have been simpler to give it in the form of a monologue; that Isaiah, a continuous address of Samuel to the people.—We have here, namely, not one continuous address of Samuel, as this section is usually called, but a dialogue, a conversation or transaction with the people in the grandest style. Samuel speaks to all Israel, and they speak to him by the mouth of their elders (cf. 1 Samuel 12:3-6; 1 Samuel 12:19-20), and the longer connected declarations of the prophet ( 1 Samuel 12:7-17; 1 Samuel 12:20-25) are embraced by these colloquies and attached to them.—Incorrect also is the usual designation of this section as a parting-address, whereby its significance in relation to the preceding account of Saul’s public solemn presentation to the whole people as king of Israel is obscured or concealed. Samuel does not take leave of the people in order to withdraw from the scene of public life and action into the retirement of private life; he rather promises the continuance not only of his intercession for them, but also of his prophetic labors in respect to the whole people; he points expressly to the elevated position which he will assume, as “teacher of the good and right way,” hereafter, as now, towards king and people.—Further, when the whole procedure, as is common, is regarded as a solemn resignation of office by Samuel, we must call attention to the fact mentioned in 1 Samuel 7:15, that he “judged Israel all the days of his life,” and to the vigorous interference which he repeatedly found necessary during Saul’s government. Certainly with the incoming of the kingdom, which the people desired instead of the existing judgeship ( 1 Samuel 8:5; 1 Samuel 8:20) in order that the king might judge the people and lead them in war, the official position which Samuel had hitherto occupied as judge in Israel, must have had an end; and this end

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of his proper judicial office, sole and highest Governor of Israel as he had hitherto been, is the starting-point for what he has now still to say to the people. He remains in fact what he was, the highest judge of Israel according to the will of God, under whose oversight and guidance the kingdom also stands; officially the leadership for external and internal political affairs, for which the kingdom was established, is no longer in his hands. Of a resignation of office nothing is said, but (proceeding only from the fact that the government is now given into the hands of the king, and his official government as judge has now consequently come to an end) he passes in review his previous official life as judge of the people, in order, over against the fulfilment of their desire for a king, which was a factual rejection of his official judgeship externally occasioned by the evil conduct of his sons ( 1 Samuel 8:1-7), solemnly to testify and cause them to testify that he had filled his office blamelessly and righteously. On this follows ( 1 Samuel 12:7-12) the rebuking reference to the great deeds of the Lord, wherein in the history of His guidance of the people He had magnified Himself in them, and to the guilty relation of ingratitude and unfaithfulness in which they had placed themselves to this their God and king by the longing after an earthly king, which was a rejection of His authority over them. In 1 Samuel 12:13-18, after a solemn confirmation of the fact, that God the Lord in accordance with that desire had given them a king, in powerful words, which are accompanied and strengthened by an astounding miracle, he exhorts king and people together to the right relation, in which in faithful obedience they are to put themselves, to the will and word of the Lord. King and people are to be obedient subjects of the invisible king. Finally follows ( 1 Samuel 12:19-25) a word of consolation from Samuel to the people now, in consequence of this warning and hortatory address, repentantly confessing their sin in their demand for a king, in which he gently and in friendly fashion exhorts them to obedience and faithfulness towards the Lord ( 1 Samuel 12:20-21), promises them the Lord’s grace and faithfulness ( 1 Samuel 12:22), and assures them of his continuing active fellowship with them in intercession and in instruction in the way of truth ( 1 Samuel 12:23), and finally with repeated exhortation and warning sets before them the blessing and good pleasure of the Lord along with a threatening reference to the punishment to be expected in case of disobedience ( 1 Samuel 12:24-25).—With this fourfold division this whole dialoguic transaction of Samuel with the people connects itself immediately with what precedes, as the conclusion of the assembly of the people in Gilgal. On this connection see Thenius’ remarks. Berlenberger Bible: “Thus with this ends in solemn wise the general assembly of the people.” [Philippson (in Israel. Bib.): “This chapter is one of the finest in the book, and is a model of old-Hebrew eloquence. Words and tone speak for the high antiquity of this piece.”—Tr.]

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The words: See, I have hearkened to your voice in all that ye said to me correspond exactly to the words in 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 8:21. Samuel at the same time testifies indirectly to the fact that he had therein obeyed the command of God: “Hearken to the voice of the people” ( 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 8:9; 1 Samuel 8:22). His listening to the voice of the people was based on the repeated divine command, and was an act of self-denying obedience to the will of the Lord.—“And I have made a king” points to 1 Samuel 12:15 a of the preceding chapter.PETT, "Samuel Withdraws From His Position Of Authority (1 Samuel 12:1-25).

Now that Samuel could see that Saul’s position was secure he wanted to make clear that as far as he was concerned it was the end of his own rulership over Israel. He indicated that he would continue to be YHWH’s prophet on their behalf, but that they must recognise once and for all that the civil authority now lay in the hands of Saul. This clear break was very wise, for it was important to avoid possible future divisions in the kingdom. No nation could have two masters.

This desire to make a clean break explains why he so openly gave account of his stewardship. It was in order to make abundantly clear to the people that, this account having been made, he bore no further responsibility. He stressed that as a prophet he would certainly continue to pray for them, and that he would instruct them and the king in the right way. But from now on he would not interfere in the rulership.

This was an important moment in Israel’s history. It was the end of the period of judgeship during which leaders were appointed by YHWH, and the beginning of a full scale kingship which was intended to lead to a dynasty. Gideon had been a petty king, but that had only been over a small part of Israel, and any dynastic ambitions collapsed. But now Saul had been appointed over all Israel as king, and it will be noted that from now on Israel’s fortunes will be closely tied in with their king’s fortunes. When the king does what is right in YHWH’s eyes things will go well. When the king does not do right in YHWH’s eyes things will go badly. This will be evidenced in the life of David, and it was the price of having a king.

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However, before handing over Samuel will seek to bring home to them the sinfulness and folly of what they had done. He describes how right from the time when Jacob had taken Israel into Egypt God had been their king, raising up deliverers and war leaders whenever His people sought His face. But now they had rejected God’s direct rule. From now on they would have a king, with all the consequences that would result from it. And he wants them to know that while God had graciously acceded to their request, He was not pleased about it. For He recognised it for what it was. Rejection of His hand being directly over them.

Samuel Now Explains How They Have Offended YHWH And Calls On YHWH For A Sign Which Will Demonstrate To Them What They Have Done, After Which He Promises That As Their Prophet He Will Continue To Pray For Them (1 Samuel 12:6-25).

His oration can be divided into two halves, the first dealing with how they have offended YHWH, as the people did of old. And the second part looking at what is required for the future, accompanied by a portentous sign of YHWH’s displeasure, and his assurance that he will pray for them. For he wants them to appreciate that they are still accountable to YHWH.

Analysis.

a And Samuel said to the people, “It is YHWH who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Samuel 12:6).

b “Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before YHWH concerning all the righteous acts of YHWH, which he did to you and to your fathers” (1 Samuel 12:7).

c “When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to YHWH, then 13

YHWH sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place” (1 Samuel 12:8).

d But they forgot YHWH their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them” (1 Samuel 12:9).

e “And they cried to YHWH, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken YHWH, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you’. And YHWH sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt in safety” (1 Samuel 12:10-11).

f “And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when YHWH your God was your king” (1 Samuel 12:12).

g “Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for, and see, YHWH has set a king over you” (1 Samuel 12:13).

h “If you will fear YHWH, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of YHWH, and both you and also the king who reigns over you be followers of YHWH your God, then it will be well with you. But if you will not listen to the voice of YHWH, but rebel against the commandment of YHWH, then will the hand of YHWH be against you, as it was against your fathers” (1 Samuel 12:14-15).

g “Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which YHWH will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to YHWH, that he may send thunder and rain” (1 Samuel 12:17 a).

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f “And you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of YHWH, in asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called to YHWH, and YHWH sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared YHWH and Samuel (1 Samuel 12:17-18).

e And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to YHWH your God, that we do not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king” (1 Samuel 12:19).

d And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following YHWH, but serve YHWH with all your heart, and do not turn aside, for then would you go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain (1 Samuel 12:20-21).

c For YHWH will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased YHWH to make you a people for himself” (1 Samuel 12:22).

b “Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against YHWH in ceasing to pray for you, but I will instruct you in the good and the right way” (1 Samuel 12:23).

a “Only fear YHWH, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great the things that he has done for you. But if you shall still do wickedly, you will be consumed, both you and your king” (1 Samuel 12:24-25).

Note that in ‘a’ they are reminded that it was YHWH Who appointed both Aaron and Moses, and delivered their fathers, and in the parallel they are warned that if they do not obey YHWH they will not be delivered, but both they and their king will be consumed, (as in fact Moses and Aaron were for disobedience). In ‘b’ he pleads with the people before YHWH concerning His righteous acts towards His people, and in the parallel he assures them that he will not sin against YHWH by ceasing to pray for them. In ‘c’ he declares how previously YHWH had delivered His people

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through Aaron and Moses in response to His people’s prayers (making them a people for himself), and in the parallel he confirms that YHWH will not forsake them, because He has made them a people for Himself. In ‘d’ their ancestors had forgotten YHWH and been sold into the hands of their enemies, and in the parallel they are not to turn aside and go after unprofitable vain things. In ‘e’ their ancestors had cried to YHWH because they had sinned, and they sought deliverance, and in the parallel the people ask Samuel to pray for them that they dies not, admitting their sins. In ‘f’ when they saw Nahash coming against them they demanded a king, and in the parallel because they had demanded a king they would experience thunder and rain. In ‘g’ they are ‘now’ (‘atah) to see and behold the king that they have chosen and asked for, and in the parallel they are ‘now’ (gam ‘atah) to stand still and see the great thing which YHWH will do before their eyes. In ‘h’ and centrally they are to fear YHWH and serve Him, both they and their king, and are warned what will happen if they do not listen to Him.

Verses 1-5

Samuel Makes A Clean Break From His Civic Responsibilities (1 Samuel 12:1-5).

In his farewell speech Samuel begins by making clear that he is now free from all civil responsibility for Israel. He wants them to know without any shadow of doubt that from now on he will act only as YHWH’s prophet. The deliberate detail in which he does this emphasises the cleanness of the break. As far as he is concerned once the people have given him clearance he ceases his duties. From now on they must look to the king whom they have chosen to watch over their interests in all civil matters. He will no longer be their ‘Judge’.

Analysis.

a And Samuel said to all Israel, “Look, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now, see, the king walks before you, and I am old and grey-headed, and look, my sons are with you, and I have walked before you from my youth to this day” (1 Samuel 12:1-2).

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b “Here I am. Witness against me before YHWH, and before his anointed, Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or of whose hand have I taken a ransom with which to blind mine eyes? And I will restore it you.” (1 Samuel 12:3).

b And they said, You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, nor have you taken anything of any man’s hand” (1 Samuel 12:4).

a And he said to them, “YHWH is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness” (1 Samuel 12:5).

Note that in ‘a’ he points out that he has made a king over them and has walked before them openly since his youth, and in the parallel he charges them in the sight of YHWH and the king to bear witness that he has not failed them in any way. In ‘b’ he sets out the charges that might possibly have been laid against him, and in the parallel the people refute them.

1 Samuel 12:1-2

‘And Samuel said to all Israel, “Look, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now, see, the king walks before you, and I am old and grey-headed, and look, my sons are with you, and I have walked before you from my youth to this day.”

He begins by pointing out that he has listened to their voice and made a king over them. He wants them to be absolutely clear that it was their choice and not his. Let them recognise that he had not wanted them to have a king over them. He had wanted YHWH to be their King. But they have gone their own way and chosen a king.

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How much we all like a king (whether it be a pastor, or a youth leader, or some other person in authority). It is so much easier to have someone who will tell us exactly what to do so that no blame might be laid at our door. And we then hope that he will not make too many demands on us. But what we really do not want to have to do is look to God directly for guidance, and to commit our way totally to Him. For we know that, in His case, any demands that He makes on us will be absolute, and that such a walk requires faith and obedience. It is a call to full surrender.

Then Samuel stresses that their king walks before them (and he could have added ‘in the prime of life’) for he contrasts the king with himself, old in years and grey-headed, with grown up sons who live among them. And he stresses that from his youth he has walked openly before them and served them. But that is now over. Now they must look for their young king to serve them.

K&D, "The time and place of the following address are not given. But it is evident from the connection with the preceding chapter implied in the expression ַוּיֹאֶמר, and still more from the introduction (1Sa_12:1, 1Sa_12:2) and the entire contents of the address, that it was delivered on the renewal of the monarchy at Gilgal.1Sa_12:1-2

Samuel starts with the fact, that he had given the people a king in accordance with their own desire, who would now walk before them. ִהֵּנה with the participle expresses what is happening, and will happen still. ִלְפֵני ִהְתַהֵּל must not be restricted to going at the head in war, but signifies the general direction and government of the nation, which had been in the hands of Samuel as judge before the election of Saul as king. “And I have grown old and grey ַׂשְבִּתי) from ִׂשיב); and my sons, behold, they are with you.” With this allusion to his sons, Samuel simply intended to confirm what he had said about his own age. By the further remark, “and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day,” he prepares the way for the following appeal to the people to bear witness concerning his conduct in office.PULPIY, "SAMUEL’S EXHORTATION TO THE PEOPLE AT GILGAL. This speech of Samuel is not to be regarded as a farewell address made upon his resignation of his office; for though a new power had been introduced, and Samuel’s sons excluded from the succession, yet it was only gradually that a change was made in his own position. He was still judge (1Sa_7:15), and on extraordinary occasions came forward with decisive authority (1Sa_15:33). But as Saul gathered men of war round him (1Sa_14:52), the moral power possessed by Samuel would be overshadowed by the physical

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force which was at Saul’s command. But no formal change was made. It had been the weakness of the office of the judges that their power was irregular, and exercised fitfully on special occasions. Such a power must fall into abeyance in the presence of the regular authority of a king surrounded by armed men. Without any direct deposition, therefore, or even still retaining the form of his office, Samuel would henceforward chiefly act as the prophet, and Saul as Jehovah’s king.The address divides itself into three parts:—1. The testimony to Samuel’s integrity as judge (1Sa_12:1-5).2. The reproof of the people for their disobedience and ingratitude (1Sa_12:6-17).3. The Divine testimony to Samuel’s uprightness and teaching (1Sa_12:18-25).SAMUEL’S INTEGRITY (1Sa_12:1-5).1Sa_12:1I have hearkened unto your voice. See 1Sa_8:7, 1Sa_8:9, 1Sa_8:22.1Sa_12:2The king walketh before you. I.e. you have now one to protect and lead the nation, whereas my business was to raise its religious and moral life. The metaphor is taken from the position of the shepherd in the East, where he goes before his flock to guide and guard them. On this account the word shepherd or pastor is used in the Bible of the temporal ruler (Jer_2:8; Jer_23:4, etc.), and not, as with us, of the spiritual guide. My sons are with you. This is no mere confirmation of the fact just stated that he was old, but a direct challenge of their dissatisfaction with his sons’ conduct, as far at least as concerns any connivance on his part, or support of them in their covetousness. Samuel says, You know all about my sons; I do not profess to be ignorant that charges have been brought against them. Give full weight to them, and to everything said against them and me, and then give judgment.1Sa_12:3, 1Sa_12:4, 1Sa_12:5Witness against me. Literally, "answer," as in a court of justice to the formal question of the judge. His anointed. I.e. the king (see on 1Sa_2:10, 1Sa_2:35; 1Sa_2:1). Whose ox,... whose ass? See on 1Sa_8:16. Of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? Bribe should be rendered ransom. Literally it signifies a covering, and was used of money given by a guilty person to induce the judge to close or "blind his eyes," and not see his sin. It does not mean, therefore, any bribe, but only that given to buy off a guilty person. Such persons are generally powerful men who have oppressed and wronged others; and the knowledge that they can cover their offence by sharing their gains with the judge is to this day in the East the most fruitful source of bad government. The people all bear witness to Samuel’s uprightness, nor is there any contradiction between this and their desire to have a king. His internal administration was just and righteous, but they were oppressed by the nations round them, and needed a leader in war. And in Samuel’s sons they had men, not vicious or licentious, but too fond of money, and so neither fit to be their generals in war nor their judges in peace. We gather from 1Sa_22:2 that though Saul proved a competent leader in war, he was not

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successful in the government of the country in peace.

BI 1-5, "And Samuel said unto all Israel.A statesman’s retrospectThe closing years in the life of Samuel, the last and greatest of the judges, witnessed a transition in the method of governing the nation of Israel from the theocracy to the monarchy. By the wise, unselfish action of Samuel, this transition, which might have involved grave national controversy and bloodshed, was peaceably made. Samuel’s work was, therefore, as a ruler, transferred to Saul; and though he continued for some years to exercise the functions of prophet, administrative duties passed into other hands. This address is a fine example of ancient Hebrew eloquence, and it manifestly appealed to the conscience and heart of the audience addressed. It touched upon three important points.I. Vindication of personal character and administration. In his splendid review what facts emerged that should commend the retiring leader to the gratitude and appreciation of the nation he had sought to serve?

1. His loyalty to the national request for a king. We know how acutely he had felt his supersession of himself, and how he had directed his prayer to God in respect of it; but he had waived his own strong objection, and had dutifully assisted in the appointment of the divinely selected monarch.2. His long and blameless life. High position magnifies every human quality, heightens every excellency, and blackens every blot of human character. But Samuel’s long career furnished no fault on which the most acute enquiry could fasten, no deviation from the right path that the sternest rectitude could condemn. What a magnificent challenge.3. His upright administration. Samuel challenged the people on the question of his “official life,” as well as on his personal character. His public duties had been as free from exaction and oppression as his private life from moral taint. Nothing is more common, it is said, in Eastern lands, even down to this day, than oppression and exaction on the part of rulers and public men having charge of the government and taxation of the people.

II. Defence of God’s previous government of Israel. Note:—1. The principle of this government. The theocracy, under which Israel had so long lived and prospered, meant the supreme and recognised sovereignty of God. By the test of experience, the test of practical results on the national life, the theocracy had its amplest vindication. Under it the nation had enjoyed signal prosperity.2. The agency by which administered. This unique method of national government was carried on by specially selected rulers, appointed as the exigencies of the times demanded. God raised up men—great men—to meet emergencies of national life as they arose.3. The law by which controlled. This law was the nation’s loyalty to God. When the nation was true to its best traditions, true to the faith and worship of the living God, true to the sublime morality of the Ten Commandments, God’s benediction rested upon them, and national prosperity followed. In this memorable address Samuel

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referred also to:—III. The conditions of continued national prosperity.

1. Changed political conditions do not change moral or religious obligations. King or no king, God’s claim on the worship and service of Israel could not be abrogated or diminished. Amid all the changes of their national life, that was the one thing that was changeless. A new king on the throne, or a new form of government of the realm, did not and could not alter that. What is morally wrong cannot be politically right. What is wrong in England is wrong in India. If it is wrong to break the Sabbath at home, it is wrong to break it abroad. Christianity knows no geographical limits in the scope of its message, or the authority of its claims. Public opinion may change and vary, but it ought not, and must not, override the higher and more authoritative law of God.2. Righteousness exalteth a nation. John Ruskin, in the opening paragraph of his “Stones of Venice,” tells us that “Since the first dominion of men was asserted over the ocean, three thrones, of mark beyond all others, have been set upon its sands: the thrones of Tyre, Venice, and England. Of the first of these great powers only the memory remains; of the second, the ruin; the third, which inherits their greatness, if it forget their example, may be led through prouder eminence to less pitied destruction.” No lesson is more urgently needed in our time than this. Vice means weakness and decay; virtue, devotion, humanity—these mean strength and permanence. The conditions of national prosperity, then, are clear and uniform. They are reverence for sacred things, obedience to the law of God in personal, social, and national affairs alike, consideration for others, and unselfish service to promote their interests and welfare. (Thomas Mitchell.)

Saul’s confirmation in the kingshipAfter the great victory over the Ammonites at Jabesh-Gilead, Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.” The people were in a mood to listen to the advice. They were full of enthusiasm for Saul, and of gratitude to God on account of their splendid success. And Samuel wisely took advantage of the occasion to confirm the loyalty, not only of the people to the king, but also of the king and people to God.

1. After the feast, perhaps in the course of the afternoon, Samuel solemnly addressed the vast assembly. His aim, in the first part of his speech, was to show that they had nothing to justify their demand for a king in the character of his administration.2. Samuel’s aim in the second part of his speech was to show that they had nothing to justify their demand for a king in the character of the Divine administration.3. But, after convicting them of slighting God in asking for an earthly sovereign, Samuel now speaks to them about their present duty. (T. Kirk.)

Samuel’s vindication of himselfNo doubt Samuel felt that, after the victory at Jabesh-Gilead, he had the people in a much more impressible condition than they had been in before; and while their minds

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were thus so open to impression, it was his duty to urge on them to the very uttermost the truths that bore on their most vital well-being. The reasons why Samuel makes such explicit reference to his past life and such a strong appeal to the people as to its blameless character is that he may establish a powerful claim for the favourable consideration of the advice which he is about to give them. If you have reason to suspect an adviser of a selfish purpose let him argue as he pleases, you do not allow yourselves to be moved by anything he may say. But if you have good cause to know that he is a disinterested man you feel that what such a man urges comes home to you with extraordinary weight.1. The first consideration he urged was that he had listened to their voice in making them a king. He had not obstructed nor baulked them in their strong feeling, though he might reasonably enough have done so.2. In the next place Samuel adverts to his age. What Samuel delicately points to here is the uniformity of his life. He had not begun on one line, then changed to another. Such steadiness and uniformity throughout a long life genders a wonderful weight of character. Happy the Church, happy the country, that abounds in such worthies!—men, as Thomas Carlyle said of his peasant Christian father, of whom one should be prouder in one’s pedigree than of dukes or kings, for what is the glory of mere rank or accidental station compared to the glory of Godlike qualities, and of a character which reflects the image of God Himself?3. The third point to which Samuel adverts is his freedom from all acts of unjust exaction or oppression, and from all those corrupt practices in the administration of justice which were so common in Eastern countries. Is there nothing here for us to ponder in these days of intense competition in business and questionable methods of securing gain? Surely the rule of unbending integrity, absolute honesty, and unswerving truth is as binding on the Christian merchant as it was on the Hebrew judge. No doubt Samuel was a poor man, though he might have been rich had he followed the example of heathen rulers. But who does not honour him in his poverty, with his incorruptible integrity and most scrupulous, truthfulness, as no man would or could have honoured him had he accumulated the wealth of a Cardinal Wolsey and lived in splendour rivalling royalty itself? It is right that we should very specially take note of the root of this remarkable integrity and truthfulness of his toward men. For we live in times when it is often alleged that religion and morality have no vital connection with each other, and that there may be found an “independent morality” altogether separate from religious profession. Let it be granted that this divorce from morality may be true of religions of an external character, where Divine service is supposed to consist of ritual observances and bodily attitudes and attendances, performed in strict accordance with a very rigid rule. Wherever such performances are looked on as the end of religion they may be utterly dissociated from morality, and one may be, at one and the same time, strictly religious and glaringly immoral. But wherever religion is spiritual and penetrating, wherever sin is seen in its true character, wherever men feel the curse and pollution of sin in their hearts and lives, another spirit rules. The will of God is a terrible rule of life to the natural man—a rule against which he rebels as unreasonable, impracticable, terrible. How then are men brought to pay supreme and constant regard to that will? How was Samuel brought to do this, and how are men led to do it now? In both cases, it is through the influence of gracious, Divine love. Samuel was a member of a nation that God had chosen as His own, that God had redeemed from bondage, that God dwelt among,

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protected, restored, guided, and blessed beyond all example. The heart of Samuel was moved by God’s goodness to the nation. More than that, Samuel personally had been the object of God’s redeeming love; and though the hundred-and-third Psalm was not yet written, he could doubtless say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,” etc. It is the same gracious, Divine action, the same experience of redeeming grace and mercy, that under the Christian dispensation draws men’s hearts to the will of God; only a new light has been thrown on these Divine qualities by the Cross of Christ. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)

Samuel on his defenceThe scene explains itself. In olden times, meetings of this kind were held in the open air. In earlier French history, the warriors used to meet in the month of May, and the king was carried round on a shield, to receive their homage. When our king Alfred divided the country into “hundreds,” he directed the heads of families to meet together at fixed seasons, the muster place being sometimes round a well-known tree, and there is in existence to this day such a tree, which gave its name to the hundred or wapen-take. And in the Isle of Man the farmers of the island meet once a year in the open air to transact business, to this very day. Israel in this chapter is met together in the same way. They are under a bright eastern sky, the young king stands before them—a fine figure to behold; perhaps the handsomest man of his time—and by his side stands an old man, hoary, and grey-headed. We must now leave all the rest, and think only of this grey-headed old man.I. The public man’s influence and temptations. Samuel spent about fifty years in a public life like this. Consider the influence he would necessarily acquire. If he has become known for being a sound thinker, competent to advise and willing to do so, men never mention his name without respect. They will go and ask him for opinions on matters that it seems almost impertinent to trouble him with. He seems only to live to assist others. Every house is open to him, and he carries many matters of importance without opposition. With such influence, consider what will be his temptations! If he has given a decision favourable to a man and that man, out of gratitude, sends him a handsome present, how tempting it will be to receive it. In going the round of his sessions he would probably receive hospitality from some of the richer men about; it would be his due. Now, suppose one of these richer men who had entertained him handsomely came into court, how tempting it would be to listen to him a little more favourably! What opportunities, too, he has to benefit his family. A man in such a position has sometimes disagreeable things to do. If he decides one way, he may make a powerful man his enemy. That enemy may annoy him much, may libel his character and torment him terribly. The temptation will then be to get rid of such a tormentor, by oppressing him and putting him down.II. Fidelity to trust. We are all in some places of trust. No man lives for himself alone. It is a very great mistake for any man to suppose that he has no influence. Who is more respected by any right-minded man than an honourable servant of standing character? I don’t know anyone more entitled to sympathy and kindness than those who have grown hoary and grey in service. Well, then, you that are men and women in the prime of life, whatever be your occupation, put this model before you, this speech of Samuel’s.III. The joy of a pure conscience. Children and young people, in this life of Samuel there

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is nothing that you cannot do in your way. Say to yourselves every day as you begin, “I am determined, God being my helper, to be so faithful in all that I do, that no man shall charge me with wronging him.” You will fail sometimes, and be grieved at your failure. Yet be not discouraged, but persevere, and you may, if spared to be old and grey-headed, totter down the aisle of your church, or the streets of your village or town, with the consciousness of clean hands. There is no joy unmixed in this world. In his old age Samuel could have applied to himself the words of our great dramatist:—Tho’ I look old, I’m lusty; For never in my youth did I woo the means of debility. Therefore mine age is as a lusty winter—Frosty, yet kindly. Let me be your servant. I’ll do the service of a younger man. But no! the appeal had not its right effect. His countrymen were not grateful to him, as they ought to have been; they wanted this young king—something new—and the old man in his old age was to be forgotten. We must be prepared to be misunderstood—to find even a friend, who ought to know better, grow cool. But, firm in our upright course, we must fall back on the approbation of a pure conscience. A man need not skulk and hang his head if his conscience tells him that he has nothing to be ashamed of; rather will it whisper to him peace amidst the gloom that might dishearten him. (H. Hiley, D. D.)

Appointment of the first king in IsraelIsrael was in the position of a boat which has been borne downs a swift stream into the very suction of the rapids. The best would be that she should be put back; but if it be too late for this, then the best is that there should be in her a strong arm and a steady eye to keep her head straight. And thus it was with Israel. She plunged down the fail madly, rashly, wickedly; but under Samuel’s control, steadily. This part of the chapter we arrange in two branches:—I. Samuel’s conduct after the mortification of his own rejection. The people having accepted Saul as their king, had been dismissed, and Samuel was left alone, but his feelings were very different from those which he had in that other moment of solitude, when he had dismissed the delegates of the people. That struggle was past. He was now calm. The first moment was a terrible one. It was one of those periods in human life when the whole meaning of life is perplexed, its aims and hopes frustrated; when a man is down upon his face and gust after gust sweeps desolately over his spirit. Samuel was there to feel all the ideas that naturally suggest themselves in such hours—the instability of human affection—the nothingness of the highest earthly aims. But by degrees, two thoughts calmed him. The first was the feeling of identification with God’s cause. “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me.” The other element of consolation was the Divine sympathy. If they had been rebellious to their ruler, they had also been disloyal to Jehovah. Atheism and revolution here, as elsewhere, went hand-in-hand. We do not know how this sentence was impressed by the Infinite Mind on Samuel’s mind; all we know is, he had a conviction that God was a fellow sufferer. The many-coloured phases of human feeling all find themselves reflected in the lights and shadows of ever-varying sensitiveness which the different sentences of His conversation exhibit. Be your tone of feeling what it may, whether you are poor or rich, gay or sad—in society or alone—adored, loved, betrayed, misunderstood, despised—weigh well His words first, by thinking what they mean, and you will become aware that one heart in space throbs in conscious harmony with yours. In its degree, that was Samuel’s support. Next, Samuel’s cheerful way of submitting to his fate is to be observed. Another prophet, when his

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prediction was nullified, built himself a booth and sat beneath it, fretting in sullen pride, to see the end of Nineveh. Samuel might have done this; he might have withdrawn himself in offended dignity from public life, watched the impotent attempts of the people to guide themselves, and seen dynasty after dynasty fall with secret pleasure. Very different is his conduct. He addresses himself like a man to the exigencies of the moment. Now remark in all this, the healthy, vigorous tone of Samuel’s religion. This man, the greatest and wisest then alive, thought this the great thing to live for—to establish a kingdom of God on earth—to transform his own country into a kingdom of God. It is worthwhile to see how he set about it. From first to last it was in a practical, real way—by activity in every department of life. Now he is deposed: but he has duties still. He has a king to look for, public festivals to superintend, a public feast to preside over; and later on we shall find him becoming the teacher of a school. All this was a religion for life. His spirituality was no fanciful, shadowy thing; the kingdom of God to him was to be in this world, and we know no surer sign of enfeebled religion than the disposition to separate religion from life and life duties. Listen: What is secularity or worldliness? Meddling with worldly things? or meddling with a worldly spirit? We brand political existence and thought with the name “worldly”—we stigmatise first one department of life and then another as secular; and so religion becomes a pale, unreal thing, which must end, if we are only true to our principles, in the cloister. Religion becomes feeble, and the world, deserted and proscribed, becomes infidel.II. Samuel’s treatment of his successor, after his own rejection, is remarkable. It was characterised by two things—courtesy and generosity. When he saw the man who was to be his successor, he invited him to the entertainment. This is politeness; what we allude to is a very different thing, however, from that mere system of etiquette and conventionalisms in which small minds find their very being, to observe which accurately is life, and to transgress which is sin. Courtesy is not confined to the high bred; often theirs is but the artistic imitation of courtesy. The peasant who rises to put before you his only chair, while he sits upon the oaken chest, is a polite man. Motive determines everything. Something still more beautiful marks Samuel’s generosity. The man who stood before him was a Successful rival. One who had been his inferior now was to supersede him. And Samuel lends him a helping hand—gracefully assists him to rise above him, entertains him, recommends him to the people. It is very touching. Samuel and the people did the game thing—they made Saul king. But the people did it by drawing down Samuel nearer to themselves. Samuel did it by elevating Saul above himself. One was the spirit of revolution, the other was the spirit of the Gospel. In our own day it specially behoves us to try the spirits, whether they be of God. The reality and the counterfeit, as in this case, are singularly like each other. Three spirits make their voices heard, in a cry for Freedom, for Brotherhood, for human Equality. And we must not forget, these names are hallowed by the very Gospel itself. Unless we realise them we have no Gospel kingdom. Distinguish, however, well the reality from the baser alloy. The spirit, which longs for freedom puts forth a righteous claim; for it is written, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Brotherhood—the Gospel promises brotherhood also—“One is your master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” Equality—Yes. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free.” This is the grand Federation, Brotherhood, Emancipation of the human raze. Now the world’s spirit aims at bringing all this about by drawing others down to the level on which each one stands. The Christian spirit secures equality by raising up. The man that is less wise, less good than I—I am to raise up to my level in these things. Yes, and in social position too, if he be fit for it. I am to be glad to see him

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rise above me, as generously as Samuel saw Saul. And if we could but all work in this generous rivalry, our rent and bleeding country, sick at heart, gangrened with an exclusiveness, which narrows our sympathies and corrupts our hearts, might be all that the most patriotic love would have her. Once more there is suggested to us the thought that Samuel was now growing old. They might forget Samuel—they might crowd round his successor—but Samuel’s work could not be forgotten; years after he was quiet and silent, under ground, his courts in Bethel and Mizpeh would form the precedents and the germs of the national jurisprudence. A very pregnant lesson. Life passes, work is permanent. It is all going—fleeting and withering. Youth goes. Mind decays. That which is done remains. Deeds never die. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Samuel, seer and statesmanThe character of Samuel itself is one which surely sets before us a type of that class of character which we can see in all departments of public life. Will you allow me to ask you to notice not merely the greatness of Samuel, but those causes which seem to have contributed to the formation of that character which lay at the back of his greatness? First, I may remind you how great Samuel was in the history of Israel. He has been called the second Moses, and not without reason.I. The greatness of Samuel is seen in the three-fold aspect of his life. He was great as a judge in an era of considerable political confusion; he was great in that he founded, or was considered to have founded, what was called the school of prophets; and he was great also in that, in an era of transition, he acted as a consummate statesman. We have only to recall the significance of those three statements to see how widespread and enduring was that quality of Samuel’s greatness. As a judge in an era of confusion he showed exactly those qualities which were so much needed. And you mark that he had seen some of the symptoms of moral deterioration in his early days. He had seen the loose habits which had crept in in all quarters, he had seen the immoral sons of Eli, and how far the immorality had crept into the people when in the very precincts of the sacred place there was such immorality! But that was not all. Where there is a moral deterioration there is always a deterioration of the religious conception. And that is what Samuel had perceived, and therefore he realised that alike in religious thought and in social manners there needed a great reformation. Now there are a great many ways in which you bring about reformation. You may do it by legislation, you may do it by sending broadcast through the world the pressure and persuasion of men. Samuel chose the latter. He knew the only valuable reformation was a reformation which would strike the heart of the people. Watch him now as the statesman. There comes a change; there is inevitably a change in all human life. The development of national life, like the development of individual life, must go on. And this development must mean the passing away of things which are very dear. He showed us the example which will always be the example of wise men in eras of change. When you see a movement has become movement of the people’s thought do not be so unwise as to endeavour to withstand it, unless it be a question of right and wrong, but be wise and direct what you cannot oppose. That is the attitude of Samuel. If you watch him you see him, a man possessed of singular gifts, of great vigour in action, practical, with great insight into the causes which underlie national greatness, and at the same time with that marvellous flexibility that even in his old age he was ready to adjust himself to the new conditions of the life in which he found himself.

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II. Samuel’s training for service. If we take him as marked by these features of greatness, we ask, what was the source, what were the forces which came to the formation of a character so strong, so youthfully great. There are two things, surely, which make up the complete man in his later days. One is, of course, the surroundings of his early life, and the other is the character which was originally his. The dramatic interest of life surely lies in this, that you have the raw material of life exposed to certain influences in the home, in the early training of the school, and in the environment of the dawn of life. Watch the environing circumstances in the case of Samuel. No person who understands the influence of home life will, I think, be tempted to undervalue it. Do you not pity Samuel in the second stage of his life? The child who is suddenly withdrawn at a tender age from home and is planted down amidst surroundings which, I think, one may venture without disparagement to call unsympathetic. He could not find sympathy in the wild men who were leading the loose lives of Hophni and Phinehas, and Eli must have been but a grave companion for the young child, but as you watch him he somehow or other identifies himself with the quiet gravity of the old man. Watch him a step further. There comes a moment in which the third influence is seen. The first is home, the second is the general companionship, and the third is the silent influence of the unseen world come into his life. There comes a moment when he is aware that life does not consist merely in those factors of home life which he has known, nor in these various powers of official and national life of which he has had some youthful experience, but behind all activities of the human life there is the great presiding power of the unseen; and in the silent watches of the night there is disclosed to him a consciousness of the great power, the great formative spirit, the great influence of the Divine which is always at work in the hearts and lives of men. And now watch the character which is exposed to these influences. Is there any character in the Bible of which you may say, “The quiet piety of his life was like a growing thing?” There were no startling changes. There was the one solid change from the home into the sanctuary, but for the rest his days were bound each to each by natural piety. Quietly he ripened under the solemn and sweet influences of the sanctuary.III. The ripened character. And now watch him in his later life, and see the other characteristics. One would have imagined that this child who ripened under these circumstances would have been a person deficient in practical activity, deficient in those stronger and manlier virtues which we think can only be gained in the rude struggle of the more active life. But the man who has been brought up in this fashion had the qualities within him of that dogged determination and that entire devotion to duty which never stumbled at any duty, however arduous, and never shudders or shrinks from any danger; and, therefore, when he takes the reins of power what promptitude and what decision there is in all that he does! This is the man who, in the climax of his life, can show the one great solid quality which was, after all, the true characteristic of his life—the most complete and absolute disinterestedness. What are the conditions which we desire to see established in national life? If Samuel is to be an expression, or a type, or a teaching to us, then surely we want men who are absolutely free from self-interest. The danger of nations lies in self-interest. May I venture to say it without being misinterpreted?—this danger of self-interest in national affairs becomes much more dangerous as the complexity of life grows, and therefore the opportunities of manipulating affairs for personal interest begin to multiply upon us. What is the secret of having a disinterested mind? Jesus Christ was the supreme teacher, remember, and remember those words which He said, which we ought to write forever in our hearts—I would emblazon them upon the walls of our Law Courts and our political assembly

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rooms—“If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Is there any inspiration of single-mindedness, is there any way that we can get the power to rid ourselves of self-interest? The voice of God heard always, the voice of God in the still hours of the night. That which makes the difference between man and man lies in this: his relationship to God. And it was because Samuel had found God in his life so early that God was in his life all through, and wherever he stood it was God that he saw. How much may we not be warped by personal interests, by the desire of some gain, by the opportunities which so often in the hurly-burly of affairs come in temptations before us! What need there is that we in such hours should be, as Samuel would have the people, purged from our own offences, all our gods of covetousness and idolatry put far away, and standing once more as a people hearing the voice of God. (W. Boyd Carpenter, D. D.)

1 Samuel 12:2I am now old and grey-headed.A good old ageA good old age has been cynically defined as “an age at which a man is good for nothing;” but it is our own fault if we are good for nothing in old age. The old can help the rising generation by sympathy and advice, and do much to prevent them from rising in the wrong direction. (Quiver.)

Age in the service of GodThe late Mr. George Muller, of Bristol, sent this testimony as a message to Christian Endeavourers: “The joy of serving God increases with the multiplying years. I have never had more delight in the work of the Master than now, at the end of more than threescore years and ten. The richest blessings will be discovered in the path of service.”Beautiful old ageHow beautiful it is to see a man, below whose feet time is crumbling away, holding firmly by the Lord whom he has loved and served all his days, and finding that the pillar of cloud, which guided him while he lived, begins to glow in its heart of fire as the shadows fall, and is a pillar of light to guide him when he comes to die. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

A peaceful retrospectThe only life that bears being looked back upon is a life of Christian devotion and effort. It shows fairer when seen in the strange cross lights that come when we stand on the boundary of two worlds—with “the white radiance of eternity” beginning to master the vulgar oil lamps of earth—than when seen by these alone. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

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2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.

BARNES, "My sons are with you - Possibly, however, a tinge of mortified feeling at the rejection of himself and his family, mixed with a desire to recommend his sons to the favor and goodwill of the nation, is at the bottom of this mention of them.

CLARKE, "My sons are with you - It is generally agreed that these words intimate that Samuel had deprived them of their public employ, and reduced them to a level with the common people.

Have walked before you from my childhood - He had been a long, steady, and immaculate servant of the public.

GILL, "1 Samuel 12:2And now, behold, the king walketh before you,.... He invested with his office, and in the exercise of it, and goes in and out as the captain, commander, and leader of the people; it is expressive of his being in the full possession of regal power and authority, and therefore Samuel might speak the more freely, as he could not be thought to have any hope and expectation of being reinstated in his government, or to have parted with it with any regret; and he wisely took this opportunity of reproving the people for their sin of desiring a king, when Saul was settled and established in his kingdom, and when they were in the midst of all their mirth and jollity, who might, from the success that had attended this first adventure of their king, conclude that they had done a right and good thing in requesting to have one: and I am old, and grey headed; and so unfit for government, and very willing to be eased of the burden of it: he must surely be more than fifty two years of age, as the Jews

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generally say he was, since it is not usual at such an age to be grey headed; see Gill on 1Sa_8:1; however, on this account he merited reverence and respect, and demanded attention: and, behold, my sons are with you; as private persons in the condition of subjects, making no pretension to government; and if they had committed anything criminal, they were open to the law, and might be charged, and tried, and treated according to their deserts; and there they were, and might be asked what questions they thought proper with respect to what they knew of his conduct; and to be hostages or bail for him, if they could prove anything against him; or to be taken to make satisfaction for any injuries committed by him: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day; his manner of and conversation from his infancy to this time was well known to them, and he had spent all his days in the service of God, and for the good of Israel.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:2. The king walketh before you — Ruleth over you. To him I have fully resigned my power, and own myself one of his subjects. I am old — And therefore unable to bear the burden of government. My sons are with you — Or, among you, in the same state, private persons, as you are; if they have injured any of you, the law is now open against them; any of you may accuse them, your king can punish them, I do not intercede for them. Walked before you — That is, been your guide and governor; partly, as a prophet; and partly, as a judge.COKE, "1 Samuel 12:2. Behold, the king walketh before you— When Samuel says, and my sons are with you, he seems to mean that the sons of whom they complained are now in their hands, deprived of their public station, reduced to the rank of subjects to the king, like the rest of the people, and punishable before his tribunal, according to their deserts. See Wall's note on the place. This fine apology which Samuel makes for himself puts one in mind of St. Paul's upon the like occasion. See Acts 20:33.ELLICOTT, " (2) And now, behold, the king walketh before you.—No doubt, here pointing to Saul by his side. The term “walketh before you implied generally that the kingly office included the guiding and governing the people, as well as the especial duty of leading them in war; from henceforth they must accept his authority on all occasions, not merely in great emergencies. Both king and people must understand that the days when Saul could quietly betake himself to his old pursuits on the farm of the Ephraim hills were now past for ever. He must lead, and they must follow. The metaphor is taken from the usual place of a shepherd in the East, where he goes before his flock. Compare the words of our Lord, who uses the same image of a shepherd walking before his sheep (John 10:27): “My sheep hear

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my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

And I am old and grayheaded.—Here the prophet, with some pathos, refers to the elders’ own words at Ramah (chap ). Yes, said the seer, I am old—grown grey in your service; listen to me while I ask you what manner of service that has been. Can any one find in it a flaw? has it not been pure and disinterested throughout?

My sons are with you.—Yes, old indeed, for my offspring are numbered now among the grown men of the people. Possibly, however, a tinge of mortified feeling at the rejection of himself and his family, mixed with a desire to recommend his sons to the favour and goodwill of the nation, is at the bottom of this mention of them.—Speaker’s Commentary. It is evident that these sons, whose conduct as Samuel’s deputies had excited the severest criticism on the part of the elders (1 Samuel 8:5), had been reduced—with the full consent, of course, of their father, who up to this period exercised evidently supreme power in all the coasts of Israel—to the condition of mere private citizens.

From my childhood unto this day.—Samuel’s life had in truth been constantly before the public observation from very early days; well known to all were the details of his career—his early consecration under peculiar and exceptional circumstances to the sanctuary service, the fact of the “word of the Lord” coming directly to him when still a boy, his recognition by the people directly afterwards as a prophet, then his restless, unwearied work during the dark days which followed the fall of Shiloh. It was indeed a public life. He would have Israel, now they had virtually rejected his rule, think over that long busy life of his for a moment, and then pronounce a judgment on it.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons [are] with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.

Ver. 2. And now, behold, the king walketh before you.] Graditur ante vos: gressu, sc., grallatorio, with a pace and state befitting a king: with care and charge also, to be unto you a shepherd and a shield. See Numbers 27:17. For which purpose, Samuel, as he here resigneth his power to him, so he propoundeth himself for a

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pattern to him in the ensuing apology.

And I am old and gray headed.] About sixty, as it is conceived, and much decayed in nature by his incessant pains in his office: Cura facit canos. What marvel that he who was so old-a-young-man should not be a young-old man? (a) Some Rabbis think that Samuel was but fifty and two when he died, but then he must have been gray headed at thirty-four, which is not likely, since he lived eighteen years after Saul was king, as Josephus holdeth. (b)

And, behold, my sons are with you.] Conditione privata, as private persons, so that you may question them, and deal by them as they deserve.

And I have walked before you.] In all integrity and good conscience, not only "harmless and blameless, as the son of God, without rebuke," [Philippians 2:15] but useful and serviceable in my place and station; trading all my talents for the common good of you all. Samuelis sane nomen (ut de Socrate, Plinius) {c} non hominis, sed integritatis et sapientiae nomen.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:2. Walketh is to be understood not merely of leading in war, but in general of the official guidance and government of the people. The “and I” introduces the contrast between the Hitherto and the Now. I am grown old and gray-headed points to the words of the elders, 1 Samuel 8:5. As the people by the mouth of their elders there take occasion from his age to ask a king for themselves, so Samuel here refers back to it, in order not only to point out that this their demand was fulfilled, since he in fact by reason of his age could no longer hold in his hands the internal and external control of the people, but at the same time, in view of the termination of his office and the beginning of the royal rule, to give account of the righteous character of his long career. The reference to his sons as occupying official positions is not to be regarded (Thenius, Keil, et al.) as a confirmation of his age, but looking to 1 Samuel 8:1 (where it is expressly said that Samuel on account of his age had made his sons judges over Israel, that Isaiah, his assistants in the judicial office) rather as a confirmation of the declaration that this change in the government must needs have taken place by reason of his age, which had already necessitated the substitution of his sons. [It is clearly wrong to suggest (Bib. Com. in loco) that “a tinge of mortified feeling at the rejection of himself and his family, mixed with a desire to recommend his sons to the favor and good-will of the nation,

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is at the bottom of this mention of them.” There is no trace here of mortification or favor-seeking. Samuel stands throughout above the people, and promises his continued friendship and watch-care, while he cordially accepts the change of the government.—Tr.]. What Samuel here affirms of his official career stands in direct contrast with what is said in 1 Samuel 8:3 of the blameworthy official conduct of these sons, since it is inconceivable that he did not know, and now have in mind the covetousness and perversion of judgment and the resulting discontent of the people, which was a cofactor in their desire for a royal government. The mode as well as the fact and content of the following self-justification naturally suggest the statement in 1 Samuel 8:3, and lead to the conclusion that this was the occasion of this (otherwise surprising) justification of his official career, on which in the eyes of the people a shadow had fallen in consequence of the opposite conduct of his sons. In order that, at this important turning-point of his life and of his people’s history, there may be perfect clearness and truth in respect to his judicial career and his unselfish official bearing towards the people, and that the lightest shadow of mistrust and misunderstanding may be dispelled, he in the first place refers to his official life which lay clear and open before the eyes of the people from his youth unto this moment when he had become old and gray; for the words “I have walked before you,” like the preceding “walketh,” indicate his public official intercourse and walk.

3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

BARNES, "His anointed - i. e., king Saul. The title Messiah, Χριστὸς Christos, 33

unctus, or anointed, had been given to the High Priests (Lev_4:3 : compare also 1Sa_2:10, 1Sa_2:35); but this is the earliest instance of an actual king of Israel bearing the title of God’s Christ, and thus typifying the true Messiah or Christ of God.Any bribe - literally, a “ransom,” the fine paid by a criminal in lieu of bonds or death Exo_21:30, applied to the bribe paid to an unjust judge to induce him to acquit the guilty. (Compare Amo_5:12.)To blind ... - See the margin. The phrase is used of one who averts his eyes, as refusing assistance, or as showing contempt, or, as here, as winking at what is wrong.

CLARKE, "Witness against me - Did ever a minister of state, in any part of the world, resign his office with so much self-consciousness of integrity, backed with the universal approbation of the public? No man was oppressed under his government, no man defrauded! He had accumulated no riches for himself; he had procured none for his friends; nor had one needy dependant been provided for out of the public purse. He might have pardoned his own sons, who had acted improperly, before he quitted the government; but though he was the most tender of parents, he would not, but abandoned them to national justice, with only a tacit solicitation of mercy: Behold, my sons are with you! They have acted improperly; I deprived them of their authority; they are amenable to you for their past conduct; I have walked uprightly and disinterestedly among you; they have not followed my steps: but can you forgive them for their father’s sake? As a minister of justice, he abandons them to their fate; as a tender father, he indirectly and modestly pleads for them on the ground of his own services. Had he not acted thus in both these relations, he would have been unworthy of that character which he so deservedly bears.

GILL, "Behold, here I am,.... No longer the supreme governor, but a subject, and accountable for any misdemeanour charged upon me, and to which I am ready to give answer, being now at your bar to be tried and judged before you: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed; signifying, that if they had anything to lay to his charge, that they would produce it, and give proof and evidence of it in the presence of God, in whose name they met, and of Saul, anointed king, and supreme judge and ruler of the nation: whose ox have I taken? by force to employ in his own service in ploughing his ground, or treading out his corn: or whose ass have I taken? to ride about on in his circuit, or to carry any burden for him: or whom have I defrauded? of their money or goods, by any artifice circumventing and cheating them: whom have I oppressed? struck, beaten, broken, or caused to be so used wrongfully;

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to whose person have I been injurious any more than to their property? Some derive the word from a root which signifies favour and goodwill, and interpret it as some of the Rabbins do, of his not taking money of persons with their goodwill; or rather, that he had done nothing as a judge for favour and affection, but had acted the upright part, without regard to rich or poor, friends or foes: or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? his meaning is, that he had never taken a gift or present from any person to favour his cause, that was to be brought before him, and give it for him right or wrong; to connive at any injury he had done, or to turn away his eyes from seeing where the justice of the cause lay; or that he had not received money to spare the life of a criminal that deserved to die; for the word used for a bribe signifies a ransom price, see Deu_16:19. and I will restore it to you; the ox or ass, money or goods, gifts and presents, or bribes taken, or make compensation for any injury done to the persons or estates of men. Some render it, "I will answer you" (f), or give in an answer to any such charges when exhibited.

HENRY, "II. He solemnly appeals to them concerning his own integrity in the administration of the government (1Sa_12:3): Witness against me, whose ox have I taken? Observe,

1. His design in this appeal. By this he intended, (1.) To convince them of the injury they had done him in setting him aside, when they had nothing amiss to charge him with (his government had no fault but that it was too cheap, too easy, too gentle), and also of the injury they had done themselves in turning off one that did not so much as take an ox or an ass from them, to put themselves under the power of one that would take from them their fields and vineyards, nay, and their very sons and daughters (1Sa_8:11), so unlike would the manner of the king be from Samuel's manner. (2.) To preserve his own reputation. Those that heard of Samuel's being rejected as he was would be ready to suspect that certainly he had done some evil thing, or he would never have been so ill treated; so that it was necessary for him to make this challenge, that it might appear upon record that it was not for any iniquity in his hands that he was laid aside, but to gratify the humour of a giddy people, who owned they could not have a better man to rule them, only they desired a bigger man. There is a just debt which every man owes to his own good name, especially men in public stations, which is to guard it against unjust aspersions and suspicions, that we may finish our course with honour as well as joy. (3.) As he designed hereby to leave a good name behind him, so he designed to leave his successor a good example before him; let him write after his copy, and he will write fair. (4.) He designed, in the close of his discourse, to reprove the people, and therefore he begins with a vindication of himself; for he that will, with confidence, tell another of his sin, must see to it that he himself be clear.2. In the appeal itself observe,(1.) What it is that Samuel here acquits himself from. [1.] He had never, under any pretence whatsoever, taken that which was not his own, ox or ass, had never distrained their cattle for tribute, fines, or forfeitures, nor used their service without paying for it. [2.] He had never defrauded those with whom he dealt, nor oppressed those that were under his power. [3.] He had never taken bribes to pervert justice, nor was ever biassed

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by favour for affection to give judgment in a cause against his conscience.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:3. Behold, here I am — I here present myself before the Lord, and before your king, ready to give an account of all my administrations. And this protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation, but for his own just vindication, that the people might not hereafter, for the defence of their own irregularities, reproach his government; and that, being publicly acquitted from all faults in his government, he might more freely reprove the sins of the people, and particularly that sin of theirs in desiring a king, when they had so little reason for it.ELLICOTT, " (3) Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed.—I speak in a solemn presence, “before the Eternal,” went on the old man, looking up heavenward, “and before His anointed,” pointing with a reverent gesture to the kingly form by his side. “His Anointed”—this is the earliest instance of a king bearing this title of honour. The high priest, whose blessed office brought him in such close contact with the invisible and eternal King, is in the early Hebrew story styled now and again by this honoured name. But henceforth it seems to be limited to the man invested with the kingly dignity. The infinite charm which the name “Anointed of the Eternal” carried with it for centuries is, no doubt, due to the fact that one greater than any of the sons of men would, in the far future, assume the same sacred designation—“His Anointed,” or “His Christ.” (The words are synonymous, both being translations of the Hebrew word Messiah.)

Nor has this peculiar reverence for the “Lord’s Anointed “been limited to His own people. Since the seer in the early morning on the hill-side, looking on “Ramah of the Watchers,” poured out the holy oil on the young Saul’s head, and then before all Israel gathered at Gilgal styled the new king by the title of the “Anointed of the Eternal,” wherever the one true God has been worshipped, an infinite charm has gone with the name, a strange and peculiar reverence has surrounded every one who could fairly claim to bear it, and for many a century, among all peoples, an awful curse has at once attached itself to any one who would dare lift his hand against the “Lord’s Anointed.”

Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken?—The ox and the ass are taken as representative possessions in this primitive age, in a country where agriculture formed the principal source of the national resources. Before the wars and

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conquests of David and Solomon, there was comparatively little of the precious metals among the Hebrew people, who seem to have traded in those early days but rarely with foreign nations; horses were, too, unknown among them. The law of Exodus 20:17 especially makes mention of the ox and the ass as things the Israelite was forbidden to covet. On these words of Samuel the Babylonian Talmud has an important note, which well illustrates the doctrine of the “Holy Spirit” as taught in Israel before the Christian era.

“Rabbi Elazer said, on three occasions did the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in a peculiar manner—in the judicial tribunal instituted by Shem, in that of Samuel the Ramathite, and in that of Solomon. In that of Shem, Judah declared, “She is righteous,” &c. How could he know it? Might not another man have come to her as well as he did? But an echo of a voice was heard exclaiming: Of me (the word ממגי is separated from the preceding word, and taken as a distinct utterance of the Holy Spirit); these things were overruled by me. Samuel said (1 Samuel 5-12:3 ), “Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? . . . And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, &c . . . And he said, He is witness” ( ו׳אמך). It ought to read, “And they said.” But it was the Holy Spirit that gave that answer. So with Solomon the words “She is the mother thereof (1 Kings 3:27) were spoken by the Holy Spirit.”—Treatise Maccoth, fol. 23, Colossians 2.

Whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed?—Alluding, of course, to his conduct during his long continuance in office as supreme judge in Israel. The “bribe”—literally, ransom—alludes to that practice unhappily so common in the East of giving the judge a gift (usually of money) to buy his favour, and thus a criminal who had means was too often able to escape punishment.

The sons of Samuel, we know from 1 Samuel 8:3, “took bribes, and perverted judgment.” This accusation, we know, had been preferred by the very elders of the nation before whom the seer was then speaking. The old judge must have been very confident of his own spotless integrity to venture upon such a solemn challenge. The elders had shown themselves by their bold accusation of the seer’s sons no respecters of persons, and from the tone of Samuel’s address, must have felt his words were but the prelude of some scathing reproaches they would have to listen to, and yet they were constrained with one voice to bear their witness to the perfect

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truth of his assertion that his long official life had been indeed pure and spotless. The Talmud has a curious tradition respecting the prophets, based apparently upon this saying of Samuel. “All the prophets were rich men. This we infer from the account of Moses, Samuel, Amos, and Jonah. Of Moses, as it is written (Numbers 16:15), ‘I have not taken one ass from them.’ Of Samuel, as it is written (1 Samuel 12:3), ‘Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken?’ Of Amos, as it is written (Amos 7:14), ‘I was an herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit,’ i.e., I am proprietor of my herds and own sycamores in the valley. Of Jonah, as it is written (Jonah 1:3), ‘So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it.’ Rabbi Yochanan says he hired the whole ship. Rabbi Rumanus says the hire of the ship amounted to four thousand golden denarii.”—Treatise Nedarim, fol. 38, Colossians 1.HAWKER, "(3) Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

His discourse is not by way of self-justification, to meet their applause. But to take off all possible censure. What a beautiful example, in a yet higher point of view, doth the apostle Paul give of himself before the church of Ephesus, in the close of his ministry, when he saith, I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Acts 20:26-27. Reader! if you consider the vast, and arduous charge of the ministry, you will enter with a proper earnestness and warmth, into a suitable apprehension of these things. And then the appeal of Samuel, will strike your mind with its full importance.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:3 Behold, here I [am]: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received [any] bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

Ver. 3. Whose ox have I taken?] So Moses purgeth himself, [Numbers 16:15] that he had not taken a hoof of any one: and St Paul to the same purpose in many places; as Acts 20:33, 1 Corinthians 9:18, &c.: and Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. 32. Quid populure hunc per avaritiam circumvenimus? nunquid privatis utilitatibus consuluimus? &c. Whom have we circumvented by covetousness? and wherein have we sought our own ends? &c. So Melancthon; George, prince of Anhalt; the late victorious

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Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden; "I protest before God," said he, in a speech to his German plunderers, "that I have not by all this war enriched myself so far as a pair of boots comes to. Yea, I had rather ride without boots than in the least degree enrich myself by the damage of poor people."

Or whom have I defrauded?] Quem calumniatus sum? Vatab. - Compare Luke 19:8. Whom have I deprived of his wealth by forged cavillation?

Whom have I oppressed?] Contrivi, pulsavi. Whom have I beaten, bruised, shattered, or any way violenced?

Or of whose hand have I received any bribe?] Munus expiatorium. Olim didici, quid sint munera, saith one: I know well the danger of meddling with bribes or ransoms, as they are here called. For, like the fish torpedo, they will infect and benumb the hand that touches them. (a)

To blind mine eyes therewith.] "A gift blindeth the eyes of the wise," [Deuteronomy 16:19] transformeth him into a very walking idol, that hath eyes and seeth not, ears that hear not: only he hath hands to hold bribes. [Isaiah 33:15] LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:3. Answer against me, that Isaiah, witness against me. A formal hearing of witnesses as a judicial act is here introduced. The judicial authorities are two, a heavenly, invisible, God the Lord, the All-knowing, before whom he walked, and an earthly-human, clothed, however, with divine authority, the Anointed of the Lord, who in the name and place of God executes the royal office, which includes the judicial. Here for the first time after the establishment of the kingdom the theocratic king is called the Anointed of the Lord. Here for the first time after his installation regard is had to Saul in his royal authority and position. Before him as before the Lord, the people, in reply to Samuel’s questions put in powerful lapidary style and with grand rhetoric, must bear witness to the following: 1) That he had not covetously appropriated the property of others,—“ox and ass” represent property in a social life based on agriculture and trade, and are expressly named in the Law with the things forbidden to covet ( Exodus 20:17); Samuel’s sons, on the contrary, “turned after gain,” that Isaiah, were covetous, 1 Samuel 8:5;—2) that he had violated no man’s right and freedom by oppression and

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violence,—ָרַצץ “defraud” is stronger than ָעַׁשק “oppress;” both often occur together, as in Deuteronomy 28:33, to express violence;—his sons “perverted judgment,” 1 Samuel 8:3;—3) that he had not been guilty of venality in the administration of justice by receiving bribes,—kopher (ֹּכֶפר) “bribe” is here not to be regarded (with Keil) as simply a payment for release from capital punishment ( Exodus 21:30; Numbers 35:31), but means in general a gift of money designed to buy the favor of the judge and thus escape deserved punishment. The gift was to cover the punishment [the Heb. word means primarily “cover,”—Tr.], and thus as covering be an expiation: “that I might hide my eyes from him (or, with it).”[FN15] The sons of Samuel took gifts, 1 Samuel 8:3. This was a transgression of the Law, Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 27:5.—The answer of the people: that Samuel had done no wrong.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:3“Here I am. Witness against me before YHWH, and before his anointed, Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or of whose hand have I taken a ransom with which to blind mine eyes? And I will restore it you.”

So he then calls on them to bear witness concerning him in the sight of YHWH, and of the one whom YHWH has ‘anointed’. For the latter see 1 Samuel 10:1; and compare 1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Samuel 2:35. The anointing indicated someone totally separated to God, and they could see in each one who was anointed by YHWH the potential future coming king who was described in 1 Samuel 2:10. But, alas, one by one each one of them, even David, would prove a disappointment.

And he asks the people whether, in the sight of these two, YHWH and His representative, they are able honestly to accuse him of any misdemeanour? Has he taken their oxen or asses (deprived them of their most valued possessions)? Has he ever defrauded them? Has he ever oppressed them? Has he ever accepted a bribe which has made him close his eyes to the truth (compare Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19; and contrast 1 Samuel 8:3)? If they can rightly accuse him of any of these things he will recompense them now, restoring to them what they claim that they have lost.K&D, "1Sa_12:3

“Bear witness against me before the Lord,” i.e., looking up to the Lord, the 40

omnipotent and righteous God-king, “and before His anointed,” the visible administrator of His divine government, whether I have committed any injustice in my office of judge, by appropriating another's property, or by oppression and violence (ָרַצץ, to pound or crush in pieces, when used to denote an act of violence, is stronger than ָאַׁשק, with which it is connected here and in many other passages, e.g., Deu_28:33; Amo_4:1), or by taking atonement money (ֹּכֶפר, redemption or atonement money, is used, as in Exo_21:30 and Num_35:31, to denote a payment made by a man to redeem himself from capital punishment), “so that I had covered my eyes with it,” viz., to exempt from punishment a man who was worthy of death. The ּב, which is construed with ֶהֱעִלים, is the ּב instrumenti, and refers to ֹּכֶפר; consequently it is not to be confounded with ִמן, “to hide from,” which would be quite unsuitable here. The thought is not that the judge covers his eyes from the copher, that he may not see the bribe, but that he covers his eyes with the money offered him as a bribe, so as not to see and not to punish the crime committed.

4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

CLARKE, "They said, Thou hast not defrauded - Of what minister or governor can any nation under heaven say such things?

GILL, "And they said,.... One in the name of the rest, or they all cried out as one man: thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us; had done them no wrong, neither privately nor publicly, by fraud or by force: neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand; as a gift, present, or bribe, to fit your his cause. Some would infer hence that be took nothing of them for his support and maintenance, and that he lived upon his own substance; but that is not likely or reasonable; it was but just that they should support him and his family suitably to his character as a judge, whose whole life was spent in their service.

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HENRY, "(2.) How he calls upon those that had slighted him to bear witness concerning his conduct: “Here I am; witness against me. If you have any thing to lay to my charge, do it before the Lord and the king, the proper judges.” He puts honour upon Saul, by owning himself accountable to him if guilty of any wrong.

III. Upon this appeal he is honourably acquitted. He did not expect that they would do him honour at parting, though he well deserved it, and therefore mentioned not any of the good services he had done them, for which they ought to have applauded him, and returned him the thanks of the house; all he desired was that they should do him justice, and that they did (1Sa_12:4) readily owning, 1. That he had not made his government oppressive to them, nor used his power to their wrong. 2. That he had not made it expensive to them: Neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand for the support of thy dignity. Like Nehemiah, he did not require the bread of the governor (Neh_5:18), had not only been righteous, but generous, had coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel, Act_20:33.

TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand.Ver. 4. Thou hast not defrauded us.] Happy is Samuel thus to be acquitted by himself in private, by others in public, in both by God. Quoad vixit, virtutum laude crevit, saith Cornelius Nepos concerning Cato. In maximis laboribus usque ad summam senectutem summa cum gloria vivit, saith Cicero of the same Cato. Invictus praeterea cupiditatibus animi et rigidae innocentiae, saith Pliny of him. How much better may all this be said of Samuel, and a great deal more?

5 Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”“He is witness,” they said.

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GILL, "And he said unto them, the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day,.... Should they hereafter reproach and vilify him, and charge him with any acts of corruption, injustice, and violence: that ye have not found ought in my hand; that they had nothing to accuse him of and charge him with throughout his whole administration, but had asserted his innocence and integrity, had honourably acquitted him, and given him a fair character: and they answered, he is witness; the omniscient God is a witness against us, should we depart from this testimony, and Saul, the Lord's anointed, is a witness that we have fully cleared thee from any imputations of maladministration. The word is singular, he "said" or answered (g), that is, Israel said, the whole body of the people, they all replied as one man: the reason why Samuel made such a speech at this time, when he resigned his government to Saul, was not only to secure his own character, but to suggest to Saul how he should rule and govern according to his example; and that having established his own character, he could the more freely, and with the better grace, reprove the people for their sin, as in some following verses.

HENRY, "IV. This honourable testimony borne to Samuel's integrity is left upon record to his honour (1Sa_12:5): “The Lord is witness, who searcheth the heart, and his anointed is witness, who trieth overt acts;” and the people agree to it: “He is witness.” Note, The testimony of our neighbours, and especially the testimony of our own consciences for us, that we have in our places lived honestly, will be our comfort under the slights and contempts that are put upon us. Demetrius is a happy man, that has a good report of all men and of the truth itself, 3Jo_1:12.

JAMISON, "the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness — that, by their own acknowledgment, he had given them no cause to weary of the divine government by judges, and that, therefore, the blame of desiring a change of government rested with themselves. This was only insinuated, and they did not fully perceive his drift.

K&D, "1Sa_12:5To confirm this declaration on the part of the people, he then called Jehovah and His

anointed as witnesses against the people, and they accepted these witnesses. ָּכל־ִיְׂשָרֵאלis the subject to ַוּיֹאֶמר; and the Keri though more simple, is by no means ,ַוּיֹאְמרּוnecessary. Samuel said, “Jehovah be witness against you,” because with the declaration which the people had made concerning Samuel's judicial labours they had condemned themselves, inasmuch as they had thereby acknowledged on oath that there was no ground for their dissatisfaction with Samuel's administration, and consequently no well-

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founded reason for their request for a king.

BENSON "1 Samuel 12:5. The Lord is witness — There cannot be a stronger or more amiable picture of integrity than we have in this speech of Samuel. Who can read it without feeling his heart touched with admiration of his character? Happy Samuel, who could thus call a whole kingdom to bear witness to his uprightness! Strange, infatuated people, that could wish to change such a governor for a king possessed of absolute power!ELLICOTT, " (5) The Lord is witness.—Then Samuel again, with increased solemnity, called the Eternal in the heavens above and His anointed king then standing by his side to witness what the people had just acknowledged concerning his scrupulously just rule.And they answered, He is witness.—And the assembly of Israel, again with one voice, shouted, Yes, He is witness.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:5 And he said unto them, The LORD [is] witness against you, and his anointed [is] witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, [He is] witness.

Ver. 5. The Lord is witness against you.] Samuel being so innocent, was the fitter to reprove: otherwise they would have retorted, Heal thyself, cast out first the beam that is in thine own eye. Cave ne dicta factis deficientibus crubescant. (a)

And they answered, He is witness.] Heb., And he answered, Witness. A voice from heaven answered, Witness; so some Hebrews sense it, as Lyra testifieth.LANGE, " 1 Samuel 12:5. Strengthening of this declaration by the participation of the people in Samuel’s invocation of the Lord and his Anointed as witness.[FN16] Calvin: “In these words they confess their ingratitude and perfidy before Jehovah and the king, in that they had rejected the so praiseworthy government of Samuel.”

1 Samuel 12:6. Further strengthening of the testimony by repetition on Samuel’s part of the invocation of God’s witness. To “Jehovah” we must supply “witness;” there is no need to suppose that it fell out by clerical error.—Maurer: “Nothing has fallen out. Samuel repeats the name of Jehovah in order to make the transition to

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what follows.” “Appointed” [עשה “made,” Eng. A.V. “advanced”] refers to what they were in their God-appointed calling; they were just that for which the Lord had made them, as leaders of the people and their representatives before God.—Calvin: “The word ‘make’ is to be understood of those excellent gifts which God had bestowed on Moses and his brother Aaron, that he might use their ministry in leading the people out of Egypt.” Samuel also was made by the Lord into that which he was to be and was to the people. In taking part, now, in his invocation of God as witness to his impartiality and justice, the people gave confirmation that he had exercised his judicial authority before the Lord according to his divine calling, and that in this view therefore, there was no necessity for their demand for a king.After ( 1 Samuel 12:1-6) having solemnly testified and before God and the king made them testify to the purity and spotlessness of his long official life among the people, he joins ( 1 Samuel 12:7-12) to the name of Jehovah, whom he has invoked as witness, the humbling reminder of the unfaithfulness of which they had been guilty in respect to this their God and Lord and His benefits by the demand for an earthly-human king. He here looks at the relation of the people to their God. The reference to Moses and Aaron as the first instruments of the Lord’s mighty deeds for His people, and His first deed, the deliverance from Egypt, forms the transition to the following enumeration of God’s might-revelations for the deliverance of His people from great dangers.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:5‘And he said to them, “YHWH is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” ’

He then asks them to confirm the fact in front of YHWH and in front of the one whom He has anointed, with both of them acting as witnesses. They reply by affirming that YHWH Himself is witness, and as the Greater includes the lesser, so also is His anointed. Thus Samuel has a twofold witness that he has not failed them in any way. And having sworn to his innocence they now know without any doubt that Samuel’s long watch over them as Judge is over. They can no longer look to him to act in civil affairs. From now on they must look to Saul.

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6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt.

BARNES, "Advanced - In the sense of appointing them to their office. It is, literally, “made” (see the margin; 1Ki_12:31; Heb_3:2). Samuel’s purpose is to impress the people with the conviction that Yahweh was their God, and the God of their fathers; that to Him they owed their national existence and all their national blessings, and that faithfulness to Him, to the exclusion of all other worship 1Sa_12:21 was the only safety of the newly-established monarchy. Observe the constant reference to the Exodus as the well-known turning-point of their national life (see 1Sa_4:8; 1Sa_6:6).

GILL, "And Samuel said unto the people,.... Having cleared and established his own character, he proceeds to lay before the people some of the great things God had done for them formerly, and quite down to the present time, the more to aggravate their ingratitude in rejecting God as their King: it is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron; raised them from a low estate, the one in a foreign country in Midian, the other in bondage in Egypt, to be deliverers, guides, and governors of his people Israel. Kimchi thinks this refers to what goes before, and that the sense is, that God, that raised Moses and Aaron to great honour and dignity, was a witness between him and the people; in which he is followed by some Christian interpreters. Ben Gersom makes mention of the same, but rather approves of the connection of the words with what follows, as does Abarbinel, and is doubtless most correct; the Targum is,"who hath done mighty things by the hands of Moses and Aaron:" and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt; when they were in bondage there, and that by the means of Moses and Aaron, by whose hands he wrought signs and wonders and inflicted plagues on the Egyptians, which made them willing at last to let Israel go.

HENRY 6-9, "Samuel, having sufficiently secured his own reputation, instead of upbraiding the people upon it with their unkindness to him, sets himself to instruct them, and keep them in the way of their duty, and then the change of the government would be the less damage to them.

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I. He reminds them of the great goodness of God to them and to their fathers, gives them an abstract of the history of their nation, that, by the consideration of the great things God had done for them, they might be for ever engaged to love him and serve him. “Come,” says he (1Sa_12:7), “stand still, stand in token of reverence when God is speaking to you, stand still in token of attention and composedness of mind, and give me leave to reason with you.” Religion has reason on its side, Isa_1:18. The work of ministers is to reason with people, not only to exhort and direct, but to persuade, to convince men's judgments, and so to gain their wills and affections. Let reason rule men, and they will be good. He reasons of the righteous acts of the Lord, that is, “both the benefits he hath bestowed upon you, in performance of his promises, and the punishments he has inflicted on you for your sins.” His favours are called his righteous acts (Jdg_5:11), because in them he is just to his own honour. He not only puts them in mind of what God had done for them in their days, but of what he had done of old, in the days of their fathers, because the present age had the benefit of God's former favours. We may suppose that his discourse was much larger than as here related. 1. he reminds them of their deliverance out of Egypt. Into that house of bondage Jacob and his family came down poor and little; when they were oppressed they cried unto God, who advanced Moses and Aaron, from mean beginnings, to be their deliverers, and the founders of their state and settlement in Canaan, 1Sa_12:6, 1Sa_12:8. 2. He reminds them of the miseries and calamities which their fathers brought themselves into by forgetting God and serving other gods, 1Sa_12:9. They enslaved themselves, for they were sold as criminals and captives into the hand of oppressors. They exposed themselves to the desolation of war, and their neighbours fought against them.

JAMISON, "1Sa_12:6-16. He reproves the people for ingratitude.

COFFFMAN, "SAMUEL REHEARSES THE BLESSINGS OF THE THEOCRACY"And Samuel said to the people, "The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the saving deeds of the Lord which he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Jabin king of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. And they cried to the Lord, and said, `We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Ashteroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.' And the Lord sent

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Jerubbaal, and Barak, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, `No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and hearken to his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well; but if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king."

Samuel's purpose here was to convince the people of their sin in demanding a king. He pointed out that without an earthly king and while living under the guidance of their true heavenly king (God), all of the great victories of God's people had been achieved. He called attention to the quadruple pattern so characteristic of the Book of Judges: (1) the apostasy of Israel; (2) their consequent oppression; (3) their crying to God for deliverance; and (4) God's sending a deliverer in the person of various judges. Samuel followed no chronological sequence in the things mentioned, but he did conclude the citations by a reference to the deliverance which God had achieved in Samuel's own deliverance of the people at Ebenezer.

"Barak" (1 Samuel 12:11). Some versions read Bedan here; but no judge of that name is known; and thus the correction as it stands here is most likely correct.

"And Samuel" (1 Samuel 12:11). Some of the radical critics have a fit about the appearance of Samuel's name here in the mouth of Samuel himself. Why? It flatly contradicts their efforts to get Samuel out of both 1Sam. 11,1 Samuel 12, but here it is just the same.

"There is nothing improper or out of place in Samuel mentioning his own judgeship. It had supplied a remarkable instance of God's deliverance (1 Samuel 7:12-15); and as it was the last, as well as one of the greatest deliverances, it was natural that he should have done so."[8]

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Furthermore, Hebrews 11:32 also corroborates the appropriateness and necessity of Samuel's being mentioned here.

"It was necessary for Samuel to mention his own role in leading them successfully against the Philistines at Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:7-13), in order to emphasize that current events proved that the Lord had not abandoned his people, but had continued his deliverances."[9]

It has always amazed this writer to observe the ingenuity and persistence of some radical critics of the Bible whose avid and unreasonable search for contradictions and unhistorical statements in the sacred text staggers the imagination. Here is another example:

"And when you saw that Nahush the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, `No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the Lord our God was your king" (1 Samuel 12:12).

Willis stated both the critical objection and the effective answer of it:

"Some scholars assume that Samuel's reference to Nahash is a reference to his attack on Jabesh-gilead (1 Samuel 11:1-3) (an unnecessary assumption, jbc) and that his reference to the peoples' demand for a king here is the same as that of 1 Samuel 8:19 (another unnecessary assumption, J.B.C.). Since this does not agree with the apparent chronological sequence of events in 1 Samuel 8-11; and since this seems to contradict the Lord's statement in 1 Samuel 9:16, that Samuel is to anoint Saul prince over Israel to save them from the Philistines, some conclude that Samuel's statement here is unhistorical."[10]

But, again from Willis: "That does not explain how such an idea ever emerged. The Ammonites and the Philistine were allies against Israel (Judges 10:7,11); and there

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is no reason why they might not have asked for a king because of dangers they were facing from both the Philistines and the Ammonites."[11] Additionally, the obvious solution to the alleged difficulty lies in the fact cited by R. P. Smith, "It is probable that there had been threats of war, and even incursions from the Ammonites against Israel by Nahash before his attack on Jabesh-gilead."[12]

Thus, Samuel's reference here to Nahash might well have referred to a threat from Nahash at a time previous to his actual invasion. In an account as abbreviated as this one in First Samuel, in which events separated by years, even decades and centuries, appear side by side, it is simply unintelligent to allege contradictions of statements which we cannot place chronologically in sequence. If we knew all the facts; and we certainly don't, then we are certain that all would be plain to us.

"If you will fear the Lord ... if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord ..." (1 Samuel 12:14). "Samuel here made it plain to Israel that the monarchy itself would not save them from the ups and downs of the past."[13]

"Then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king" (1 Samuel 12:15). This was the penalty against Israel and their king if they did not follow the Lord and obey his commandments.CONSTABLE, "Neither had God given the people occasion to demand a king. He had delivered them in the past from all their enemies when they confessed their sins, repented, and sought His help. They had been unfaithful to God and had disobeyed His Law, but He remained faithful to His commitment and promises to them.ELLICOTT, " (6) It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron.—The Hebrew should be rendered, “even the Eternal that advanced Moses and Aaron.” The elders of Israel (1 Samuel 12:5) had with one consent cried out, in reply to Samuel’s solemn calling God and the king to witness, He is witness. Then Samuel takes up their words with great emphasis, even the Eternal that advanced Moses, &c. The English rendering greatly weakens the dramatic force of the original Hebrew. The LXX. has caught accurately the thought by supplying the word “witness “: thus, The Lord is witness, &c.The Exodus is mentioned in this and in many places in these ancient records of the people as the great call of love by which the Eternal assumed the sovereignty over

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Israel. The Talmud here comments: “It is the Lord that made Moses and Aaron” (1 Samuel 12:6); and it is said (1 Samuel 12:11), “And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel.” Scripture balances in the same scale the three least important with the three most important personages, in order to teach thee that Jerrubbaal in his generation was like Moses in his, Bedan (said to be Samson) like Aaron, and Jephthah like Samuel. Hence the most insignificant man, if appointed a ruler of the congregation, has the same authority as the most important personage.—Treatise Rosh-Hashanah, fol. 25, Colossians 2.HAWKER, "(6) ¶ And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. (7) Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

We may consider this discourse of the prophet, as a beautiful example of ancient preaching. He takes up the subject from its beginning, and pints out the divine hand, as the Founder of every blessing. Nothing can be more sweet in our holy gospel, than when we trace the whole plan of redemption, with all its eventual happy consequences, back to its source in the everlasting love of God; and discover free grace, in its rise out of the spring of infinite mercy. It is sweet and precious on many accounts. Sweet and precious, in that it manifests the unchangeable purposes of God in Christ Jesus. Sweet also, in the assurance, that a dispensation so founded in infinite wisdom and mercy, must have made every suitable provision for it, in all its consequences. And sweet, and precious also, in that, all the future events of it are equally, and securely provided for. Think of this, reader, whenever doubts or misgivings arise in your mind.PETT, "Verses 6-12

Samuel First Briefly Recounts The History of YHWH’s Goodness In Appointing Deliverers In Order To Deliver Them (The Way In Which He Has Chosen To Rule Them), And Yet Even Then They Have Continually Failed To Respond To Him, Something Which Has Finally Come To A Head In Their Replacing YHWH With An Earthly King (1 Samuel 12:6-12).

The people having borne witness to his faithfulness and integrity before YHWH as

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their witness, he now turns the tables on them and bears witness to their faithlessness and lack of integrity in the eyes of God when God acted as their Judge, first of their fathers, and then of themselves. For after He had delivered them from Egypt they had failed Him constantly. And yet even so they had also constantly depended on Him when they were in trouble, and at such times He had appointed Saviours for them. And He had done this even to the last, in appointing Saul as their present war-leader and deliverer, and in doing so He had tried to point them in the way of making him only their war-leader (nagid), and continuing in the old way. But they had refused and had rather chosen to make him their full-blown king.

1 Samuel 12:6-7

‘And Samuel said to the people, “It is YHWH who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before YHWH concerning all the righteous acts of YHWH, which he did to you and to your fathers.” ’

The one ‘on trial’ has suddenly become the accuser. He reminds them of God’s method of saving and ruling His people, that when they were in bondage in Egypt it was YHWH Who had appointed Moses and Aaron to be His people’s deliverers and bring them out of the land of Egypt. YHWH had not failed them then. And he asks them to stand and listen while he goes on to demonstrate before YHWH concerning all the righteous things that YHWH has done for them and their fathers, after which he lists some of YHWH’s appointments in terms of the names of the ones whom He sent. K&d, "1Sa_12:6

But in order to bring the people to a still more thorough acknowledgment of their sin, Samuel strengthened still more their assent to his solemn appeal to God, as expressed in the words “He is witness,” by saying, “Jehovah (i.e., yea, the witness is Jehovah), who made Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt.” The context itself is sufficient to show that the expression “is witness” is understood; and there is no reason, therefore, to assume that the word has dropped out of the text through a copyist's error. ָעָׂשה, to make, in a moral and historical sense, i.e., to make a person what he is to be; it has no connection, therefore, with his physical birth, but simply relates to his introduction upon the stage of history, like ποιεῖν, Heb_3:2. But if Jehovah, who redeemed Israel out of Egypt by the hands of Moses and Aaron, and exalted it into His own nation, was witness of the unselfishness and impartiality of

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Samuel's conduct in his office of judge, then Israel had grievously sinned by demanding a king. In the person of Samuel they had rejected Jehovah their God, who had given them their rulers (see 1Sa_8:7). Samuel proves this still further to the people from the following history.BI 6-25, "And Samuel maid unto the people.Samuel’s dealings with the peopleHaving vindicated himself (in the first five verses of this chapter), Samuel now proceeds to his second point, and takes the people in hand. But before proceeding to close quarters with them, he gives a brief review of the history of the nation, in order to bring out the precise relation in which they stood to God, and the duty resulting from that relation (1Sa_12:6-12).

1. First, he brings out the fundamental fact of their history. Its grand feature was this: “It is the Lord who advanced Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.” The fact could not be disputed—their existence as a people and their settlement in Canaan were due to the special mercy of the Lord. And yet there was a want of cordiality on the part of the people in acknowledging it. They were partly at least blind to its surpassing lustre. “How strange it is,” Richard Baxter says in substance somewhere, “that men can see beauty in so many things—in the flowers, in the sky, in the sun—and yet be blind to the highest beauty of all the fountain and essence of all beauty, the beauty of the Lord!” Having emphatically laid down the fundamental fact in the history of Israel, Samuel next proceeds to reason upon it. The reasoning rests on two classes of facts: the first, that whenever the people forsook God they had been brought into trouble; the second, that whenever they repented and cried to God. He delivered them out of their trouble. Now, what, was it that had recently occurred? They had had trouble from the Ammonites. Now, from what Samuel says here, it would appear that this annoyance from the Ammonites was the immediate occasion of the people wishing to have a king. Here let us observe what their natural course would have been, in accordance with former precedent. It would have been to cry to the Lord to deliver them from the Ammonites. But instead of that, they asked Samuel to give them a king, that he might deliver them. You see from this what cause Samuel had to charge them with rejecting God for their King. You see at the same time how much forbearance God exercised in allowing Samuel to grant their request.2. Samuel is specially concerned to press on the people; and this he does in the remaining verses (1Sa_12:13-25), that they were to remember that their having a king in no serene and in no degree exempted them from their moral and spiritual obligations to God. He would show them there and then, under their very ayes, what agencies of destruction God held in His hand, and how easily He could bring these to bear on them and on their property. Oh, what folly it was to offer an affront to the great God, who had such complete control over “fire and hail, anew and vapours, stormy wind fulfilling His word”! What blindness to think they could in any respect be better with another king! Thus it is that in their times of trial God’s people in all ages have been brought to feel their entire dependence on Him.3. But now, the humble and contrite spirit having been shown by the people, see how Samuel hastens to comfort and reassure them. Now that they have begun to fear, he can say to them, “Fear not.” Now that they have shown themselves alive to the evils

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of God’s displeasure, they are assured that there is a clear way of escape from these evils. Samuel, moreover, reminds them that it was not they that had chosen God; it was God that had chosen them. “The Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people.” This was a great ground of comfort for Israel.4. Once more, in answer to the people’s request that he would intercede for them, Samuel is very earnest. “God forbid that I should sin again it the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.” The great emphasis with which he says this shows how much his heart is in it. “What should I do, if I had not the privilege of intercessory prayer for you?” There is a wonderful revelation of love to the people here. “I bless God,” said Mr. Flavel, one of the best and sweetest of the old Puritan divines, on the death of his father—“I bless God for a religious and tender father, who often poured out his soul to God for me; and this stock of prayers I esteem the fairest inheritance on earth.” How many a man has been deeply impressed even by the very thought that someone was praying for him! “Is it not strange,” he has said to himself, “that he should pray for me far more than I pray for myself? What can induce him to take such an interest in me?” Every Christian ought to think much of intercessory prayer, and practise it greatly. Think how Moses interceded for the whole nation after the golden calf, and it was spared. Think how Daniel interceded for his companions in Babylon, and the spirit was revealed to him. Think how Elijah interceded for the widow, and her son was restored to life. Think how Paul constantly interceded for all his Churches, and how their growth and spiritual prosperity evinced that his prayer was not in vain. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)

7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.

CLARKE, "Now therefore stand still - I have arraigned myself before God and you; I now arraign you before God.

GILL, "Now therefore stand still,.... Keep your place, and do not as yet break up the 54

assembly, but wait a little longer patiently, and with reverence and attention hearken to what I have further to say: that I may reason with you before the Lord; as in his presence; and which he observes to command the greater awe upon their mind, and the greater regard to the subject of his discourse and resolutions; which would be: of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers; not only in a way of judgment delivering them into the hands of their enemies, when they sinned against him, but rather in a way of mercy and kindness in delivering them out of their hands.

HENRY, "I. He reminds them of the great goodness of God to them and to their fathers, gives them an abstract of the history of their nation, that, by the consideration of the great things God had done for them, they might be for ever engaged to love him and serve him. “Come,” says he (1Sa_12:7), “stand still, stand in token of reverence when God is speaking to you, stand still in token of attention and composedness of mind, and give me leave to reason with you.” Religion has reason on its side, Isa_1:18. The work of ministers is to reason with people, not only to exhort and direct, but to persuade, to convince men's judgments, and so to gain their wills and affections. Let reason rule men, and they will be good. He reasons of the righteous acts of the Lord, that is, “both the benefits he hath bestowed upon you, in performance of his promises, and the punishments he has inflicted on you for your sins.” His favours are called his righteous acts (Jdg_5:11), because in them he is just to his own honour. He not only puts them in mind of what God had done for them in their days, but of what he had done of old, in the days of their fathers, because the present age had the benefit of God's former favours. We may suppose that his discourse was much larger than as here related. 1. he reminds them of their deliverance out of Egypt. Into that house of bondage Jacob and his family came down poor and little; when they were oppressed they cried unto God, who advanced Moses and Aaron, from mean beginnings, to be their deliverers, and the founders of their state and settlement in Canaan, 1Sa_12:6, 1Sa_12:8. 2. He reminds them of the miseries and calamities which their fathers brought themselves into by forgetting God and serving other gods, 1Sa_12:9. They enslaved themselves, for they were sold as criminals and captives into the hand of oppressors. They exposed themselves to the desolation of war, and their neighbours fought against them. 3. He reminds them of their fathers' repentance and humiliation before God for their idolatries: They said, We have sinned, 1Sa_12:10. Let not them imitate the sins of their fathers, for what they had done amiss they had many a time wished undone again. In the day of their distress they had sought unto God, and had promised to serve him; let their children then reckon that good at all times which they found good in bad times. 4. He reminds them of the glorious deliverances God had wrought for them, the victories he had blessed them with, and their happy settlements, many a time, after days of trouble and distress, 1Sa_12:11. He specifies some of their judges, Gideon and Jephthah, great conquerors in their time; among the rest he mentions Bedan, whom we read not of any where else: he might be some eminent person, that was instrumental of salvation to them, though not recorded in the book of Judges, such a one as Shamgar, of whom it is said that he delivered Israel, but not that he judged them, Jdg_3:31. Perhaps this Bedan guarded and delivered them on one side, at the same time when some other of the judges

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appeared and acted for them on another side. Some think it was the same with Jair (so the learned Mr. Poole), others the same with Samson, who was Ben Dan, a son of Dan, of that tribe, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him Be-Dan, inn Dan, in the camp of Can. Samuel mentions himself, not to his own praise, but to the honour of God, who had made him an instrument of subduing the Philistines. 5. At last he puts them in mind of God's late favour to the present generation, in gratifying them with a king, when they would prescribe to God by such a one to save them out of the hand of Nahash king of Ammon, 1Sa_12:12, 1Sa_12:13. Now it appears that this was the immediate occasion of their desiring a king: Nahash threatened them; they desired Samuel to nominate a general; he told them that God was commander-in-chief in all their wars and they needed no other, that what was wanting in them should be made up by his power: The Lord is your king. But they insisted on it, Nay, but a king shall reign over us. “And now,” said he, “you have a king, a king of your own asking - let that be spoken to your shame; but a king of God's making - let that be spoken to his honour and the glory of his grace.” God did not cast them off, even when they in effect cast him off.II. He shows them that they are now upon their good behaviour, they and their king. Let them not think that they had now cut themselves off from all dependence upon God, and that now, having a king of their own, the making of their own fortunes (as men foolishly call it) was in their own hands; no, still their judgment must proceed from the Lord. He tells them plainly,1. That their obedience to God would certainly be their happiness, 1Sa_12:14. If they would not revolt from God to idols, nor rebel against him by breaking his commandments, but would persevere in their allegiance to him, would fear his wrath, serve his interests, and obey his will, then they and their king should certainly be happy; but observe how the promise is expressed: Then you shall continue following the Lord your God; that is, (1.) “You shall continue in the way of your duty to God, which will be your honour and comfort.” Note, To those that are sincere in their religion God will give grace to persevere in it: those that follow God faithfully will be divinely strengthened to continue following him. And observe, Following God is a work that is its own wages. It is the matter of a promise as well as of a precept. (2.) “You shall continue under the divine guidance and protection:” You shall be after the Lord, so it is in the original, that is, “he will go before you to lead and prosper you, and make your way plain. The Lord is with you while you are with him.”

JAMISON 7-16, "Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you — The burden of this faithful and uncompromising address was to show them, that though they had obtained the change of government they had so importunely desired, their conduct was highly displeasing to their heavenly King; nevertheless, if they remained faithful to Him and to the principles of the theocracy, they might be delivered from many of the evils to which the new state of things would expose them. And in confirmation of those statements, no less than in evidence of the divine displeasure, a remarkable phenomenon, on the invocation of the prophet, and of which he gave due premonition, took place.

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BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:7. Now, therefore, stand still — Having obtained an honourable testimony from them as to his own conduct, he would not dismiss them till he had represented to them the great benefits which they had received from God, and their ingratitude to him. Of all the righteous acts of the Lord — Hebrews the righteousnesses; that is, mercies or benefits, the chief subject of the following discourse; some of their calamities being but briefly named, and that for the illustration of God’s mercy in their deliverances/ELLICOTT, "(7) Now therefore . . .—Samuel proceeds in his painful work. See now, he says, we have advanced thus far in my solemn pleading. Stand up now, ye elders, while I proceed. My innocence, as your judge, you have thus borne witness to, before God and the king, yet in spite of this you have wished to be quit of me, and of One who stood high above me—of One who has worked for you such mighty deeds, even the Eternal. See now, ye elders, what He has done for your fathers and for you, this invisible King, whom ye have just deliberately replaced by an earthly king.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:7 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.Ver. 7. Now therefore stand still.] Bustle not, bristle not, but suffer the words of reproof and admonition. A proud person would have replied, Who can stand still to have his eyes picked out? A headstrong horse casteth his rider, and riseth up against him.That I may reason with you.] Or, Contend with you in judgment. Sweetly said Epictetus, A faithful and prudent reprover is a Mercury, or messenger sent from God, to reduce a man to better practice.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:7. Formally and solemnly the first words “and now stand forth that I may reason with you before the Lord” introduce as it were a judicial procedure (Cleric.: “I will conduct my cause, as it were, before a judge”), in which Samuel as the judge before the tribunal of the invisible king represents God’s cause over against the people, and holds up before the latter their guilt in this matter of the king.[FN17] Ezekiel 17:20. ְצָדָקה [righteous deeds] never means merely “blessing, benefit, kindness,” but always contains the idea of righteousness. It indeed often actually means all that (as in Psalm 22:32; Psalm 24:5; Judges 5:11; Proverbs 10:2; Proverbs 11:4) but always from the stand-point of God’s faithfulness in covenant and promise; the acts of salvation are proof of the divine righteousness, so far as they are God’s reply to man’s right conduct towards Him, or, without this, an

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outflow of God’s faithfulness by which He grants man the thing promised as something falling to his share. The Plu. “righteous Acts,” as in Micah 6:5, are God’s several deeds of power and grace performed for His people on the ground of His covenant-relation instituted in Abraham and through Moses. [Bib. Comm.: Samuel is here vindicating God, comp. Stephen’s speech, Acts 7].

K&D 7-12, "“And now come hither, and I will reason with you before the Lord with regard to all the righteous acts which He has shown to you and your fathers.” ת ,ְצָדקrighteous acts, is the expression used to denote the benefits which Jehovah had conferred upon His people, as being the results of His covenant fidelity, or as acts which attested the righteousness of the Lord in the fulfilment of the covenant grace which He had promised to His people.1Sa_12:8-12

The first proof of this was furnished by the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and their safe guidance into Canaan (“this place” is the land of Canaan). The second was to be found in the deliverance of the people out of the power of their foes, to whom the Lord had been obliged to give them up on account of their apostasy from Him, through the judges whom He had raised up for them, as often as they turned to Him with penitence and cried to Him for help. Of the hostile oppressions which overtook the Israelites during this period of the judges, the following are singled out in 1Sa_12:9 : (1) that by Sisera, the commander-in-chief of Hazor, i.e., that of the Canaanitish king Jabin of Hazor (Jdg_4:2.); (2) that of the Philistines, by which we are to understand not so much the hostilities of that nation described in Jdg_3:31, as the forty years' oppression mentioned in Jdg_10:2 and Jdg_13:1; and (3) the Moabitish oppression under Eglon (Jdg_3:12.). The first half of Jdg_13:10 agrees almost word for word with Jdg_10:10, except that, according to Jdg_10:6, the Ashtaroth are added to the Baalim (see at 1Sa_7:4 and Jdg_2:13). Of the judges whom God sent to the people as deliverers, the following are named, viz., Jerubbaal (see at Jdg_6:32), i.e., Gideon (Judg 6), and Bedan, and Jephthah (see Judg 11), and Samuel. There is no judge named Bedan mentioned either in the book of Judges or anywhere else. The name Bedan only occurs again in 1Ch_7:17, among the descendants of Machir the Manassite: consequently some of the commentators suppose Jair of Gilead to be the judge intended. But such a supposition is perfectly arbitrary, as it is not rendered probable by any identity in the two names, and Jair is not described as having delivered Israel from any hostile oppression. Moreover, it is extremely improbable that Samuel should have mentioned a judge here, who had been passed over in the book of Judges on account of his comparative insignificance. There is also just as little ground for rendering Bedan as an appellative, e.g., the Danite (ben-Dan), as Kimchi suggests, or corpulentus as Böttcher maintains, and so connecting the name with Samson. There is no other course left, therefore, than to regard Bedan as an old copyist's error for Barak (Judg 4), as the lxx, Syriac, and Arabic have done, - a conclusion which is favoured by the circumstance that Barak was one of the most celebrated of the judges, and is placed by the side of Gideon and Jephthah in Heb_11:32. The Syriac, Arabic, and one Greek MS (see Kennicott in the Addenda to his Dissert. Gener.), have the name of Samson instead of Samuel. But as the lxx, Chald., and Vulg.all agree with the Hebrew text, there is no critical ground for rejecting Samuel, the more especially as the objection raised to it, viz., that Samuel would not have mentioned himself, is far too trivial to overthrow the reading supported by the most ancient 58

versions; and the assertion made by Thenius, that Samuel does not come down to his own times until the following verse, is altogether unfounded. Samuel could very well class himself with the deliverers of Israel, for the simple reason that it was by him that the people were delivered from the forty years' tyranny of the Philistines, whilst Samson merely commenced their deliverance and did not bring it to completion. Samuel appears to have deliberately mentioned his own name along with those of the other judges who were sent by God, that he might show the people in the most striking manner (1Sa_12:12) that they had no reason whatever for saying to him, “Nay, but a king shall reign over us,” as soon as the Ammonites invaded Gilead. “As Jehovah your God is your king,” i.e., has ever proved himself to be your King by sending judges to deliver you.

8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

CLARKE, "The Lord sent Moses and Aaron - He shows them that through all their history God had ever raised them up deliverers, when their necessities required such interference.

GILL, "When Jacob was come into Egypt,.... With his family to see his son Joseph, and dwelt there; or rather the posterity of Jacob are meant, who settled in Egypt, and continued there many years, and at length were oppressed by the Egyptians, and brought into hard bondage: and your fathers cried unto the Lord; by reason of their bondage, for help and deliverance: then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt; after various messages carried by them from the Lord to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and after many signs and wonders wrought by them, by which the heart of that king was at last brought to consent to their dismission:

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and made them dwell in this place; the land of Canaan; they conducted them through the Red sea, guided them through the wilderness, and accompanied them, especially Moses, to the borders of the land of Canaan; for neither of them went into it, but died before the people's entrance there. Joshua, the successor of Moses, of whom Samuel makes no mention, introduced Israel into it, conquered the land for them, and settled them in it; though Moses and Aaron, as they were the instruments of bringing them out of Egypt, were the cause, by conducting them through the wilderness, and by their prayers, counsels, and instructions, of their entrance into and settlement in it: besides, Moses appointed Joshua in his stead, and ordered him to lead the people there, and directed to the division of the land among them, yea, two tribes and an half were settled by him on the other side Jordan; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read in the singular number, "he made them dwell, that is, the Lord".

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:8. Made them dwell in this place — In this land: in which Moses and Aaron are said to settle them; because they brought them into, and seated them in part of it, that without Jordan; because they were, under God, the principal authors of their entering into the land of Canaan; inasmuch as they brought them out of Egypt, conducted them through the wilderness, and there, by their prayers to God, and counsels to them, preserved them from ruin, and gave command from God for the distribution of the land among them, and encouraged them to enter into it. And, lastly, Moses substituted Joshua in his stead, and commanded him to seat them there, which he did.HAWKER, "Verses 8-15(8) When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. (9) And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. (10) And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. (11) And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. (12) And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. (13) Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. (14) If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD

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your God: (15) But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.

These verses form the great outlines of Israel's history, from the deliverance out of Egypt, to the hour of Samuel's address on this occasion. The design of this discourse was, to show God's unceasing goodness, and Israel's continual disobedience. I detain the reader just to remark, that the Bedan here noticed in Samuel's discourse, is not mentioned before in the history of Israel. It should seem from his being placed, in the relation, between Jerubbual and Jephthah, that it must have been some one of Israel's deliverers, who lived between the periods of these men. Some have thought it was Jair. See Judges 10:3. But we may, at least, derive this instruction from the silence, which the Holy Ghost hath been pleased to observe, respecting this man, that many precious servants of the Lord, no doubt, will be found at the last day, whose memories have not been recorded with public notice. Many a sweet flower blooms, and sheds its fragrance on the mountain, unnoticed by every eye, but His, by whom it is formed.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:8. The first and greatest of the mighty deeds of the divine covenant-righteousness is the deliverance out of Egypt and introduction into the land of promise.[FN18] In 1 Samuel 12:9 the: and they forgat the Lord their God is put as contrast to the “righteous acts” of the Lord; they answered God’s covenant-fidelity with unfaithfulness, defection. And so the oppressions of the people by foreign enemies are represented as punishments by the righteous God for their defection. He sold them into the hand, etc, indicates the just retribution of their forgetting Him. When His people abandon Him, Hebrews, by virtue of the same righteousness which blesses them if they are faithful, abandons them to their enemies, who enslave and oppress them. The “selling” refers to the right of the father to sell his children as slaves, here exercised by God as the extremest paternal right, as it were ( Judges 2:14; Judges 3:8; Judges 4:2; Judges 4:9; Deuteronomy 32:10; Isaiah 50:1; Isaiah 52:3; Ezekiel 30:12). [It is also the right of the king to sell his subjects, and of God to dispose of His creatures.—Tr.].—In proof of this punitive justice of God Samuel adduces individual facts from the time of the Judges on, but only “prominent events, as they occurred to him … neglecting the order of events and of times, which was here unessential” (Cleric). [Poole’s Synopsis: Notice here Samuel’s prudence in reproof: 1) by his reproof of their ancestors he prepares their minds to receive reproof; 2) he shows that their ingratitude is old and so worse, and they should take care that it grow no stronger; 3) he chooses a very mild word, “forget,” to express their offence.—Tr.].—Hazor was the capital city of the

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Canaanites, where dwelt king Jabin whom Joshua smote, Joshua 11:1; Joshua 11:10-13; Joshua 12:19. In the time of the Judges Hazor again appears as the residence of a Canaanitish king Jabin ( Judges 4:2 sq.), instead of whom, however, the there-mentioned captain Sisera is here named, because he commanded the army which then oppressed Israel. The Sept. insertion of “Jabin king of” after “host of,” is evidently a mere explanation.—Into the hand of the Philistines, see Judges 3:31, where the attacks of this people are first mentioned. [See also Judges 13:1.—Tr.].—Into the hand of the king of Moab, that Isaiah, Eglon ( Judges 3:12).—These three nations represent, as the most prominent, all the heathen nations into whose hands God gave His people. Samuel mentions them, looking to the beginnings of the sufferings and wars of the Period of the Judges, in respect to which in the Book of Judges also ( 1 Samuel 3) the “he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about” ( 1 Samuel 12:14) and “they forgat the Lord” are introduced (as here by Samuel) as correlatives.

9 “But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

BARNES, "According to the present arrangement of the Book of Judges, and the common chronology, the oppression of Sisera must have occurred about 200 years after the entrance into Canaan. But Samuel here places it as the first great servitude, before that under Eglon king of Moab, or that from which Shamgar delivered them. And this is in accordance with the internal evidence of the Book of Judges itself. It is also the order of Jdg_10:11, except that there the Ammonites Jdg_3:13 are placed before the Philistines.

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CLARKE, "The hand of Sisera - See these transactions in the book of Judges, Jdg_4:2 (note).

GILL, "And when they forgat the Lord their God,.... The worship of the Lord their God, as the Targum; that is, they fell into idolatry, which is a plain instance and proof of forgetfulness of God; for such that neglect his worship, and serve idols, may be truly said to forget him: he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor; who was general of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, Jdg_4:2, where they are said to be sold into the hands of Jabin, here into the hands of Sisera; because it is highly probable he was sent against them by Jabin, and subdued them, as he afterwards was sent by him, when they rebelled against him, and were delivered out of his hand: and into the hand of the Philistines: as they were in and before the times of Samson, Jdg_13:1. and into the hand of the king of Moab; as in the times of Ehud, Jdg_3:14, the exact order of these things is not observed: and they fought against them; the king of Moab, Sisera, and the Philistines, and overcame them, and so they fell into their hands.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:9. They forgat the Lord — That is, they revolted from him, and carried themselves as if they had wholly forgotten his innumerable favours. This he says to answer an objection, that the reason why they desired a king was, because in the time of the judges they were at great uncertainties, and often exercised with sharp afflictions: to which he answereth by concession that they were so; but adds, that they themselves were the cause of it, by their forgetting God: so that it was not the fault of that kind of government, but their transgressing the rules of it. Fought — With success, and subdued them.ELLICOTT, " (9) And when they forgot the Lord their God.—The idolatry of Israel, and the immorality and shame less wickedness which ever attended it, was simply an act of rebellion against the pure government of the invisible King, and was punished by the withdrawal of the Divine protection. The instances which are here adduced of the people being given up into the hands of strange hostile nations are prominent ones, quoted as they occurred to him, without any careful attention being paid to the order of events and times, which was here not necessary for the course of his argument. Three leading nations out of the neighbouring peoples are

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mentioned by him as having been allowed, in consequence of Israel’s rebellion against the Eternal, to oppress and harass, for a season, the tribes of God’s inheritance—the Canaanites, the Philistines, and the Moabites.

Captain of the host of Hazor.—Hazor is mentioned as the capital city of the Canaanites in Joshua 11:1; Joshua 11:10; Joshua 11:13, &c., and again as a royal residence in Judges 4:2. Sisera is specially named as the well-known commander of the army against which Israel fought, and as the victim of the sanguinary but patriotic deed of fury of Jael.

Into the hand of the Philistines.—These “Phœnicians,” who literally dwelt among the Israelites, were most formidable foes to the chosen people for a long series of years. We have before compared their many strongholds and fastnesses to those robber nests which in the stormy middle ages disturbed the peace, and were the scourge of the commerce and trade, of Central Europe. It was owing especially to these Philistines that for so long a period such slow progress in wealth and the arts of civilisation was made in Israel. The advance of the Hebrew nation, from the days of Samuel, who first really checked these Philistine robbers, was singularly rapid. In an almost incredibly short period, from being a poor, half-barbarous people, the Israelites became a highly cultured, wealthy, and powerful nation. In great measure this strangely rapid progress was owing to the complete subjugation of the Philistines under the rule of Samuel, Saul, and David.

The king of Moab.—The king referred to here is Eglon, who was slain by Ehud. (See Judges 3)PETT, "1 Samuel 12:9“But they forgot YHWH their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.”But they had then forgotten YHWH their God, and so He had, as it were, sold them as slaves into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor (Judges 4-5), and into the hand of the Philistines (Judges 3:31), and into the hand of Moab (Judges 3:12-30), and they had come and fought against them. Note that Samuel here lists them in reverse order as compared with the Book of Judges, while after 1 Samuel

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12:10 the next three will be listed forwards. This deliberately centres all the emphasis on their failure described in verse 10, pointing to it like an arrow from both sides. PULPIT, "1Sa_12:9When they forgat Jehovah their God. The theocracy, as we have seen (1Sa_10:18), was a moral government, under which idolatry and the immorality attendant upon it, as being rebellion, were punished by Jehovah’s withdrawing his protection, and the consequent subjection of the nation to foreign rule. It was the repeated sin, therefore, of the people which made Israel’s history so checquered. Sisera (Jdg_4:2), the Philistines (Jdg_3:31), and Eaton, king of Moab. (Jdg_3:12), are mentioned as three of the earlier oppressors of Israel, but are given here in the reverse order to that found in the Book of Judges.

10 They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

GILL, "And they cried unto the Lord,.... When in the hands of their enemies, and in bondage to them, and cruelly oppressed by them: and said, we have sinned; the word for "said" is in the Cetib, or written text, singular, and in the Keri, or marginal reading, plural; and may signify, that everyone of them had a sense of their sin, and made acknowledgment of it; their confession was universal, as their sin was: because we have forsaken the Lord; the Word of the Lord, as the Targum:

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and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth; See Gill on Jdg_2:11; see Gill on Jdg_2:13. but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee; they did not ask for a king to go before them, and fight their battles, as they did now, but applied to the Lord for deliverance, promising to serve him as their King and their God.

HENRY 10-11, " He reminds them of their fathers' repentance and humiliation before God for their idolatries: They said, We have sinned, 1Sa_12:10. Let not them imitate the sins of their fathers, for what they had done amiss they had many a time wished undone again. In the day of their distress they had sought unto God, and had promised to serve him; let their children then reckon that good at all times which they found good in bad times. 4. He reminds them of the glorious deliverances God had wrought for them, the victories he had blessed them with, and their happy settlements, many a time, after days of trouble and distress, 1Sa_12:11. He specifies some of their judges, Gideon and Jephthah, great conquerors in their time; among the rest he mentions Bedan, whom we read not of any where else: he might be some eminent person, that was instrumental of salvation to them, though not recorded in the book of Judges, such a one as Shamgar, of whom it is said that he delivered Israel, but not that he judged them, Jdg_3:31. Perhaps this Bedan guarded and delivered them on one side, at the same time when some other of the judges appeared and acted for them on another side. Some think it was the same with Jair (so the learned Mr. Poole), others the same with Samson, who was Ben Dan, a son of Dan, of that tribe, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him Be-Dan, inn Dan, in the camp of Can. Samuel mentions himself, not to his own praise, but to the honour of God, who had made him an instrument of subduing the Philistines.

ELLICOTT, " (10) And they cried unto the Lord.—As soon as they were convinced of their sin and rebellion, and accused themselves, and returned to their old allegiance, their invisible King, ever full of pity and tender compassion, forgave them, and sent them quick deliverance.

And have served Baalim and Ashtaroth.—Baal and Ashtaroth were the well-known leading Phœnician deities; the worship, with most of its details, was imported probably from Carthage, the great Phœnician centre. The temple of Baal-shemesh, the Sun god, at Carthage, was renowned in that luxurious and splendid city. (For a detailed and picturesque account of the worship and ritual of Baal at Carthage, see M. Gustave Flaubert’s romance of Salômbo.) Baal and Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarté, were probably originally worshipped simply as the sun and moon. The plural form refers to the various personifications and different titles of the god and

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goddess.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:10. The repentant conversion of the people. And they cried to the Lord (comp. Judges 2:18; Judges 3:9; Judges 3:15; Judges 4:3), that Isaiah, the lamentation over their misery directed to the Lord. The following: we have sinned is their self-accusation on account of their defection from God; the sin is twofold, forsaking the Lord and serving idols. The same accusation is found literally in Judges 10:40, only that here, as in Judges 2:13; Judges 10:6, Ashtaroth is added to Baalim. Baal is the general designation of the divinity among the Phenicians and Carthaginians; with the Art. it is the male chief deity of the Phenicians; the Plu. refers to the numerous individualizations of this deity. P. Cassel [in Lange’s Biblework] on Judges 2:13 : “The various cities and tribes had their special Baals, which were named not always from the cities, but from various natural qualities worshipped in them. This is like the various attributes from which Zeus received various names and worships in Greece.” On Baal-cultus among the Israelites see Winer, B. R-W. s. v. I, 118. Ashtaroth is the designation of the Phenician and Carthaginian female chief deity (along with Baal) which was also worshipped by the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 31:10); the Plu. refers to the number of the stars, which she as queen of heaven represents ( Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:17 sq.); for the Sing. Ashtoreth=Astarte (Grk.) has the same root as star [Germ. stern], ἀστήρ, stella, in Pers. Astara (on the Upper Asiatic origin of this word see J. G. Müller s. v. in Herzog’s R-E.); she was not merely the moon goddess alongside of Baal as sun-god, as her pictures with the moon-crescents on the head testify, but as light-giving night-goddess, also star-goddess, representative of the glittering host of heaven ( Jeremiah 7:18), like the later Artemis.[FN19] Comp. P. Cassel on Judges 2:13; Winer, s. v. On the renewed introduction of her worship by Song of Solomon, in which is presented the fulfilment of Deuteronomy 4:19, see 1 Kings 11:5; 1 Kings 11:33.—On the accusation follows the prayer, “Deliver us” in contrast with the forsaking and forgetting, and the vow “we will serve thee” in contrast with “we have served” Baalim, etc. This repentance the Lord graciously answers ( 1 Samuel 12:11): 1) by sending deliverers. Again only a few are mentioned: Jerubbaal-Gideon; the name signifies “ let Baal strive,” that Isaiah, with him, and expresses scorn and contempt at the impotence of Baal, whose altar Gideon had with impunity destroyed, Judges 6:28-32. Gideon is thence called Jerubbesheth. 2 Samuel 11:21.—The name Bedan is found elsewhere only in 1 Chronicles 7:17 as name of a descendant of Prayer of Manasseh, who Isaiah, however, of no historical importance. In the Book of Judges, to whose contents this part of Samuel’s address (especially 1 Samuel 12:10) unmistakably points, there is no judge of this name; but the connection shows that a judge is here meant. The name has been read Ben-Dan = “ the Danite,” as Samson was born in Daniel, Judges 13:2 (Kimchi), and at the same time a play of words on

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his corpulence [Arab, badana] has been also supposed (Böttch.). But against this last Thenius rightly remarks that a name resting on a word-play would by no means suit this serious discourse; against the first (apart from the form) is the fact that Samson is never Song of Solomon -called, as must have been the case if the people were here to understand the name. Gesenius (Halle Lit. Z. 1841, No41) regards the name as abbreviation of Abdon, and so Ewald, who understands the judge of that name ( Judges 12:13). But this judge does not occupy the important place in the history which the connection calls for. Similarly we must reject the supposition that Jair of Gilead Judges 10 assumed to be a descendant of Machir (whose great grandson, 1 Chronicles 7:17, is Bedan) is here meant, since the connection of Jair and Machir is not proved; and the supposition that a judge omitted in the Book of Judges from his insignificance is intended, is untenable. The best expedient is to read (with Sept, Syr, Arab) Barak; for the letters of this name (ברק) might easily pass into the other (בדן) and the error be perpetuated by copyists. But Barak is one of the most prominent judges along with those here mentioned. The historical-chronological order is not strictly observed in 1 Samuel 12:9 also. Barak represents with Deborah that heroic Israelitish band that ( Judges 4) broke the power of Sisera and delivered Israel out of the hand of the Canaanites.—The fact that, after Jeph, Sam. names himself as the fourth representative of the divine deliverance is not so surprising as it is thought by the Syr. and Arab, versions and a Greek manuscript (Kennicott in the Addend, to his dissert. gener.) which put Samson instead, and also by Thenius, who, though the Sept. and Vulg. have Samuel, accepts the former reading because Samuel does not speak of his own times till the next verse. Samuel could mention himself without exciting surprise, because he was conscious of his high mission as judge and deliverer, and the profound significance of his office for the history of Israel was universally recognized. By this mention of himself he honors not himself, but the Lord, who had made him (like Moses and Aaron before) what he was, comp. 1 Samuel 12:6-9. Besides, it was under him that the yoke of the forty years’ dominion of the Philistines was broken, which work of deliverance Samson was only able to begin. Samuel includes himself as an instrument of the divine deliverance, because over against him the demand for a king involved the rejection of the Lord ( 1 Samuel 8:5), and so the sin against the Lord in that demand appears in the clearest light; and this, after having pointed secondly to the repeated wonderful deliverances of Israel out of the hand of enemies by these messengers of God, and thirdly to the quiet and security which they were enabled to attain in the land, he sets before them in 1 Samuel 12:12. These words expressly declare that Ammonitish attacks on the territory of Israel were the first occasion of the demand for a king as leader in war, comp. 1 Samuel 8:20. Clericus well remarks: “ It hence appears not improbable that Nahash had made incursions into the Hebrew territory before the Israelites had demanded a king, and after his election had returned and begun the siege of Jabesh.

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It often happens in these books that circumstances omitted in their proper place are mentioned where they less properly belong.” And yet the Lord your God is your king.—By such deliverers He had shown Himself anew their king; this He was by the covenant, and this He remained by His covenant-faithfulness. With the same declaration Gideon ( Judges 8:23) exhibits the inadmissibility of His elevation as king, and Samuel the sinfulness and the unjustifiableness of their demand for a king.PULPIT, "1Sa_12:10We have served [the] Baalim and [the] Ashtaroth. I.e. the numerous Baals and Astartes, which were worshipped under various titles by the heathen. For though representing the same power, each people had their own epithets for their own particular personification of the god (see on 1Sa_7:4).

PETT, "1 Samuel 12:10“And they cried to YHWH, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken YHWH, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you’.”Here was the crunch of the matter. Each time they had forsaken YHWH and had served other gods. But when they were in distress and those gods could not help them they had called on YHWH, and had admitted their sin and idolatry, and had then prayed for deliverance and had promised to serve Him. And each time YHWH had heard them.

11 Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal,[a] Barak,[b] Jephthah and Samuel,[c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

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BARNES, "Bedan - No such name occurs among the Judges who delivered Israel. Some versions and commentators read “Barak,” the form of the letters of both words being in Hebrew somewhat similar.

And Samuel - There is nothing improper or out of place in Samuel mentioning his own judgeship. It had supplied a remarkable instance of God’s deliverance 1Sa_7:12-15; and, as it was the last as well as one of the very greatest deliverances, it was natural he should do so. The passage in Heb_11:32 is quite as favorable to the mention of Samuel here as to that of “Samson,” which some propose to read instead of “Samuel.”

CLARKE, "Jerubbaal - That is, Gideon. And Bedan: instead of Bedan, whose name occurs nowhere else as a judge or deliverer of Israel, the Septuagint have Barak; the same reading is found in the Syriac and Arabic. The Targum has Samson. Many commentators are of this opinion; but Calmet thinks that Jair is intended, who judged Israel twenty-two years, Jdg_10:3. Instead of Samuel the Syriac and Arabic have Samson; and it is most natural to suppose that Samuel does not mention himself in this place. St. Paul’s authority confirms these alterations: The time would fail me, says he, to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David, etc.

GILL, "And the Lord sent Jerubbaal,.... Or Gideon, as the Targum, for Jerubbaal was the name given to Gideon, when he first became a judge, Jdg_6:32. and Bedan; if this was one of the judges, he must have two names, or is one that is not mentioned in the book of Judges; the Targum interprets it of Samson; so Jerom (h), for the word may be rendered "in Dan"; one in Dan, who was of the tribe of Dan, as Samson was; and it was in the camp of Dan the Spirit of God first came upon him; and Kimchi observes that it is the same as Bendan, the son of Dan, that is, a Danite; and though he was after Jephthah, yet is set before him, because he was a greater man than he; and this way go the generality of Jewish writers (i); but a man of this name being among the posterity of Manasseh, 1Ch_7:17. Junius, and who is followed by others, thinks that Jair is meant, and is so called to distinguish him from a more ancient Jair, the son of Manasseh, and with whom the order of the judges better agrees, see Num_32:41 but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions read Barak; and he may rather be thought to be meant, because he was the instrument of delivering Israel out of the hand of Sisera, the captain of the host of Hazor before mentioned, 1Sa_12:9 and agrees with the words of the apostle, Heb_11:32, who mentions those judges much in the same order: and Jephthah, and Samuel; meaning himself, who was the last of the judges, and who speaks of himself as of a third person, as Lamech does, Gen_4:23 and this he did not out of ostentation, but to observe that God had made him an instrument of delivering them out of the hand of the Philistines, which must be fresh in their memory, as he had made use of others before him, when he sent judges, and not kings, and

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therefore they had no need to ask a king. The Syriac and Arabic versions read Samson instead of Samuel, and which also agrees best with Heb_11:32. and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side; not the judges, but the Lord; for the word for "delivered" is of the singular number: and ye dwelled safe; in the greatest security and confidence, without any fear of enemies, having God their King in the midst of them, and stood in no need of any other king to protect and defend them.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:11. And Bedan — We have no mention of Bedan in the book of Judges or elsewhere before, and therefore many commentators think this is another name for Barak. Others, however, think Samson to be the person here meant, being here called Ben-Dan, the son of Dan, or Be-Dan, that is, in or of Dan, because he was of that tribe, and to signify that they had no reason to distrust God, who could raise so eminent a saviour out of so obscure a tribe. And ye dwelled safe — So that it was not necessity, but mere wantonness, that made you desire a change.COKE, "1 Samuel 12:11. The Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel— Houbigant, after several of the versions, reads, Jerubbaal, Deborah and Barak, Jephthah and Samson. St. Paul seems to confirm this reading; for in Hebrews 11:32 he says, the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephtha, &c.REFLECTIONS.—1st, Before Samuel parts with the assembly, he addresses himself to them,1. By way of appeal for his own integrity among them. He had now resigned the government; their king stood before them, and he was a subject as well as they, and ready to answer any man who would call him to account; and his sons are now private persons, and open to any accusation which might be laid against them. He reminds them of his grey hairs, which they should have regarded with greater reverence, as coming upon him in their service, in which from earliest infancy he had been employed.—He challenges them to lay the least crime to his charge, of bribery or oppression committed by him during all his administration; and therein tacitly reflects upon their own sin and folly in rejecting one who, without fee or reward, had governed them with such impartial justice. Note; (1.) To vindicate our character from the aspersions of calumny, is a debt due to a man's good name. (2.) They who are conscious of their own integrity are not afraid of inquiry into their conduct.

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2. The people willingly bear testimony to his uprightness among them. He had never oppressed them in the least matter, nor received aught at their hands, as a reward for his service. The Lord, therefore, is appealed to against any future charge, as their own confessions proclaim his innocence; and they replied, He is witness, that they had fully cleared him from every suspicion of mal-administration. Note; It is a great comfort to have God for a witness to our integrity.

2nd, Samuel, having vindicated himself, proceeds to remind them of what God had done for them, as a proof of their ingratitude in rejecting him; yet with instructions how this change might operate to their good.

1. He abridges their history. God had delivered them from Egypt; but their ungrateful fathers forsook him for idols, and brought themselves thereby into bitter distress, under Sisera, the Philistines, and Moabites: yet, whenever they returned to him in penitence, he returned to them in mercy, and delivered them by the hands of judges divinely raised up, until his own time, who had been the last of them. Notwithstanding this, they were bent on a king, and God had gratified them. He reasons with them, therefore, on the obligation they were under to this gracious God, and their ingratitude in resolving to have another king; in which also his compliance with their request was a fresh token of his patience and mercy towards them. Note; (1.) The more we reflect upon God's dealings with us, the more reason we shall have to choose his government, and to condemn the folly and ingratitude of ever leaving him. (2.) Past experience should be remembered for present conduct. They who ever forsook God always suffered for it.

2. He instructs them how the alteration of the government might turn to their good. If they were faithful to God, observant of his worship, and persevering in his service, then God would keep them in his holy ways, and it would go well with them and their king: but if they apostatized from God, then they might expect to feel his heavy hand, till they were consumed together. Note; (1.) They who are faithful to the grace bestowed, as their reward, shall have that grace confirmed and strengthened. (2.) God's service brings a present reward along with it now, and ensures an eternal reward hereafter. (3.) They who will not be brought under the yoke of God's laws, must be broken by the rod of his judgments.ELLICOTT, " (11) And the Lord sent Jerubbaal.—Again the speaker only names a

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few of the God-sent deliverers, just the most prominent of their great and famous heroes. Gideon was surnamed Jerubbaal out of scorn and derision for the Phœnician deity: “Let Baal then strive or contend with me, Gideon.”

Bedan.—This name does not occur in the record of the “judges.” We meet with it only in 1 Chronicles 7:17, as a name of one of the descendants of Machir the Manassite, but this Bedan of the Chronicles seems to have been a person of no importance. The LXX. and the Syriac, the two most ancient versions, read, instead of Bedan, Barak. The letters forming these two names in the Hebrew are very similar, and a scribe might easily have written the one for the other, and the mistake might well have been perpetuated—at least, this is probable. The famous Hebrew commentator, Rabbi D. Kimchi, suggests Bedan is written for Ben-Dan, the son of Dan the Danite. that is. Samson. The list of Hebrew heroes in Hebrews 11:32 noticeably connects Barak with Gideon and Jephthah. Wordsworth curiously prefers to leave the unknown name of Bedan in the hero catalogue, because he argues “that in this very obscurity of the name we have a confirmation of the genuineness of the speech. A forger would not have ventured to insert a name which occurs nowhere else.”

And Samuel.—The Syriac Version substitutes Samson for Samuel, finding, doubtless, a difficulty in the quotation of his own name by the speaker. But the other versions uniformly agree with the Hebrew text, and in truth Samuel could well cite himself a signal instance of God’s loving pity in sending deliverance, conscious as he was of his own high mission. No judge had accomplished such great things for the people, and none had received more general recognition. It was a most fitting name to bring in at the close of his list.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:11

“And YHWH sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt in safety.”

And the result of their pleas was that YHWH had sent Jerub-baal (Gideon - Judges 6-8), Bedan (‘Abdon - Judges 13:13? or Barak - Judges 4-5?), Jephthah (Judges 11-12) and Samuel, and each time He had delivered them from the hands of their

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enemies so that they dwelt in safety. The mention of Samuel’s own name may suggest that he was figuratively ticking off the names of the Judges on a mental list with which the people were familiar, possibly one cited at the annual feasts. It was, of course, important that his name be mentioned because it brought the deliverances right up to date. And yet the citing of his name suggested that he wanted to avoid making it personal.

Jerub-baal was an alternative name given to Gideon (Judges 6:31-32; Judges 7:1). Bedan (bdn meaning ‘corpulent’) may have been a well known judge and deliverer, known to all Israel and not to us (otherwise he is out of order). It may have been a variant of ‘Abdon (‘bdn) who had seventy offspring who rode on seventy asses (Judges 12:13-14). Or it may be a humerous twisting of the name of Barak (in the Hebrew Bedan and Barak look fairly similar) possibly because Barak was remembered in the tradition as corpulent (this thus being given as a nick name, ‘fatty’). However, against the idea that it refers to Barak is the fact that the earlier judges, of which he was one, have already been dealt with previously without being named. Or it has even been suggested that it could be an abbreviation of ben-Dan (son of Dan) referring to Samson, but it seems unlikely. Jephthah we know of from Judges 11-12. PULPIT, "1Sa_12:11Bedan. Numerous ingenious explanations of this name have been given, but the only probable account is that Bedan is a misreading for Barak. The two names are very similar in the Hebrew, and the two most ancient versions, the Septuagint and the Syriac, actually have Barak. And Samuel. This is even more puzzling than Bedan. We cannot suppose that Samuel, who hitherto had confined himself to the old deliverances, would thus suddenly introduce his own name. In mentioning only them he had avoided everything that would grate upon the ears of the people, but this would look like giving way to personal vexation. Some, therefore, would read Samson; but this, though found in the Syriac, is supported by no other version. Possibly some scribe, mindful of Samuel’s recent achievement at Mizpah, wrote his name in the margin, whence it was admitted into the text. And ye dwelled safe. Literally, "in confidence," in security. With sin came danger and unquiet; upon repentance, not only was their country free from danger, but their minds were at rest.

12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the 74

Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.

CLARKE, "When ye saw that Nahash - This was not the first time they had demanded a king; see before, 1Sa_8:5. But at the crisis mentioned here they became more importunate; and it was in consequence of this that the kingdom was a second time confirmed to Saul. Saul was elected at Mizpeh, he was confirmed at Gilgal.

GILL, "And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you,.... Or "but yet" (k); however, notwithstanding though the Lord had been so kind and gracious to them, as to raise up judges one after another to deliver them, when they cried unto him, yet when they perceived that Nahash the Ammonite was preparing to make war with them, instead of applying to the Lord for his protection, they desired to have a king to go before them, and fight their battles, as follows: nay, but a king shall reign over us; though Samuel told them they had no need of one: when the Lord your God was your King; and would protect and defend them, if they applied to him, and would put their trust in him; and he himself Samuel was their judge, and would be their general and commander, and they had experience of success under him to the utter destruction of their enemies, 1Sa_7:10 and yet, notwithstanding all this, they insisted upon it to have a king. According to Abarbinel, this preparation of Nahash to war with them was after they had asked for a king, and was a punishment of them for their request; and yet they repented not of it, but in effect said, though Nahash, and all the enemies in the world come against us, we will not go back from our request, but insist on it, that we have a king to reign over us; such was their obstinacy and perverseness.

HENRY 12-13, "At last he puts them in mind of God's late favour to the present generation, in gratifying them with a king, when they would prescribe to God by such a one to save them out of the hand of Nahash king of Ammon, 1Sa_12:12, 1Sa_12:13. Now it appears that this was the immediate occasion of their desiring a king: Nahash threatened them; they desired Samuel to nominate a general; he told them that God was commander-in-chief in all their wars and they needed no other, that what was wanting

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in them should be made up by his power: The Lord is your king. But they insisted on it, Nay, but a king shall reign over us. “And now,” said he, “you have a king, a king of your own asking - let that be spoken to your shame; but a king of God's making - let that be spoken to his honour and the glory of his grace.” God did not cast them off, even when they in effect cast him off.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:12. When ye saw that Nahash came against you, &c. — From this it appears that Nahash had levied war against them some time before he came against Jabesh-gilead, as mentioned in the foregoing chapter; and that they took occasion from thence to demand a king, as being fearful and impatient of staying till God should raise them up a deliverer, or command Samuel, who was their judge, to go out to fight against him. When the Lord your God was your king — That is, when God was your immediate king and governor, who was both able and willing to deliver you, if you had cried to him, whereof you and your ancestors have had plentiful experience; so that you did not at all need any other king; and your desire of another was a manifest reproach against God.ELLICOTT, "(12) Nahash the king of the children of Ammon.—It has been suggested, with great probability, that Nahash and the Ammonites had invaded the trans-Jordanic territory of Israel in the period immediately preceding the demand addressed to Samuel for a king, and that the invasion which culminated in the siege of Jabesh-gilead was only one of a series of destructive forays and invasions'PETT, "1 Samuel 12:12“And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when YHWH your God was your king.”And when they had seen Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, coming against them they had been provided with Saul as a war-leader (nagid - 1 Samuel 9:16), but had demanded rather that they might have him as a king, even though YHWH their God was their King. (This verse presents what has been said previously, in abbreviated form). So the line of deliverers right up to the present day had ended in the rejection of YHWH as their King. PULPIT, "1Sa_12:12Nahash the king of the children of Ammon. This makes it probable that there had been threats of war, and even incursions into the Israelite territory, by Nahash before his attack on Jabesh-Gilead. We thus, too, should be able to account for the rancour displayed in his wish so to treat the men of that town as to make them a reproach to all Israel; for his hatred of Israel may have grown in intensity in the course of a harassing

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war, or he may have learnt to despise a people incapable of offering a regular resistance. At all events, Samuel describes Nahash as giving the final impetus to the desire of the nation for a king. When Jehovah your God was your king. See Jdg_8:23.

13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you.

GILL, "Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired,.... For though God chose their king for them, it was at their request; they chose to have a king, and desired one, and they approved of and consented to, and confirmed the choice he had made, and so it was in effect their own: and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you; he gratified them in their desires; though he did not suffer them to make themselves a king, he suffered them to have one, and he gave them one; this power he reserved to himself of setting up and pulling down kings at his pleasure.

K&D, "After the prophet had thus held up before the people their sin against the Lord, he bade them still further consider, that the king would only procure for them the anticipated deliverance if they would fear the Lord, and give up their rebellion against God.1Sa_12:13

“But now behold the king whom ye have chosen, whom ye have asked for! behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you.” By the second ְוִהֵּנה, the thought is brought out still more strongly, that Jehovah had fulfilled the desire of the people. Although the request of the people had been an act of hostility to God, yet Jehovah had fulfilled it. The word ְּבַהְרֶּתם, relating to the choice by lot (1Sa_10:17.), is placed before ְׁשֶאְלֶּתם to show ,ֲאֶׁשרthat the demand was the strongest act that the people could perform. They had not only chosen the king with the consent or by the direction of Samuel; they had even demanded a king of their own self-will.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:13. Behold the king whom ye have chosen — Though God 77

chose him by lot, yet the people are said to choose him; either generally, because they chose that form of government; or particularly, because they approved of God’s choice, and confirmed it. The Lord hath set a king ever you — He hath yielded to your inordinate desire.CONSTABLE, "Samuel's challenge to obey God 12:13-18The Hebrew grammatical construction translated "the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for" (1 Samuel 12:13), shows that the people had not just requested a king, but demanded him out of strong self-will. The key to Israel's future blessing would be fearing Yahweh, serving Him, listening to His voice through the Mosaic Law and the prophets, and not rebelling against His commands (1 Samuel 12:14). The major message of the Books of Samuel thus comes through again clearly in Samuel's final words to the nation, as we would expect. For the Israelites, obedience to the Mosaic Covenant would result in fertility of all kinds (cf. Deuteronomy 28:1-14).God confirmed the truth of Samuel's words supernaturally when He sent rain during the wheat harvest, normally the driest period of the year. The rain symbolized the blessing of God for obedience (cf. Deuteronomy 28:12). This storm was a sign that Yahweh was supporting Samuel. However, coming at this time of the year, it proved to be judgmental, since farmers do not appreciate rain during harvests, and a warning of future potential judgment.ELLICOTT, "(13) Now therefore, behold the king whom ye have chosen.—The seer now turns from the story of the past and its sad lessons to the present. “You now have your wish—behold your king. The Eternal has seen fit to grant your petition. His—again pointing to Saul—election rests on the will of the invisible King, whom virtually you have rejected.”LANGE, " 1 Samuel 12:13-18. The third section of this transaction: in view of the fact that God has actually established a king in accordance with their demand, though it was a sinful and blameful one, Samuel declares a truth, which contains an earnest warning, namely, that, if the people with their king will maintain the right relation to God in fidelity and obedience to His will, the hand of the Lord will be with them both; in the contrary case, it will be against them both.

1 Samuel 12:13. And now. Here the discourse turns from the past and from the judgment of the people’s conduct to the present fact of the established kingdom, which, with the words: Behold the king is taken as starting-point for the following

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declaration and the attached serious warning and truth. In this declaration is set forth the origin of Saul’s kingly position—1) on its human side by the words: whom ye have chosen, whom ye have demanded—the discourse here goes regressively first to the election instituted by Samuel, and then to the demand made against him and God’s will, and there is just here a progression in the thought;[FN20]—2) on its divine side by the words: behold, the Lord hath set a king over you.—Your demand sprang from an evil root, yet hath the Lord granted it; this king—though chosen and demanded by you—is yet alone a work of God; his election and establishment rests on the divine will and command. By these words is confirmed the truth that the Lord is and remains king ( 1 Samuel 12:12). So far is that rejection (factually affirmed by the demand) from overthrowing Jehovah’s kingdom, that the universal authority of the latter is rather now for the first time rightly declared in the installation of the sought-for king, and in his obligation and the people’s to be subject to Jehovah and unconditionally obedient to His will. This point of view of the absolute theocracy comes out here the more clearly not only by the immediately preceding reference to the human side of the origin of the kingdom, but also by Samuel’s declaration in 1 Samuel 12:1 : “I have made a king over you,” to which stands opposed the declaration: “Behold, the Lord hath set a king over you.” From this fact, that the installed king is a gift of the Lord, granted to the people’s demand (comp. 1 Samuel 10:19), follows now, in view of the relation in which therefore people and king should stand to the Lord, the truth and the warning: The well-being of both depends on faithful obedience to the Lord’s will and word. The “if” introduces a protasis which includes all of 1 Samuel 12:14, and has no apodosis. The view that the latter has fallen out by similar endings, and read: “then he will save you out of the hand of your enemies” (Thenius) is not satisfactorily supported, and is not required to explain the aposiopesis, since the absence of the apodosis is easily explained by the length of the protasis, and its content apparent from the context= “well,” or “it will be well with you.” A similar failure of the apodosis to be supplied from the connection is found in Exodus 32:32. The assumption of an apodosis with ִוְהִיֶתם [as in Eng. A. V.] in the sense, “then ye will follow the Lord,” is untenable, partly from the tautology it makes in protasis and apodosis, partly from the expectation, awakened by the parallelism with the following sentence in 1 Samuel 12:15, of finding a promise set over against the threat. The voluntative sense of ַאם=modo, “if only” (Keil) [=“O that ye would only”], cannot be taken here, since it would then have the Imperf.[FN21] (Ew. §329 b). Nor can we (with S. Schmid) connect 1 Samuel 12:14 with the last words of 1 Samuel 12:13 : “The Lord hath set a king over you, if ye only will, etc.; but if not ….,” since the conditioned character of the former clause would then require in it the Imperf. If (with Kimchi, Maurer) we read ִוְחִיֶתם, “ye shall live,” we cannot (with Maurer) translate: “who reigns over you after Jehovah” (that Isaiah, “next to Jehovah”), since this is an, expression foreign

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to the Old Testament; nor (with Tremellius) supply “sequentes” [that Isaiah, “ye will live following Jehovah”]. If an apodosis be insisted on here (changing the text to we might perhaps read: “then shall ye live… after Jehovah,” which answers ,(וחיתםto the view expressed in the preceding words, of following God in obedience to His commands. But, retaining the text and supposing the apodosis omitted, Samuel here, in keeping with the importance of the moment and the emotion of his own heart, heaps together in most eloquent fashion the demands which are to be made on religious-moral life in view of the conditions of true well-being for the people and their king in the new order of things: to fear the Lord, serve Him, hearken to His voice, not rebel against His word (comp. Deuteronomy 1:26, “rebel against the mouth [commandment] of the Lord”), and be after him, or, remain in His retinue true to Him. About the last words Keil rightly remarks (against Thenius) that היה to be after” is good Hebrew, and especially is often used in the sense, “to attach“ אחרone’s self to the king, hold to him,” comp. 2 Samuel 2:10; 1 Kings 12:20; 1 Kings 16:21. This expression corresponds completely to the thought underlying this exhortation, namely, that the Lord, in spite of Israel’s rejection of Him by the demand for an earthly-human king, is and remains the King of His people ( 1Samuel 13-12:12 ).PULPIT, "1Sa_12:13Behold the king whom ye have chosen!... behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you. We have here the two sides of the transaction. The people had desired a king, chosen and appointed by themselves, to represent the nation in temporal matters; Jehovah gave them a king to represent himself, with authority coming from God, and limited by God. Most, too, of the kings of Judah were as truly representatives of Jehovah as any of the judges had been, and David even more so. Desired is rather "demanded,""required." They had done much more than desire a king.

PETT, "Verses 13-15Samuel Then Stresses That YHWH Has Graciously Given Them Their Desire And Calls On Them To Respond In Like Manner (1 Samuel 12:13-15).

Samuel now stresses that, in spite of their attitude towards Him, it is still YHWH Who has set over them this king whom they had demanded, and have now chosen. Therefore if both they and their king will continue to hear His voice and obey Him then all will go well with them. But if they refuse to listen to His voice and do not obey Him and His commandments, than they must rather expect that it will go ill with them. Thus although their choosing a king other than YHWH will make if

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more difficult for them to continue looking to YHWH, how it eventually turns out will depend on them and them alone.

1 Samuel 12:13

“Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for, and see, YHWH has set a king over you.”

He presents Saul to them as the one that they have themselves chosen. Notice the emphasis on the fact that it is their choice which has been effective (even though guided by him and approved by lot), which suggests again that Samuel has been keeping himself in the background during the confirmation of kingship. And he stresses they have chosen him as a result of the fact that they had first asked for him. All the responsibility for these actions thus lies on them. And it is because of all this that YHWH had set him as king over them.

(What the people had done should be a reminder to us of how often we manoeuvre God into doing our will, something to which He responds out of His compassion for us, and then we blame Him when things go wrong, whereas if only we had really listened to His voice in the first place, it would never have happened).

14 If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good!

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CLARKE, "If ye will fear the Lord, etc. - On condition that ye rebel no more, God will take you and your king under his merciful protection, and he and his kingdom shall be confirmed and continued.

GILL, "If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice,.... All worship and service of God, and obedience to his word and ordinances, should spring from fear and reverence of him; and therefore the whole of worship, both external and internal, is sometimes expressed by the fear of the Lord: and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord; break it, and thereby exasperate him, and provoke him to wrath and bitterness: then shall both ye, and also the king that reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God; the Targum is,"after the worship of the Lord your God;''which was their duty to do, and is expressed in the preceding clauses; and this therefore is rather a promise of some benefit and privilege to their duty, and to encourage them to it, since it stands opposed to the threatening of punishment in the next verse; and the words in the original are, "then shall ye &c. be after the Lord your God" (l): that is, though they had in effect rejected the Lord from being their King, by asking and having one; yet notwithstanding, if they and their king were obedient to the commands of the Lord, he would not cast them off; but they should follow him as their guide, leader, and director, and he would protect and defend them as a shepherd does his sheep that follow after him; so Jarchi takes it to be a promise of long life and happiness to them and their king,"ye shall be established to length of days, both ye and the king.''

HENRY, "II. He shows them that they are now upon their good behaviour, they and their king. Let them not think that they had now cut themselves off from all dependence upon God, and that now, having a king of their own, the making of their own fortunes (as men foolishly call it) was in their own hands; no, still their judgment must proceed from the Lord. He tells them plainly,1. That their obedience to God would certainly be their happiness, 1Sa_12:14. If they would not revolt from God to idols, nor rebel against him by breaking his commandments, but would persevere in their allegiance to him, would fear his wrath, serve his interests, and obey his will, then they and their king should certainly be happy; but observe how the promise is expressed: Then you shall continue following the Lord your God; that is, (1.) “You shall continue in the way of your duty to God, which will be your honour and comfort.” Note, To those that are sincere in their religion God will give grace to persevere in it: those that follow God faithfully will be divinely strengthened to continue following him. And observe, Following God is a work that is its own wages. It is the matter of a promise as well as of a precept. (2.) “You shall continue under the divine guidance and protection:” You shall be after the Lord, so it is in the original, that is, “he

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will go before you to lead and prosper you, and make your way plain. The Lord is with you while you are with him.”

K&D, "1Sa_12:14Still, since the Lord had given them a king, the further welfare of the nation would depend upon whether they would follow the Lord from that time forward, or whether they would rebel against Him again. “If ye will only fear the Lord, and serve Him, ... and

ye as well as the king who rules over you will be after Jehovah your God.” ִאם, in the sense of modo, if only, does not require any apodosis, as it is virtually equivalent to the wish, “O that ye would only!” for which ִאם with the imperfect is commonly used (vid., 2Ki_20:19; Pro_24:11, etc.; and Ewald, §329, b.). There is also nothing to be supplied to ָה ְיה ַאַחר ַאַחר since ,ִוְהִיֶתם ... to be after or behind a person, is good Hebrew, and is ,ָהָיהfrequently met with, particularly in the sense of attaching one's self to the king, or holding to him (vid., 2Sa_2:10; 1Ki_12:20; 1Ki_16:21-22). This meaning is also at the foundation of the present passage, as Jehovah was the God-king of Israel.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:14. Then, &c. — Hebrew, then shall ye be (that is, walk, or go) after the Lord; that is, God shall still go before you, as he hath hitherto done, as your leader or governor, to direct, protect, and deliver you; and he will not forsake you, as you have given him just cause to do. Sometimes this phrase of going after the Lord, signifies a man’s obedience to God; but here it is otherwise to be understood, and denotes not a duty to be performed, but a privilege to be received upon the performance of their duty; because it is opposed to a threatening denounced in case of disobedience, in the next verse.ELLICOTT, " (14) If ye will fear the Lord . . .—The English Version has missed the point of the original Hebrew of this passage. It should run, “If ye will fear the Lord, &c., . . . and if both ye and the king that reigneth over you will follow the Lord your God, it shall be well with you.” Dean Payne Smith has well caught the spirit of the passage in his note: “Samuel piled up one upon another the conditions of their happiness, and then from the depth of his emotion breaks off, leaving the blessed consequences of their obedience unsaid.” The intense wish, “O that you would only fear the Lord! O that you and your king would only continue following!” is contained in the Hebrew particle which introduces these ejaculatory sentences. A similar unfinished sentence will be found in St. Luke 19:42, where the apodosis is left to be supplied.

Samuel, with mournful earnestness, would drive home to the hearts of the people 83

and their new king the great truth that the past, full of sin and sorrow, was forgiven—that even their present act, which seemed to border on ingratitude to that Mighty One who deigned to concern Himself with the interests of this fickle people, would bring no evil consequences in its track, if only the people and their king would in the future obey the glorious voice of the Eternal.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:14“If you will fear YHWH, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of YHWH, and both you and also the king who reigns over you be followers of YHWH your God, then it will be well with you.”The new situation need not turn out badly. It is up to them. For the appointment of a king has not altered YHWH’s basic requirements, nor has it let the people off from obedience. It is still required of them that they fear YHWH, and serve Him, and listen to His voice. Both they and the king must be followers of YHWH. And the implication is that if they do this, it will be well with them. (‘Then it will be well with you’ is not expressed in the Hebrew, but is the implication to be read in). PULPIT, "1Sa_12:14If ye will fear, etc. This verse, like Luk_19:42, is left unfinished, and we must supply well, as in Exo_32:32. For the verse cannot be translated as in the A.V; but is as follows: "If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment (Hebrew, the mouth) of Jehovah, and if both ye and the king that reigneth over you will follow Jehovah your God, it shall be well." Samuel piles up one upon another the conditions of their happiness, and then from the depth of his emotion breaks off, leaving the blessed consequences of their obedience unsaid. "To follow Jehovah" implies willing and active service as his attendants, going with him where he will, and being ever ready to obey his voice.

15 But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

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GILL, "But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord,.... They and their king, by sinning, disregarding his precepts, both affirmative and negative: then shall the hand of the Lord be against you; by sending some judgments upon them, as famine, sword, or pestilence, particularly captivity and subjection to their enemies: as it was against your fathers; who had no king; and it is suggested that their case, who had one, would be no better than theirs; their king would not be able to save them from the hand of God: the words in the original are, "and against your fathers" (m); which is interpreted in the Talmud (n) of their fathers dead, and in their graves, and of their enemies digging them up, and taking them out in contempt; but much better, by Kimchi, of their kings, who are, or should be, fathers of their subjects, as Augustus Caesar was called the father of his; and so the Septuagint version renders it, "and upon their king"; signifying that both they and their king should feel the weight of the hand of the Lord, if they rebelled against him.

HENRY, "2. That their disobedience would as certainly be their ruin (1Sa_12:15): “If you rebel, think not that your having a king will secure you against God's judgments, and that having in this instance made yourselves like the nations you may sin at as cheap a rate as they can. No, the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers when they offended him, in the days of the judges.” We mistake if we think that we can evade God's justice by shaking off his dominion. If God shall not rule us, yet he will judge us.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:15. As it was against your fathers — Who lived under the judges; and you shall have no advantage by the change of government, nor shall your kings be able to protect you against God’s displeasure. We mistake, if we think we can evade God’s justice by shaking off his dominion. If we will not let God rule us, yet he will judge us.ELLICOTT, "(15) But if ye will not obey.—The English translation here, with several of the versions, accurately and happily understands the Hebrew in the sense of “as:” “as it was against your fathers.” Rabbi D. Kimchi prefers to understand “fathers” as put for “kings”: “the hand of the Lord shall be against you and your kings.” The LXX. reads, “against you and your king.”LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:15. The contrast: But if ye will not—(from the preceding are recapitulated only the two traits of obedience to the word of the Lord and not rebelling against His commandment)—then will the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.[FN22]—This comparative addition looks to the

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words from 1 Samuel 12:7 to 1 Samuel 12:12, wherein is pointed out how the fathers had brought on themselves by sin and defection the oppression of the enemy, in which the hand of the Lord was heavy on them, and from which the people now hoped to be delivered by the kings. At bottom the defection of the fathers and the demand for a king who was to deliver from oppressions sent by God for their sins, are one and the same wrong against the Lord. Therefore Samuel wishes by his earnest warning to lead them to repentance.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:15“But if you will not listen to the voice of YHWH, but rebel against the commandment of YHWH, then will the hand of YHWH be against you, as it was against your fathers.”On the other hand if having a king results in their not listening to His voice, but in their rebelling against the commandments of YHWH, then the hand of YHWH will be against them, as it was regularly against their fathers when they also neglected God.We may ask, what difference then would having a king make? And the answer is that it would insulate them from God so that they did not have to deal with God directly. That would be left to the king. And the inevitable result of that would be that the trust of most of them would be in the king and not in God. And when things went wrong it would be the king that they blamed, rather than their own state before God. PULPIT, "1Sa_12:15Against you, as it was against your fathers. The Hebrew has "against you and your fathers," and so the Vulgate, for which the Septuagint reads, "against you and your king," as in 1Sa_12:25. The text is probably corrupt, and to make sense requires the insertion of some such words as those given in the A.V; with which the Syriac also agrees.K&D, "

16 “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!

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GILL, "Now therefore stand,.... Which does not so much respect the position of their bodies as the fixed attention of their minds: and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes; meaning the storm of thunder and rain which presently followed; which coming at a time when such things were not usual, and on a day when there was no appearance or likelihood of anything of this kind, and suddenly, at once, upon the prayer of Samuel, it was no less than a miracle, and might be called a "great thing", new and unheard of, and the pure effect of almighty power.

HENRY 16-18, "Two things Samuel here aims at: -I. To convince the people of their sin in desiring a king. They were now rejoicing before God in and with their king (1Sa_11:15), and offering to God the sacrifices of praise, which they hoped God would accept; and this perhaps made them think that there was no harm in their asking a king, but really they had done well in it. Therefore Samuel here charges it upon them as their sin, as wickedness, great wickedness in the sight of the Lord. Note, Though we meet with prosperity and success in a way of sin, yet we must not therefore think the more favourably of it. They have a king, and if they conduct themselves well their king may be a very great blessing to them, and yet Samuel will have them perceive and see that their wickedness was great in asking a king. We must never think well of that which God in his law frowns upon, though in his providence he may seem to smile upon it. Observe,1. The expressions of God's displeasure against them for asking a king. At Samuel's word, God sent prodigious thunder and rain upon them, at a season of the year when, in that country, the like was never seen or known before, 1Sa_12:16-18. Thunder and rain have natural causes and sometimes terrible effects. But Samuel made it to appear that this was designed by the almighty power of God on purpose to convince them that they had done very wickedly in asking a king; not only by its coming in an unusual time, in wheat-harvest, and this on a fair clear day, when there appeared not to the eye any signs of a storm, but by his giving notice of it before. Had there happened to be thunder and rain at the time when he was speaking to them, he might have improved it for their awakening and conviction, as we may in a like case; but, to make it no less than a miracle, before it came, (1.) He spoke to them of it (1Sa_12:16, 1Sa_12:17): Stand and see this great thing. He had before told them to stand and hear (1Sa_12:7); but, because he did not see that his reasoning with them affected them (so stupid were they and unthinking), now he bids them stand and see. If what he said in a still small voice did not reach their hearts, nor his doctrine which dropped as the dew, they shall hear God speaking to them in dreadful claps of thunder and the great rain of his strength. He appealed to this as a sign: “I will call upon the Lord, and he will send thunder, will send it just now, to confirm the word of his servant, and to make you see that I spoke truly when I told you that God was angry with you for asking a king.” And the event proved him a true prophet; the sign and wonder came to pass. (2.) He spoke to God for it. Samuel called unto the Lord, and, in answer to his prayer, even while he was yet

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speaking, the Lord sent thunder and rain. By this Samuel made it to appear, not only what a powerful influence God has upon this earth, that he could, of a sudden, when natural causes did not work towards it, produce this dreadful rain and thunder, and bring them out of his treasures (Psa_135:7), but also what a powerful interest he had in heaven, that God would thus hearken to the voice of a man (Jos_10:14) and answer him in the secret place of thunder, Psa_81:7. Samuel, that son of prayer, was still famous for success in prayer. Now by this extraordinary thunder and rain sent on this occasion, [1.] God testified his displeasure against them in the same way in which he had formerly testified it, and at the prayer of Samuel too, against the Philistines. The Lord discomfited them with a great thunder, 1Sa_7:10. Now that Israel rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit, he turned to be their enemy, and fought against them with the same weapons which, not long before, had been employed against their adversaries, Isa_63:10. [2.] He showed them their folly in desiring a king to save them, rather than God or Samuel, promising themselves more from an arm of flesh than from the arm of God or from the power of prayer. Could their king thunder with a voice like God? Job_40:9. Could their prince command such forces as the prophet could by his prayers? [3.] He intimated to them that how serene and prosperous soever their condition seemed to be now that they had a king, like the weather in wheat-harvest, yet, if God pleased, he could soon change the face of their heavens, and persecute them with his tempest, as the Psalmist speaks.

K&D, "1Sa_12:16-17In order to give still greater emphasis to his words, and to secure their lasting, salutary effect upon the people, Samuel added still further: Even now ye may see that ye have acted very wickedly in the sight of Jehovah, in demanding a king. This chain of thought

is very clearly indicated by the words ַּגם־ַעָּתה, “yea, even now.” “Even now come hither, and see this great thing which Jehovah does before your eyes.” The words ַּגם־ַעָּתה, which are placed first, belong, so far as the sense is concerned, to ֶאת־הד and ;ְראּוִהְתַיְּצבּו (“place yourselves,” i.e., make yourselves ready) is merely inserted between, to fix the attention of the people more closely upon the following miracle, as an event of great importance, and one which they ought to lay to heart. “Is it not now wheat harvest? I will call to Jehovah, that He may give thunder ה) (.as in Exo_9:23, etc ,ֹקלand rain. Then perceive and see, that the evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to demand a king.” The wheat harvest occurs in Palestine between the middle of May and the middle of June (see by Bibl. Arch. i. §118). And during this time it scarcely ever rains. Thus Jerome affirms (ad Am. c. 4): “Nunquam in fine mensis Junii aut in Julio in his provinciis maximeque in Judaea pluvias vidimus.” And Robinson also says in his Palestine (ii. p. 98): “In ordinary seasons, from the cessation of the showers in spring until their commencement in October and November, rain never falls, and the sky is usually serene” (see my Arch. i. §10). So that when God sent thunder and rain on that day in answer to Samuel's appeal to him, this was a miracle of divine omnipotence, intended to show to the people that the judgments of God might fall upon the sinners at any time. Thunderings, as “the voice of God” (Exo_9:28), are harbingers of judgment.

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COFFMAN, "A MIRACULOUS CONFIRMATION OF SAMUEL'S WORDS

"Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the Lord shall do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king." So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel."

The great miracle here was in the timing of the thunderstorm, which came directly and immediately upon Samuel's praying for it in the presence of all the people. Such a thing as a rain during the wheat harvest was about as unusual as anything that could have happened, just like snow in July or August! In fact, the author of Proverbs gives us this:

Like snow in summer, or rain in harvest,

so honor is not fitting for a fool. (Proverbs 26:1).

"You shall know and see that your wickedness is great ... in asking for yourselves a king" (1 Samuel 12:17). Some very excellent scholars suppose that Israel's wickedness consisted not in their asking for a king, but in their sinful motives in so doing. The Bible does not justify that distinction. Their sin consisted in rejecting the government of God by their demand for an earthly ruler instead. God would never have abolished the kingship of Israel nor have twice destroyed their temple if either one of them had been according to God's will. The passage in Deuteronomy which speaks of Israel's kings is not divine permission for their demanding a king, but a prophecy of what the people would eventually do, along with instructions applicable at the time foretold when they would commit that sin of demanding a king..COKE, "1 Samuel 12:16-18. Now, therefore, stand and see, &c.— Rain indiscriminately in the winter months, and none at all in the summer, is what is most common in the East; so it is at Aleppo, and about Algiers: and so Jacobus de Vitriaco assures us it is in Judea: for he observes, that "lightning and thunder are

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wont, in the western countries, to be in the summer, but happen in the Holy Land in winter: that in the summer it seldom or never rains there; but in winter, though the returns of rain are not so frequent, yet after they begin to fall, they pour down for three or four nights together, most vehemently as if they would drown the country;" See Gesta Dei per Francos, vol. 1: p. 1097. But though commonly there is no rain at Aleppo through the whole summer, yet sometimes there is such a thing as a smart thunder-shower. So Dr. Russel tells us, that in the night between the first and second of July 1743, some severe thunder-showers fell: but he adds, that it was a thing very extraordinary at that season. Possibly it may be more uncommon still at Jerusalem; for St. Jerome, who lived long in the Holy Land, declares, in his Commentary on Amos, that he never saw rain in those provinces, and especially in Judea, in the end of June, or in the month of July: but if it should be found to be otherwise, and that, though St. Jerome had never seen it, such a thing may now and then happen there, as it did at Aleppo while Dr. Russel resided in that city; the fact here recorded might nevertheless be an authentic proof of what Samuel affirmed; since a very rare and unusual event, happening immediately, without any preceding appearance of such a thing, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet, and giving this as an attestation of his being a messenger of God, is a sufficient proof of a divine mission, (as is also its happening at any other time distinctly marked out) though a like event has sometimes happened without any such declared interposition of God, and therefore understood on all hands to be casual, and without design. Bishop Warburton has sufficiently argued this point in his Julian, where he supposes that those fiery eruptions, crosses, &c. which happened upon that emperor's attempt to rebuild the Jewish temple at Jerusalem, were such as have happened at other times, without any particular meaning; and yet, as they were then circumstanced, were an authentic attestation to the truth of Christianity. It should not be forgotten, that this thunder and rain of Samuel's seem to have been in the day-time, and while Samuel and the Israelites continued together, solemnizing Saul's inauguration; which circumstance added considerably to the energy of this event; Dr. Russel informing us, that the rains in those countries usually fall in the night, as did those uncommon thunder-showers of July 1743. See Observations, p. 4. 6 and Scheuchzer on the place.ELLICOTT, "(16) This great thing, which the Lord will do.—Then, to give greater emphasis to his warning words, Samuel adds: “O, ye elders, stand forth. I will show you by means of a Voice from heaven that this very asking for a king, though the Eternal has granted your prayer, is evil in His sight.” Their wishing for an earthly king was the crown of a long course of rebellion against the Supreme will. It was, in fact, the breaking up for ever of the glorious ideal which had been for so long before

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the eyes of the noblest spirits in Israel.HAWKER, "Verses 16-19(16) ¶ Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. (17) Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. (18) So Samuel called unto the LORD and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. (19) And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

We ought to remark the great power of prayer, in this instance of Samuel. What an astonishing degree of faith had the Lord bestowed upon this man! And what cannot faith do, when the eye of the soul is looking stedfastly unto Jesus? Remember, what Christ himself saith of it: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:16 gives the transition to a miraculous confirmation of that realness of the divine holiness and righteousness, with which Samuel, his gaze fixed on the future, has just directed his exhortation to the people in the form of the announcement of a sentence. “Even now” connects the following with the preceding, so that1) the picture of a judicial scene, which was introduced in 1 Samuel 12:7, is continued in the following narration, and2) the signification of the next related fact is closely connected with that of the previously spoken words. The “now also” or “even now” refers back to 1 Samuel 12:7, where the judidicial scene is introduced with the same words: “and now stand forth, that I may reason with you.” The reasoning continues thence through all the stages of the discourse, which the people have up to this moment heard, and is completed in the fact announced by Samuel [that Isaiah, the thunder-storm.—TR.], in which they are to behold the Lord’s judgment on their sin in the matter of the king.PETT, "Verses 16-19

Samuel Then Calls On YHWH To Witness From Heaven The Fact Of Their Sinfulness By Sending Thunder And Rain At The Time Of The Wheat Harvest (1 Samuel 12:16-19).

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Then, lest the people begin to think that perhaps their action has not been so bad after all, Samuel gives them a sign from God of His displeasure. It was the time of the wheat harvest, the time in Israel when the sky was daily blue and cloudless, and when rain was something far away from their minds because it was not expected for at least a few months, so Samuel calls on YHWH to do the ‘impossible’, to bring thunder and rain at Samuel’s request. And when He does so the people are filled with awe and fear and ask Samuel to pray for them that they might not die, for they recognise now the greatness of their sin and folly in asking for a king.

1 Samuel 12:16

“Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which YHWH will do before your eyes.”

Samuel faces the people and tells them to stand where they are, for in that very place they will see the great thing that YHWH will do before their eyes.

17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

BARNES, "Wheat harvest - Between May 15 and June 15. Jerome’s testimony (that 92

of an eye-witness) “I have never seen rain in the end of June, or in July, in Judaea” is borne out by modern travelers.

CLARKE, "Is it not wheat harvest to-day? - That is, This is the time of wheat harvest. According to St. Jerome, who spent several years in the promised land, this harvest commenced about the end of June or beginning of July, in which he says he never saw rain in Judea: Nunquam enim in fine mensis Junii, sive in mense Julio, in his provinciis, maximeque in Judea, pluvias vidimus. - Hier. in Amo_4:7; where he refers to this very history. What occurred now hardly ever occurs there but in the winter months.

GILL, "Is it not wheat harvest today?.... Of the time of wheat harvest; see Gill on 1Sa_6:13. Rain usually fell in Judea only twice a year, called the former and the latter rain; and from the seventeenth of Nisan or March, to the sixteenth of Marchesvan or October, it was not usual for rain to fall, and so not in harvest, at that time especially, see Pro_26:1. R. Joseph Kimchi says, in the land of Israel rain never fell all the days of harvest; and this is confirmed by Jerom, who lived long in those parts; who says (o), at the end of the month of June, and in the month of July, we never saw rain in those provinces, especially in Judea. And Samuel not only by putting this question would have them observe that it was the time of wheat harvest in general, but on that day in particular the men, were at work in the fields reaping the wheat, &c. and so was not cloudy, and inclining to rain, but all serene and clear, or otherwise they would not have been employed in cutting down the corn; all which made the following case the more remarkable: I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; in a miraculous and preternatural way, there being nothing in nature preparatory thereunto, and this purely at the prayer of Samuel: that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king; was attended with aggravated circumstances, and highly offensive to God, though he had gratified them in it, of which this violent storm would be an indication, and might serve to convince them of their folly, as well as of their wickedness, and that they had no need of a king, since Samuel their judge could do as much or more by his prayers than a king could do by his sword; and of which they had had sufficient proof before this, and that in the same way, 1Sa_7:10.

JAMISON, "1Sa_12:17-25. He terrifies them with thunder in harvest-time.Is it not wheat harvest to-day? — That season in Palestine occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom or never rains, and the sky is serene and cloudless. There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any

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prognostics of its approach, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an attestation of his words being true. The people regarded it as a miraculous display of divine power, and, panic-struck, implored the prophet to pray for them. Promising to do so, he dispelled their fears. The conduct of Samuel, in this whole affair of the king’s appointment, shows him to have been a great and good man who sank all private and personal considerations in disinterested zeal for his country’s good and whose last words in public were to warn the people, and their king, of the danger of apostasy and disobedience to God.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:17. Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? — At which time it was a rare thing in those parts to have thunder or rain; the weather being more constant in its seasons than it is with us, and the rain being wont to fall periodically, only in the autumn and the spring, called the former and latter rain. He shall send thunder and rain — That you may understand that God is displeased with you, and see how foolishly and wickedly you have acted, in rejecting the government of that God at whose command are all things, both in heaven and in earth.ELLICOTT, "(17) Is it not wheat harvest day?—The Canaan wheat harvest is between the middle of May and the middle of June. Rain in that season seldom or never falls, but if it does it is usually severe. This is the testimony of one who spoke as a resident, and his statement is confirmed by the observations of the latest travellers and scholars. The terrible storm of rain accompanied with thunder, at a time of year when these storms of thunder and rain rarely took place, coming, as it did, in direct answer to the seer’s invocation, struck the people naturally with great fear, and for the moment they thoroughly repented of the past, and entreated Samuel—who, they felt, stood on strangely familiar terms with that awful yet loving Eternal—to intercede for them.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:17 [Is it] not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness [is] great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

Ver. 17. Is it not wheat harvest today?] And so, no usual season for rain; [Proverbs 26:1] because the parching heat of the sun drieth up the exhalations and vapours. It was a fair day, howsoever, when these things were spoken: and the change was as sudden as that at Sodom. [Genesis 19:22]

I will call unto the Lord.] And could ye not rest satisfied with such a governor as is 94

thus prevalent with God, and can open or shut heaven by his prayers?

And he shall send thunder and rain.] Which though it might hinder their harvest, yet it furthered their soul’s health, which was chiefly to be regarded.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:17. Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? This question signifies that at that season (in May or June) rain was unusual. So testifies Jerome on Am. iv7 [and Rob. I, 429–431.—TR.]. After the barley-harvest ( 2 Samuel 21:9; Ruth 1:22; Ruth 2:23) followed the wheat-harvest, 1 Samuel 6:13; Genesis 30:14; Judges 15:1–“To give voices,” said of Jehovah, = “ to thunder,” Psalm 46:7; Psalm 68:34; Psalm 18:14; Exodus 9:23. Thunder is called the voice of the Lord, Psalm 29:3 sq. Samuel announces a storm with thunder and rain as a God-given sign, by which the Israelites should perceive that they had grievously sinned against God in asking a king. The “voices” = thunder answer to the “voice” and “mouth” in 1 SamuelPETT, "1 Samuel 12:17

“Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to YHWH, that he may send thunder and rain, and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of YHWH, in asking for yourselves a king.”

And then he informs them what it will be. At this very time of wheat harvest (May and June) when the weather was always hot and sunny (as it always is in Palestine at this time of year, without a cloud in the sky), he will call on YHWH to send thunder and rain so that they might recognise and see that their wickedness was great in asking for a king for themselves, something which they had done before the very eyes of YHWH.

Control of the weather was always recognised as being in YHWH’s hands, and the sending of rain at the right time was to be seen as one of the evidences of His blessings on His people, whereas a shortage of rain indicated His displeasure. But rain and thunder had regularly been a means by which God had revealed His judgment on His people’s enemies (1 Samuel 7:10; compare Judges 5:20-21). Thus this rain and thunder, coming at this time, could only indicate to the people that God was angry with them. Indeed rain in harvest was seen as something of such

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rarity that it was as rare as the possibility of a fool receiving honour (Proverbs 26:1).

The parallel in the chiasmus also indicates something further. It suggests that the rain and thunder were symbolic of coming judgments. Because they had chosen their own king rather than being in full submission to YHWH they would experience future judgments. And as we move on into Saul’s reign we discover that that is precisely what did happen. Indeed had God in His mercy not provided a David it would have been very much worse. But He tempered justice with mercy.PULPIT, "1Sa_12:17Wheat harvest. Barley was fit for reaping at the Passover, and wheat at Pentecost, i.e.between the middle of May and the middle of June. Jerome, on Amo_4:7, testifies that during his long residence in Palestine he had never seen rain there during June and July; but Conder, says, "Storms still occur occasionally in harvest time." He shall send thunder. Hebrew, voices, and so in verse 18 (see 1Sa_2:10; 1Sa_7:9).

18 Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.

CLARKE, "The Lord sent thunder and rain that day - This was totally unusual; and, as it came at the call of Samuel, was a most evident miracle.

Greatly feared the Lord - They dreaded His terrible majesty; and they feared Samuel, perceiving that he had so much power with God.

GILL, "So Samuel called unto the Lord,.... Not in an authoritative way, or by way of command, but by prayer; so the Targum renders the clause in the preceding verse,"I will pray before the Lord:"

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and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; immediately, though there was no appearance of it; it was harvest time, and a fine harvest day. Josephus says (p) he sent thunder, lightning, and hail, a terrible storm and tempest it was: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel; the Lord that sent this tempest, and Samuel who had such power with God in prayer. Clement of Alexandria (q)thinks that from hence the Greeks borrowed their fable concerning Aeacus invoking God, when there was a drought in Greece; and as soon as he prayed, immediately there was thunder, and the whole air was covered with clouds; but perhaps they rather framed it from the instance of Elijah praying for rain (r), at whose request it came, 1Ki_18:42.

K&D, "1 Samuel 12:18-19This miracle therefore inspired the people with a salutary terror. “All the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel,” and entreated the prophet, “Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we die not, because we have added to all our sins the evil thing, to ask us a king.”

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:18. The Lord sent thunder and rain — Such was the power and favour with God that this man of God possessed! By this thunder and rain, God showed them their folly in desiring a king to save them, rather than God or Samuel, expecting more from an arm of flesh than from the arm of God, or from the power of prayer. Could their king thunder with a voice like God? Could their prince command such forces as the prophet could by his prayers? Likewise he intimates, that how serene soever their condition was now, (like the weather in wheat-harvest,) yet if God pleased he could soon change the face of the heavens, and persecute them with his storms.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:18 So Samuel called unto the LORD and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

Ver. 18. And the Lord sent thunder and rain that day.] Out of the midst of water he fetched fire, astonishing the people with the fearful noise of that eruption; that he might refute their folly, and bring them to repentance: since now they saw evidently that God was greatly displeased with them for rejecting his government, and that it was not Samuel’s saying only.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:18. At Samuel’s request this sign of His anger and His punitive justice, as manifestation of His kingly glory, takes place.—The result is that the people are seized with great fear of the Lord and of Samuel; “of Samuel” is

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added because Hebrews, as before by his word, so by his introduction of this manifestation, wonderful and contrary to the ordinary course of nature, of God’s wrath, had displayed himself as instrument of the judicial power and glory of the God-king.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:18‘So Samuel called to YHWH, and YHWH sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared YHWH and Samuel.’Samuel then carried out his proposal and called on YHWH, and YHWH sent thunder and rain ‘that very day’, and the result was that the people realised just how much they had angered both God and Samuel, and they were filled with fear before both of them (compare Exodus 14:31 for a similar situation). Samuel was not, of course, simply seeking to terrify them. In his heart he was doing it for their good so that they might learn a lesson for the future. He wanted them to recognise that this manipulation of the weather was something that their new king would not be able to do for them. And he did not want them to forget YHWH.

19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

CLARKE, "Pray for thy servants - that we die not - As they knew they had rebelled against God, they saw that they had every thing to fear from his justice and power.

We have added unto all our sins this evil - It is no sin to have a king; a good king is one of the greatest blessings of God’s providence; but it is a sin to put a man in the place of God. Is it not strange that they did not now attempt to repair their fault? They might have done it, but they did not; they acknowledged their sin, but did not put it away. This is the general way of mankind. “God help us, we are all sinners!” is the 98

general language of all people: but though to be a sinner is to be in the most solemn and awful circumstances, yet they are contented to bear the character, heedless of the consequences!

GILL, "And all the people said unto Samuel, During the tempest, and in the midst of it; it was the general cry of the people, they were unanimous in it: pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not; though they had rejected him as their judge and supreme governor in desiring a king, now they were his humble servants, at least feignedly; and knowing what interest he had with God in prayer, they entreat him to make use of it on their behalf, who having sinned so greatly, had not the assurance to call the Lord their God, though they had no doubt of his being the God of Samuel, whose prayers he had heard, of which this tempest was a full proof; and was so violent, that if it continued, they were afraid they should be destroyed by the thunder and lightning, or they and their cattle, with the fruits of the earth, be washed away with the prodigious rain: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king; though Samuel had laid before them the evils and inconveniences of having a king, and had in the name of the Lord charged them with rejecting God as their king; yet nothing convinced them of their evil till this storm came, and then all their sins came fresh to their minds; and this added to the weight of them, and lay heaviest on them, that they had rejected the Lord, and slighted his prophets, and, notwithstanding all remonstrances, resolved on having a king.

HENRY, "2. The impressions which this made upon the people. It startled them very much, as well it might. (1.) They greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Though when they had a king they were ready to think they must fear him only, God made them know that he is greatly to be feared and his prophets for his sake. Now they were rejoicing in their king, God taught them to rejoice with trembling. (2.) They owned their sin and folly in desiring a king: We have added to all our sins this evil, 1Sa_12:19. Some people will not be brought to a sight of their sins by any gentler methods than storms and thunders. Samuel did not extort this confession from them till the matter was settled and the king confirmed, lest it should look as if he designed by it rather to establish himself in the government than to bring them to repentance. Now that they were flattering themselves in their own eyes, their iniquity was found to be hateful, Psa_36:2. (3.) They earnestly begged Samuel's prayers (1Sa_12:19): Pray for thy servants, that we die not. They were apprehensive of their danger from the wrath of God, and could not expect that he should hear their prayers for themselves, and therefore they entreat Samuel to pray for them. Now they see their need of him whom awhile ago they slighted. Thus many that will not have Christ to reign over them would yet be glad to have him intercede for them, to turn away the wrath of God. And the time may come when those that have despised and ridiculed praying people will value their prayers, and desire a share in them. “Pray” (say they) “to the Lord thy God; we know not how to call him ours, but, if thou hast any interest in him, improve it for us.”

II. He aims to confirm the people in their religion, and engage them for ever to cleave 99

unto the Lord. The design of his discourse is much the same with Joshua's, Jos_23:1 and Jos_24:1.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:19-21. The Lord thy God — Whom thou hast so great an interest in, while we are ashamed and afraid to call him our God. Fear not — With a desponding fear, as if there are no hope left for you. But turn not ye aside — After idols, as they had often done before, and, notwithstanding this warning, did afterward. Vain things — So idols are called Deuteronomy 32:21, Jeremiah 2:5; and so they are, being mere nothings, having no power in them, no influence upon us, nor being of any use or benefit to us.COFFMAN, "Verse 19SAMUEL REASSURES THE PEOPLE OF GOD'S CONTINUED LOVE AND PROTECTION"And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king." And Samuel said to the people, "Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and do not turn aside after vain things which cannot profit or save, for they are vain. For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king."

"We have added ... this evil ... to ask for ourselves a king" (1 Samuel 12:19). There is every evidence that the sin of Israel did not lie in their motives for asking a king, but in the fact of their asking it.

"Serve the Lord with all your heart" (1 Samuel 12:20). No merely pretended service of the Lord could suffice; as reiterated long afterward by the Saviour, "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, this is the first and great commandment" (Mark 12:29).

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"Do not turn aside after vain things" (1 Samuel 12:21). This is a reference to the pagan idols, which are also referred to in the Scriptures as `nothings.' In fact the words here rendered vain things, "Actually mean anything empty or void, and are often used, as here, for an idol. As Paul says, `An idol is nothing in the world' (1 Corinthians 7:4)."[14] H. P. Smith translated this place, "And do not turn aside after the nothings."[15]

"The Lord will not cast away his people" (1 Samuel 12:22). The great factor underlying a promise like this was the purpose of God as revealed to Abraham that through his Seed (singular), the Messiah, God would bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). God's promise of the Messiah to be born of the posterity of Abraham absolutely required that God preserve and protect that posterity (Israel) until that goal was actually achieved in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately the Israelites took advantage of that promise by their countless rebellions.

"Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you" (1 Samuel 12:23). From this it is clear that Christians should never cease to pray for the Church (the true Israel).

In regard to this verse (1 Samuel 12:23), Willis observed that, "Samuel here reaffirms his intention to continue his role as a prophet, ... and priest in Israel, declaring that Israel's gaining a king will not interfere in this work."[16]

"If you do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king" (1 Samuel 12:25). "This probably looks forward to Saul's death at Gilboa."[17] It is the king not the prophet who receives this warning/CONSTABLE, "Samuel's reassurance of the people 12:19-25

The people's rebellion against God was not something they could undo. Consequences would follow. Nevertheless Samuel counseled them to follow and

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serve the Lord faithfully from then on. They should not fear that God would abandon them because of their sin of demanding a king. He would not cast them off because He had promised to stay with them and had committed Himself to them (Exodus 19:5-6). His name (reputation) would suffer if He abandoned them.

Not only did the Israelites need to walk in obedience to God, they also needed the supportive intercession of Samuel that would bring down God's enablement so they could follow Him faithfully. This Samuel promised them too. Intercession is a vitally important ministry of leaders of God's people, and Samuel realized this (Jeremiah 15:1; Psalms 99:6).

"Prophetic intercession is regarded as essential to Israel's continued prosperity; only when her doom is sealed is a prophet told to desist (Jeremiah 11:14; Jeremiah 14:11). Samuel's ministry of intercession and teaching, exercised independently of the offices of state, becomes the norm for those who followed him in the prophetic succession. These are 'the irreducible aspects of the prophetic office' (McCarter, p. 219)." [Note: Gordon, p. 130. His quotation is from P. Kyle McCarter Jr., I Samuel.]

To fear and serve God faithfully, the Israelites would need to remember God's faithfulness to them in the past, and to bear in mind the certain consequences of disobedience (cf. Deuteronomy 28:41; Deuteronomy 28:45-64; Deuteronomy 30:15-20). The dark alternative was being swept away in exile.

This chapter sets forth clearly the basic principles by which God deals with His people. As such it is very important. It explains why things happened as they did in Israel and in the personal lives of the major characters that the writer emphasized. God articulated these principles earlier in the Torah, but He repeated them here.

In chapters 8-12, the record emphasizes that even though the people insisted on having a human king instead of God, God gave them one who was personally admirable and victorious in battle. Everything about Saul in these chapters is positive. God gave blessing to His people as long as their representative submitted to His authority.

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TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins [this] evil, to ask us a king.

Ver. 19. Pray … that we die not.] As they now feared they should, so terrible was the tempest: but good Samuel prayed it down again likely, when the people were thoroughly humbled. It is well observed that they say, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God; they say not, the Lord our God: for they might fear they had now forfeited their interest, and that they were discovenanted.

For we have added unto all our sins.] By occasion of this sin, they came to the sight and recognition of many more. Our lives are as full of sins as the firmament is of stars, or the furnace of sparks.LANGE, " 1 Samuel 12:19-25. Fourth section of Samuel’s dealing with the repentant people. Confession of sin, comfort and exhortation to the humbled people.1 Samuel 12:19. Their overwhelming fright and terror of soul leads first to the prayer to Samuel to call on the Lord that He might mercifully spare them. That we die not,—the presence of the holy and just God has made itself known to the people. Before Him the sinner cannot stand, His judgment must reach him. The “for” supplies the basis to the thought contained in what precedes, that they had deserved the punishment of the angry God. Their penitent confession is not merely the admission that they had asked a king, but that they had added to all their sins this evil. 1 Samuel 12:20. The word of consolation: Fear not, in contrast with: “and all the people greatly feared” ( 1 Samuel 12:18). To his consoling word Samuel adds1) the reference to their sin, which, in order to retain them in wholesome sorrowful repentance, he anew sets before them in its whole extent (“ye have done all this wickedness”), and2) the exhortation, negative: only turn not aside from following the Lord (the “from after” points back to the “after” in 1 Samuel 12:15); positive: Serve the Lord with all your heart, the undivided, complete devotion of the heart, the innermost life to the Lord is inseparably connected with not turning aside from Him.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:19‘And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to YHWH your God, that we do not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a

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king.” ’

The display of divine power made the people realise how foolish they had been, and they begged Samuel, on whom they had always depended in the past, to pray for them to YHWH his God that they might not die in the terrible storm, for they now recognised that they had added to all their previous sins this evil, that they had sought for themselves a king. Most of them would forget it once the storm was over. But for the present it was mightily effective.

20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

CLARKE, "Ye have done all this wickedness - That is, although ye have done all this wickedness: what was past God would pass by, provided they would be obedient in future.GILL, "And Samuel said unto the people, fear not,.... Being destroyed by the tempest: ye have done all this wickedness; in asking a king; that is, though they were guilty of so heinous a sin, yet there were grace and mercy with God, and they should not despair of it, so be it that they did not depart from him, but cordially served him; the Targum is,"ye have been the cause of all this evil;''the storm of thunder and rain; and though they had, he would not have them despond or indulge slavish fear: yet turn not aside from following the Lord; the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; provided they did not depart from the Lord, and forsake his worship, word, and ordinances, they need not fear utter ruin and destruction, though they had been guilty of

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this sin: but serve the Lord with all your heart; if their service of God was kept up, and was hearty and sincere, they might still expect things would go well with them.

HENRY 20-21, "1. He would not that the terrors of the Lord should frighten them from him, for they were intended to frighten them to him (1Sa_12:20): “Fear not; though you have done all this wickedness, and though God is angry with you for it, yet do not therefore abandon his service, nor turn from following him.” Fear not, that is, “despair not, fear not with amazement, the weather will clear up after the storm. Fear not; for, though God will frown upon his people, yet he will not forsake them (1Sa_12:22) for his great name's sake; do not you forsake him then.” Every transgression in the covenant, though it displease the Lord, yet does not throw us out of covenant, and therefore God's just rebukes must not drive us from our hope in his mercy. The fixedness of God's choice is owing to the freeness of it; we may therefore hope he will not forsake his people, because it has pleased him to make them his people. Had he chosen them for their good merits, we might fear he would cast them off for their bad merits; but, choosing them for his name's sake, for his name's sake he will not leave them.

2. He cautions them against idolatry: “Turn not aside from God and the worship of him” (1Sa_12:20, and again 1Sa_12:21); “for if you turn aside from God, whatever you turn aside to, you will find it is a vain thing, that can never answer your expectations, but will certainly deceive you if you trust to it; it is a broken reed, a broken cistern.” Idols could not profit those that sought to them in their wants, nor deliver those that sought to them in their straits, for they were vain, and not what they pretended to be. An idol is nothing in the world, 1Co_8:4.

K&D, "Samuel thereupon announced to them first of all, that the Lord would not forsake His people for His great name's sake, if they would only serve Him with uprightness. In order, however, to give no encouragement to any false trust in the covenant faithfulness of the Lord, after the comforting words, “Fear not,” he told them again very decidedly that they had done wrong, but that now they were not to turn away from the Lord, but to serve Him with all their heart, and not go after vain idols. To strengthen this admonition, he repeats the ָּתסּורּו לֹא in 1Sa_12:21, with the explanation, that in turning from the Lord they would fall away to idols, which could not bring them either help or deliverance. To the ִּכי after ָּתסּורּו the same verb must be supplied from the context: “Do not turn aside (from the Lord), for (ye turn aside) after that which is vain.” ַהֹּתהּו, the vain, worthless thing, signifies the false gods. This will explain the construction with a plural: “which do not profit and do not save, because they are emptiness” (tohu), i.e., worthless beings (elilim, Lev_19:4; cf. Isa_44:9 and Jer_16:19).

SBC, "It is the special and most perilous curse of sin that it obscures, or blots out altogether, or terribly distorts the vision of God in our hearts; it gradually reduces us to that most desolate of all conditions "having no hope and without God in the world."I. Those who need friends most are those who have fallen most and are in the most sore

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condition; but if even man despises, and finds no forgiveness for our faults, is there any hope that He in whose sight the very heavens are not clean—that He will pity us, and take us to His breast, and suffer us to live in the glory of His presence? Will He, who is the Friend of the innocent, be a Friend of the guilty too?II. God loathes our sins, but knowing that we are but dust, He loves our souls. He sent His Son to seek and save the lost. When that blessed Son had taken our nature upon Him, He lived with the aged and the withered, the homeless and the diseased, with the palsied and the demoniac, with the ignorant and the blind.III. Each new day is to you a new chance. Return to God and use it rightly, letting the time past of your life suffice you to have walked in the hard ways of sin and shame. The mistakes, the follies, the sins, the calamities, of the past may, if you use them rightly, be the pitying angels to guide you through the future. If you put off the present time for repentance, the convenient season may never come. As yet the door stands open before you; very soon it will be too late, and the door be shut.F. W. Farrar, The Fall of Man, p. 364.

Notice four things:—I. We have sinned some sins which we cannot repair. God, in His great love, takes us still as we are; takes us back to His bosom; only asks one thing: that at least we will go on in simplicity and sincerity now.II. Though the temporal punishment may remain, it yet may be no sign that the sin is unforgiven. It is a difficulty in our way raised by ourselves. God takes us back though we are fallen. Let us serve Him still, though the vigour of the old days is gone.III. This punishment is a sign, a sure sign, of destruction following unforgiven sin. If God so punish those whom He receives as repentant, what will befall us if we repent not? Surely nothing else than that "we shall be consumed."IV. What an argument with us ought His longsuffering to be! What peace is in the thought of forgiveness so large, so full, so free, as God has promised! Not friends, nor repose, nor confession, nor resolution avails anything without the very presence of God; but each of these things in Him may work us weal, and He in them can bring us absolution and perfect peace.Archbishop Benson, Boy Life: Sundays in Wellington College, p. 227.

ELLICOTT, "(20) Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness.—A very great and precious evangelical truth is contained in these comforting words of the great and good seer. They show how deeply this eminent servant of the Most High had entered into the Eternal thought. No sin or course of sin was too great to be repented of. Afar off these true ministers of the Lord saw, though, perhaps, “in a glass’ darkly,” the Lamb of God, whose blood cleanseth from all sin. Isaiah often pressed home the

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same truth to the sinning Israel of his own day in such terms as, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;” and Samuel’s words—bidding the people, in spite of the guilty past, yet press on, following the Lord and serving Him with all the heart—were taken up by Samuel’s prophet-successors, and repeated in coming ages again and again in such moving exhortations as, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God” (Hosea 14:1). They were re-echoed by men like Paul, who, with stirring loving words, bade their hearers, forgetting all the things that were behind, their past guilt and failure, press on still fearlessly for the real prize of life.HAWKER, "Verses 20-25(20) And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; (21) And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. (22) For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. (23) Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: (24) Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. (25) But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

How encouraging the sermon ends. Amidst all the unworthiness of the people, the Lord's grace still reigns; for his mercy endureth forever. But is not Samuel here, a type of Jesus? In all the intercessions of the priests, or prophets of God, do we not view him, whom they shadow forth? Blessed Jesus! here I behold, as in numberless other instances, how thy Priesthood is an everlasting priesthood, and how the efficacy of it hath been, and still is, always prevailing. Though like Israel, I have sinned against thee, and slighted thy government, and too often made to myself a king of my own, to office of thine, for my soul. Oh! save me to the uttermost, seeing thou ever livest to make intercession for sinners!TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

Ver. 20. Fear not,] i.e., Despair not, cast not away your confidence: they that go down into this pit cannot hope for God’s truth. [Isaiah 38:18] It is a kind of taking

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away the Almighty, to limit his boundless mercy; despair is a high point of atheism.

Yet turn not aside.] As the devil, that old manslayer, would have it, tempting you first to presume, and then to despair: "whom resist steadfast in the faith."NISBET, "THE ONLY WAY TO NATIONAL PROSPERITY

‘And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.’

1 Samuel 12:20

It is the special and most perilous curse of sin that it obscures, or blots out altogether, or terribly distorts the vision of God in our hearts; it gradually reduces us to that most desolate of all conditions, ‘having no hope and without God in the world.’

I. Those who need friends most are those who have fallen most and are in the most sore condition; but if even man despises and finds no forgiveness for our faults, is there any hope that He in whose sight the very heavens are not clean—that He will pity us, and take us to His breast, and suffer us to live in the glory of His presence? Will He, who is the Friend of the innocent, be a Friend of the guilty too?

II. God loathes our sins but, knowing that we are but dust, He loves our souls.—He sent His Son to seek and save the lost. When that blessed Son had taken our nature upon Him, He lived with the aged and the withered, the homeless and the diseased, with the palsied and the demoniac, with the ignorant and the blind.

III. Each new day is to you a new chance.—Return to God and use it rightly, letting the time past of your life suffice you to have walked in the hard ways of sin and shame. The mistakes, the follies, the sins, the calamities of the past may, if you use

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them rightly, be the pitying angels to guide you through the future. If you put off the present time for repentance, the convenient season may never come. As yet the door stands open before you; very soon it will be too late, and the door be shut.

Dean Farrar.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

Notice four things in this text.

I. We have sinned some sins which we cannot repair.—God, in His great love, takes us still as we are; takes us back to His bosom; only asks one thing; that at least we will go on in simplicity and sincerity now.

II. Though the temporal punishment may remain, it yet may be no sign that the sin is unforgiven.—It is a difficulty in our way, raised by ourselves. God takes us back though we are fallen. Let us serve Him still, though the vigour of the old days is gone.

III. This punishment is a sign, a sure sign, of destruction following unforgiven sin.—If God so punish those whom He receives as repentant, what will befall us if we repent not? Surely nothing else than that ‘we shall be consumed.’

IV. What an argument with us ought His longsuffering to be.—What peace is in the thought of forgiveness so large, so full, so free, as God has promised! Not friends, nor repose, nor confession, nor resolution avails anything without the very presence of God; but each of these things in Him may work us weal, and He in them can bring us absolution and perfect peace.

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Archbishop Benson.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Comforting them with their sins, and persuading them to heartfelt contrition, Samuel points out to Israel anew the way of life. He sums up all in the clear, solemn words, “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” Thus in Gilgal a word is spoken for all time. Into that vital word nothing accidental or circumstantial enters. The law of national life is written as with the pen of the Medes and Persians. The basis of true national prosperity is revealed for evermore. In simplest paraphrase it stands now as then, that highest national well-being is only secured by hearty obedience to God.’

(2) ‘Here is the secret of national prosperity. Read it in three words, “Fear … serve … obey.” Reverence, service, obedience, these three ensure happiness and success. This is true of a nation, and it is true of an individual. “The more of righteousness,” said the Talmud, “so much the more of peace.” Then the dark side of the same truth gives us the secret of national decay. In just two words, “not obey … but rebel.” There are great lessons for us in this parting principle. The fear of the Lord is still the beginning of wisdom. His service is still perfect freedom. To obey is still better than sacrifice. On these three notes, “fear,” “serve,” “obey,” the true national anthem is written.’

(3) ‘Let Anglo-Saxon righteousness be lost, and supremacy would soon go with it. It is not inconceivable that, should we forget God as Israel did, and should China receive Him fully, the splendid intrepidity and faithfulness shown by the Chinese Christians during the Boxer ordeal, and the proverbial patience and tenacity of the race, and vast resources of the country, might give to the world a new war-cry—“Chinese supremacy.” Let no self-conceit blind us to the fact that God demands righteousness of any people who would prosper.’PETT, "Verses 20-25

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Samuel Promises Them That He Will Not Forget His Responsibility Towards Them as Their Prophet, Assures Them That He will Pray For Them And Continue To Teach Them The Right Way, And Warns Them Again Of The Necessity Of Being Faithful To YHWH (1 Samuel 12:20-25).

While they are in this state of remorse Samuel takes the opportunity to stress what they must do in the future. He assures them that he will not fail in his responsibilities of praying for them and teaching them in the future, and in return they are to ensure that they do not turn aside from following YHWH, but are to follow Him faithfully, serving Him with all their heart, and not turning after what is vain and cannot profit them or deliver them.

1 Samuel 12:20-21

‘And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following YHWH, but serve YHWH with all your heart, and do not turn aside, for then would you go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.” ’

Samuel seeks to comfort them and assure them that for now at least YHWH intends them no harm. He accepts that they have done great evil, both in the past and in their present decision, but calls on them not to turn aside from following YHWH. Rather they are to serve Him with all their heart. For if they do turn aside it will only be to go after vain things (i.e. false gods who are nothings - compare the same word in Isaiah 41:29; Isaiah 44:9, and see 1 Corinthians 8:4) which can neither profit them nor deliver them. There really is no sound alternative from YHWH.

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21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.

CLARKE, "After vain things - That is, idols; which he calls here התהו hattohu, the same expression found Gen_1:2. The earth was תהו tohu; it was waste, empty, and formless: so idols; they are confusion, and things of naught, for an idol is nothing in the world, it is not the representative of any intelligent being.

GILL, "And turn ye not aside,.... From his worship: for then; if they turned aside from that: should ye go after vain things; idols, which are vanity, and less than vanity: which cannot profit nor deliver; neither bestow good things on their votaries, nor deliver them from evils, or from the hands of their enemies for they are vain; empty, useless, and unprofitable; an idol is nothing in the world, 1Co_8:4.

COKE, "1 Samuel 12:21, &c. Vain things, which cannot profit— Samuel in these gentle terms dissuades them from idolatry, the practice of which was as useless to themselves as it was disgraceful to God. We have a fine instance in this chapter of the pleasing comfort, and satisfaction of heart, which those judges must enjoy who have conscientiously discharged their duty. How great must be their peace, when about to render up an account of their administration to GOD, the Judge of all! The remonstrances which Samuel makes to the Israelites concerning their frequent deviations, and God's paternal mercy towards them, supply us with a convincing proof of the infinite goodness of God towards men, and of his wonderful patience and long suffering. Blessed with favours far more excellent than those conferred on the Israelites by the Lord, how inexcusable shall we be if we rebel against Him!

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Samuel gives us to know, that the felicity or downfall of states depends upon the religion both of the prince and of the people. Those states where piety, virtue, and justice flourish and abound will be blessed of God; but where indifference to each prevails, both prince and people will, sooner or later, feel his avenging hand. Happy the nation in which there are Samuels, faithful pastors and good magistrates, who have the most tender affection for those committed to their trust; who never cease to pray for them; who never are weary of instructing them in the good and the right way which leads to present and eternal felicity!

REFLECTIONS.—Whatever God pleased of his Almighty grace to do for them in a way of mercy, that did not at all lessen their guilt before him. Therefore, though he had given them a promise just before, and they were now to appearance successful in their choice, yet he would remind them that their sin was great. Note; Success in an evil way never sanctifies it. To convince them of this, he uses an argument more effectual than words, to which they might be inattentive, and dull of hearing. For,

1. He prays to God in their presence, and instantly terrible thunders utter their voice, and the thick clouds gather round and pour down a torrent of water. These were manifest evidences of God's displeasure at their folly in preferring the sword of a king, before the prayers of such a prophet; and warnings how soon their sin would turn their present peaceful calm into a storm of wrath. Note; (1.) All the elements are ready armed to avenge God's quarrels, whenever he pleases to send them. (2.) It is a dangerous thing to turn the prayers of God's ministers against us, for their quarrel is the Lord's.

2. Terror and dismay seize the affrighted congregation. Fearing God's displeasure, and perceiving the power of Samuel's prayers, they confess their guilt and folly, and earnestly intreat him to intercede for them, that they perish not, as they were conscious they had deserved to do. Note; (1.) The time will come, when sinners will cry for the prayers of them whom now they despise. (2.) Though the terrors of the Lord put men into a fright, they of themselves work no lasting change; when the storm is blown over, men quickly relapse into their former ways.

3. Samuel kindly undertakes to be their advocate, their comforter, and friendly

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adviser. He bids them not fear. These thunders were not to destroy, but to humble them, and bring them to a sense of their great wickedness. For his own part, he could not but pray for them without ceasing, and should continue to give them his best advice, to preserve them in fidelity to their covenant God, exhorting them earnestly to fear the Lord, and serve him in simplicity, both in gratitude and love, for the great things he had already done for them, and lest their disobedience should provoke him to destroy both them and the king in whom they gloried. Note; (1.) Whatever creature engages our affections from God, it makes the heart idolatrous, and will deceive our expectations. (2.) Those who injure us, we must still pray for; how much more those who turn and say, Forgive. (3.) Ministers must not cease to teach people the good and right way, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. (4.) The more we consider what God has done for us, the more shall we feel ourselves constrained to love and serve him. (5.) When a minister is faithful, if the people continue refractory, he will have the comfort of having delivered his own soul. ELLICOTT, "(21) For then should ye go after vain things.—The passage is more forcible without the “for” and the words in italics supplied in the English translation. The verse without it would run thus: “Turn ye not aside after vain things which cannot profit,” &c. Singularly enough, not one of the ancient versions translate the Hebrew ki, “for”: they all omit it. It is therefore clear that this “for” has, through some copyist’s error, got into the text since the versions were made.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:21. Warning against apostasy to idol-worship. And turn ye not aside [after vanities which do not profit]. (Text-criticism.—The difficulties in the ְולֹא ָתסּורּו for” after“ ִּכי are not set aside by supplying ָּתסּורּו or ֵּתְלכּו, as many ancient and modern expositors do [so Eng. A. V.—TR.]. According to this view, the ground of the resumed warning would be here given: “ for ye go (if ye do that, namely, turn aside from the Lord) after vanities.” But then something is adduced as ground of the warning which is implicitly its object; besides, apart from the hardness of the insertion, the resumption of the “turn not aside” with ְו “and” is a difficulty. Looking at the following ִּכי, it becomes probable that this one was by mistake inserted a line before. It is rendered in not one of the ancient versions (Then.). It is wanting in Luther’s version also. The omission of the ִּכי gives a good, clear sense and an advance suitable to the lively character of the whole discourse. The “Turn not aside from the Lord” [ 1 Samuel 12:20] is continued in the “Turn not aside after vanities,” for apostasy to idolatry is the consequence of apostasy from the Lord. The former is introduced with ֹאַ ַאל (“only do not”) in the form of urgent request, hearty wish, the latter as a categorically-determined negative with לֹא, (“not.”). Idols are described as ֹּתהּו “naughty, vain” (= ֶהֶבל), as in Isaiah 46:9 the idol-makers. They

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cannot help nor deliver, because they are simply, tohu, nothing, vanity.—[Comp. 1 Corinthians 8:4.—TR.]

22 For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.

CLARKE, "The Lord will not forsake his people - He will not as yet cast you off, though you have deserved it. His purpose in preserving them in their land and religion was not yet accomplished. It was not however for their sake that he would not cast them off, but for his own great name’s sake. He drew his reasons from himself.

GILL, "For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake.For the sake of himself, his honour and glory; should he forsake his people, and suffer them to come to ruin, his name would be blasphemed among the Heathens; he would be charged either with want of power to help them, or with want of faithfulness to his promise to them, and with inconstancy to himself, or want of kindness and affection for them; all which would reflect upon his honour and glory: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people; it was not owing to any worth or worthiness in them that they became his people, but to his own sovereign good will and pleasure; and therefore, as it was nothing in them that was the cause of their being taken by him for his people, so nothing in them could be the cause of their being rejected by him as such; it was of free grace and favour that they were taken into covenant with him, and by the same would be retained: the Vulgate Latin version is,"the Lord hath sworn to make you a people for himself;''so Jarchi interprets it, he swore, and takes it to have the same sense as in 1Sa_14:24.

K&D, "“For ִּכי) gives the reason for the main thought of the previous verse, 'Fear not, but serve the Lord,' etc.) the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake; for it hath pleased the Lord (for ִאיל see at Deu_1:5) to make you His people.” The ,הemphasis lies upon His. This the Israelites could only be, when they proved themselves

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to be the people of God, by serving Jehovah with all their heart. “For His great name's sake,” i.e., for the great name which He had acquired in the sight of all the nations, by the marvellous guidance of Israel thus far, to preserve it against misapprehension and blasphemy (see at Jos_7:9).

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:22. His name’s sake — That is, for his own honour, which would suffer much among men, if he should not preserve and deliver his people in imminent dangers. And this reason God allegeth, to take them off from all conceit of their own merit; and to assure them, that if they did truly repent of all their sins, and serve God with all their hearts, yet even in that case their salvation would not be due to their merits, but the effect of God’s free mercy. To make you his people — Out of his own free grace, without any desert of yours, and therefore he will not forsake you, except you thrust him away,ELLICOTT, "(22) It hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.—The simple doctrine of election—as far as we can see, based alone on the arbitrary will of God (though, no doubt, unseen by us, deep reasons exist for every seemingly arbitrary choice)—is here enunciated. The analogy of every-day life teaches the same truth. “He maketh one vessel to honour and another to dishonour.” These things are to us inscrutable.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

Ver. 22. For the Lord will not forsake his people.] Whatever the devil and your own misgiving hearts may suggest to the contrary: as it is ordinary with men to measure God according to their own models, and to think that he should deal by them, as they have done by him. But he is God and not man, yea, there is no God like him for pardoning of sins of all sorts and sizes. [Micah 7:17]

For his great name’s sake,] i.e., For his honour’s sake, which he mainly respecteth in all his actions: there being none higher than himself to whom to have respect.

Because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.] He chose you for his love; and he still loveth you for his choice. Go home to him, therefore, again, and he will

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receive you. As when man and wife drop out, they consider they must live together, and therefore they piece again: so should it be betwixt God and his people.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:22 is factually the reason why they are not to fear ( 1 Samuel 12:20); but formally this verse is the ground of the preceding exhortation; they are not to forsake the Lord and turn aside from Him and serve idols, because the Lord will not forsake them as His people, which is said in contrast with the vain idols, which cannot help and deliver, because they are “naught,” while the Lord’s “great name” is to be the pledge that He will not forsake them. The words: for his name’s sake are explained by and based on the declaration: for it hath pleased the Lord ( ִּכי not “the Lord hath begun,” but “he has by free determination taken the first ,(הֹוִאילstep thereto, it pleased him” (comp. Judges 17:11; Joshua 7:7; Exodus 2:21).—To make you his people.—This embraces all God’s deeds, by which He has established Israel in history as His people, the deeds of choice, deliverance out of Egypt, covenanting, introduction into the promised inheritance, preservation from enemies—by these deeds He has glorified His name, which is the expression of all God’s revelations of salvation and power to His people. The ground of this is found simply in the determination of the free, loving will of God—הֹוִאיל, comp. Deuteronomy 12-7:6 , which furnishes a complete parallel to the train of thought here. Of the vain idols it is said in 1 Samuel 12:21 לֹא יֹוִעילּו [lo yoilu, “they do not profit”], of the Lord here הֹוִאיל [hoil, “he did kindly, it pleased him”], a paronomasia of pregnant meaning. The name of the Lord, therefore, that by which He has made Himself this name in His relations to His people, and that which thence resulted, the dignity of the people as the Lord’s people and their appertainment to Him as His property is the pledge that He will not leave His people. “His people” and “make you His people” are corresponding expressions, they are His people because He has made them His people. Comp. Psalm 100:3; Psalm 95:7; Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 7:18.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:22“For YHWH will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased YHWH to make you a people for himself.”

In return he guarantees that YHWH will never finally forsake His people. He reminds them that He has been pleased in His unmerited love to make them a people for Himself (see especially Deuteronomy 7:6-11), and that He will therefore, for His own Name and reputation’s sake, be faithful to His promises. Compare Moses’ argument in Exodus 32:11-13.

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Note the unconditional nature of God’s faithfulness. It is because of what He has determined and brought about in His sovereign will that He will be faithful to them. And that faithfulness continued throughout all Israel’s unfaithfulness, until it finally resulted in the new Israel founded on Christ through His Apostles of which all believers become a part, and to which God will be everlastingly faithful. God is faithful to Israel still.

23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.

CLARKE, "God forbid that I should sin - They had earnestly begged him, 1Sa_12:19, to pray to God for them, that they might not die; and he tells them that he should consider himself a sinner, should he cease to be their intercessor.But I will teach you the good and the right way - I will show you, as long as I am with you, what true religion is; it is the way to happiness and heaven. It is right - there is no crookedness in it; it is good - there is no evil in it.

GILL, "Moreover, as for me,.... As he had given them reason to believe that God would forgive their sin, by which they had offended him, rejecting him as their King, so he likewise forgave their offence against him in rejecting him as their governor under him, and so neither need fear the Lord nor him with a servile fear; and as God would still be gracious to them, if they abode by his service, so he, Samuel, would do all the good offices for them that lay in his power: God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, in ceasing to pray for you; for since they had returned to the Lord, and acknowledged their sin, it would have been an evil in him not to pray for them, that they might share in the pardoning grace and mercy

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of God, and have all good things bestowed upon them they stood in need of; this he judged to be his duty to do, and therefore abhorred the thought of being indifferent to it, negligent of it, or of dropping it: but I will teach you the good and the right way; would not only pray for them, but instruct them in the way of their duty; a way that was a good one, agreeable to the will and word of God, and in walking in which good things were enjoyed, and which being a good way, must needs be a right way; though Samuel ceased to be a judge and chief magistrate among them, he should not cease to act the part of a prophet to them, both by his prayers and by his instructions.

HENRY, "3. He comforts them with an assurance that he would continue his care and concern for them, 1Sa_12:23. They desired him to pray for them, 1Sa_12:19. He might have said, “Go to Saul, the king that you have put in my room,” and get him to pray for you; but so far is he from upbraiding them with their disrespect to him that he promised them much more than they asked. (1.) They asked it of him as a favour; he promised it as a duty, and startles at the thought of neglecting it. Pray for you! says he, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in not doing it. Note, It is a sin against God not to pray for the Israel of God, especially for those of them that are under our charge: and good men are afraid of the guilt of omissions. (2.) They asked him to pray for them at this time, and upon this occasion, but he promised to continue his prayers for them and to cease as long as he lived. Our rule is to pray without ceasing; we sin if we restrain prayer in general, and in particular if we cease praying for the church. (3.) They asked him only to pray for them, but he promised to do more for them, not only to pray for them, but to teach them; though they were not willing to be under his government as a judge, he would not therefore deny them his instructions as a prophet. And they might be sure he would teach them no other than the good and the right way: and the right way is certainly the good way: the way of duty is the way of pleasure and profit.

ELLICOTT, " (23) Moreover, as for me.—“In this he sets a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjects; and give up on that account all interest in their welfare, but should rather persevere all the more in their anxiety for them.”—Berleb. Bible, quoted in Lange. Moses and Samuel, wrote S. Gregory, are especially brought forward by the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:1) as having extraordinary power with Him, and why? because they prayed for their enemies. Samuel’s impassioned answer when the Elders asked his prayers, “Pray for you!” God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.

I will teach you.—The old man felt that in the future, although his powers as Judge were not abrogated yet, there would be, comparatively speaking, save on special

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occasions, but little opportunity for their exercise. In the presence of the regular authority of a king surrounded by armed men, such authority as he had wielded as Judge over the hearts of Israel must fall into abeyance.But one, and that a still higher office, still remained to him untouched by the great constitutional change that had passed over Israel—that of prophet. In this sphere, while he lived, he said he would work ceaselessly on; and the words he used on this solemn occasion tell out to all ages that the true function of the prophet or the preacher of the Eternal is to teach the people the good and the right way; and Samuel’s own life of brave self-denial and noble self-effacement showed men that this teaching must be pressed home by something more than mere words. “Only a Samuel could thus quit office, proudly challenging all to convict him of one single injustice in his past career; and by the act of resignation gaining, not losing, greatness. No longer judge and ruler, but simple prophet, he is able now to discourse with greater freedom of the monarchy about to be introduced, and he seizes the moment to cast a more distant glance into all the past and future of the community.”—Ewald: History of Israel, Book III., 1-3.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

Ver. 23. In ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you.] I will faithfully perform the office of a prophet in preaching unto you, and praying for you. See Deuteronomy 33:18, Acts 6:4. Whether a minister shall do more good to others by his prayers or preaching, I will not determine, saith one; (a) but he shall certainly by his prayers reap more comfort to himself.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:23. Samuel promises the people his personal mediation and aid, partly through the priestly function of intercession for them, partly through the exercise of his prophetic office in showing them the right way. The “as for me too” refers to the “Jehovah” in the preceding verse, and to the close connection into which the people ( 1 Samuel 12:19) had brought his name with the name of the Lord. The assurance of his intercession follows on the request in 1 Samuel 12:19 : “Pray for thy servants.” Both passages put Samuel’s prayer-life anew in a clear light (comp7, 8). By the solemn asseveration “far be it,” he points to the importance which he himself attributes to his intercession for the people. The word “sin” indicates his obligation before the Lord to intercede; to neglect this would be a sin against the Lord; for, as mediator between God and the people, he must enter the

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Lord’s presence in whatever concerned them, for weal or for woe. Comp. his work of prayer in chs 7, 8. The “not ceasing” indicates his persistency in intercession.—Along with this priestly mediation Samuel promises also his constant prophetic watch-care, which consists in “showing the good and right way,” that Isaiah, the way of God. The predicates “good and right” show that moral conduct is referred to, and that according to the will and law of the Lord (so Psalm 25:4). The instruction is to be given to king as well as people.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:23“Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against YHWH in ceasing to pray for you, but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.”

Samuel guarantees that he also will be faithful to them. To sin against YHWH by ceasing to pray for them is something that is far from his heart. Rather they can be sure that he will continue faithfully to instruct them in the good and the right way, the way of YHWH. If they fail it will not be because he has failed.

Thus they are assured that whatever they have done, their faithful prophet who has watched over them for so long, will continue to look after their spiritual interests.

K&D, "Samuel then promised the people his constant intercession: “Far be it from me to sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you, and to instruct you in the good and right way,” i.e., to work as prophet for your good. “In this he sets a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjects, and give up on that account all interest in their welfare, but should rather persevere all the more in their anxiety for them” (Berleb. Bible).SBC, "Notice: (1) Some of the reasons for intercessory prayer, and (2) some of its encouragements.I. Why is intercessory prayer a great thing? (1) St. Paul lays it down as a positive command, and makes it the primary obligation of every Christian. (2) We are never walking so exactly and so closely in the footsteps of Jesus Christ as when we are praying for any one. (3) We never more effectually benefit ourselves than when we pray for others. (4) We nave no talent of greater usefulness than the talent of intercessory prayer. Every other channel of good is circumscribed, and illness and absence take their place. But this has no limit. Wherever we are, under whatever circumstances, we can do it; and in doing it, we can reach those otherwise perfectly inaccessible to us—the guiltiest and the farthest off from God.II. The encouragements to intercessory prayer are also four. (1) The first lies in the

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character of God, that all we bring in are dear to Him, that "He willeth not that any should perish, but that all should be saved," and that it must be a thing very dear to God when one of His children brings another of His children and lays that child at their common Father’s feet. (2) The second great encouragement is in the fact that there is never a commandment in which there is not rolled up a promise. We have seen that it is commanded, "Pray for one another;" we safely argue that it would never have been commanded if it were not in God’s mind to grant the thing which we are told to ask. (3) Thirdly, the general promise of prayer is exceedingly large. Whatsoever is of faith is sure. The success of that prayer is covenanted. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive." (4) Fourthly, almost all our Lord’s miracles were done in answer to intercessory prayer. There is no positive promise to intercessory prayer, but, short of the actual undertaking of God, there is everything to give hope and all but certainty when we ask for any one of those things which we know are after the mind of God to give to His children, and which Christ has purchased with His own blood.J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 333. References: 1Sa_12:23.—J. Harrison, Christian World Pulpit,

24 But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

CLARKE, "Only fear the Lord - Know, respect, and reverence him.Serve him - Consider him your Lord and Master; consider yourselves his servants.In truth - Be ever honest, ever sincere; with all your heart - have every affection engaged in the work of obedience; act not merely from a principle of duty, but also from a pious, affectionate sense of obligation. Act towards your God as an affectionate child should act towards a tender and loving parent.Consider how great things - Review the history of your fathers, review your own life; see what interpositions of power, mercy, goodness, and truth, God has displayed in your behalf! Has he not daily loaded you with his benefits?

GILL, "Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart,.... Fear 122

him not with a servile fear, which is before dehorted from, but with a filial fear, a reverential affection for God; and includes the whole of religious worship, internal and external; explained further by serving him according to the truth of his word, and in a cordial, sincere, and affectionate manner; and if this was wanting in them, he suggests that his prayers and instructions would be of little avail, and not to be depended on: for consider how great things he hath done for you; in bringing them out of Egypt: settling them in the land of Canaan; giving them his laws, statutes, commands, and ordinances; sending prophets unto them, and raising up judges for them, and bestowing all good things on them, in nature, providence, and grace; though some restrain this to the great thing he had done that day, to convince them of their sin, and by which they were returned to the Lord, namely, the violent storm of thunder; which wonderful instance of the power of God, and token of his displeasure against them, they were to lay up in their minds, and not forget, that it might be a means of preserving them from sin for the future.

HENRY 24-25, "4. He concludes with an earnest exhortation to practical religion and serious godliness, 1Sa_12:24, 1Sa_12:25. The great duty here pressed upon us is to fear the Lord. He had said (1Sa_12:20), “Fear not with a slavish fear,” but here, “Fear the Lord, with a filial fear.” As the fruit and evidence of this, serve him in the duties of religious worship and of a godly conversation, in truth and sincerity, and not in show and profession only, with your heart, and with all your heart, not dissembling, not dividing. And two things he urges by way of motive: - (1.) That they were bound in gratitude to serve God, considering what great things he had done for them, to engage them for ever to his service. (2.) That they were bound in interest to serve him, considering what great things he would do against them if they should still do wickedly: “You shall be destroyed by the judgments of God, both you and your king whom you are so proud of and expect so much from, and who will be a blessing to you if you keep in with God.” Thus, as a faithful watchman, he gave them warning, and so delivered his own soul.

K&D, "Lastly, he repeats once more his admonition, that they would continue stedfast in the fear of God, threatening at the same time the destruction of both king and people if they should do wrong (on 1Sa_12:24, see 1Sa_7:3 and Jos_24:14, where the form ְיראּו is also found). “For see what great things He has done for you” (shown to you), not by causing it to thunder and rain at Samuel's prayer, but by giving them a king. ִעם .as in Gen_19:19 ,ִהְגִּדיל

BENSON, "1 Samuel 12:24. Only fear the Lord, and serve him with truth, &c. — Otherwise neither my prayers nor counsels will stand you in any stead. Thus we see that amidst all the changes of the Hebrew state, their prophets steadily inculcated one and the same great principle, namely, that of fearing and serving the one true and living God, in spirit and in truth. Whether Moses or Joshua, the elders, or

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judges, or kings, were their governors, this great point was kept in view, and pursued still. And this indeed was the end of the Divine Providence in selecting this people: to preserve and spread among mankind the knowledge and worship of the true God, and obedience to his will, was the great point in view, in the divine counsels, in all that was done to and for the Israelites. And this great purpose, notwithstanding all their revolts and rebellions, was still carried on, at least in a measure, and accomplished.TRAPP, "1 Samuel 12:24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great [things] he hath done for you.

Ver. 24. Only fear the Lord.] Else my praying for you shall profit you nothing: my preaching also will be lost labour.

And serve him in truth.] Without dissimulation

With all your heart.] Without diminution.

For consider how great things, &c.] Mercy calleth for duty: deliverance commandeth obedience.LANGE, "1 Samuel 12:24. Samuel, having spoken of his person and his personal office, now directs the people’s look from his person and work to the Lord, and holds up anew before king and people the great Either—Or: either ye will fear the Lord and serve Him and ye will experience the salvation of your God,—or, ye will do evil and—both of you will be destroyed. The discourse culminates in a condensed statement of what is said in 1 Samuel 12:14-15. The “in truth, with all your heart,” exhibits the double character of the service of God, of truth and of innerness, in contrast with the service of outward appearance and dead works. Since this exhortation to fear and serve God relates to the general religious-moral life of the people, we cannot refer the confirmatory declaration: For ye see what great things he hath done for you to the extraordinary natural phenomenon narrated in 1 Samuel 12:18. The mighty deeds of the Lord here referred to are those mentioned in 1 Samuel 12:6-7 sqq, to which reference is repeatedly made in all these transactions relating to the king ( 1 Samuel 8:8; 1 Samuel 10:18), from which most frequently is

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drawn the motive for true fear of God and obedience to His will, because by them God established and confirmed His covenant relation with Israel as His people, and so the people owed Him covenant-fidelity and obedience as their God.NISBET, "A FORGOTTEN DUTY

‘Consider how great things He hath done for you.’

1 Samuel 12:24

One of the great difficulties in the present day is to make time to consider. How are we to get at the truth about ourselves and our standing before God and men? Our text asks us to consider and see where we are. What is the test? How can we be really sure whether we are Christ’s or whether we are not. There is a test which we must apply again and again whenever the least doubt arises as to whether we are God’s children and the heirs of glory. It is this: Have you ever yet definitely by faith gone to God and asked Him, for Christ’s sake, to wash you in the Blood of the Lamb? Are you cleansed by faith in Calvary? ‘Consider how great things He hath done for you.’

I. In giving us His Son.—God so loved you that, before you were born, Jesus Christ, His Son, came down from Heaven to die on Calvary’s Cross for you. He thought of you and these black sins, and that evil nature which all of us inherited from Adam, and atonement was made for every one of us. We have not got to be good in order to be saved. We are saved by faith in the love and in the mercy and in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and because we trust in Him He brings forth in us the good works of holy living. We are good, if we are good, because the good God works in us; and any good works which we do are His works, and therefore the good works which we do, being His, give us no merit.

II. In giving us His Word.—‘We are filled who live to-day,’ writes a distinguished philosopher, ‘with a more present sense of the great love of God than those of old who, groping in the dawn of knowledge, saw only dark shadows of the Unknown.’ For we possess now the written Word of God, translated into all the vernaculars of

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the world; and those who read and mark and learn and inwardly digest God’s Holy Word are saved with His great salvation.

III. In changing our life.—‘Consider how great things He hath done for you,’ and is doing, and will yet do for all who trust in Him. Is it no great thing if you and I put forth our faith and expect God to fulfil the impossible in our lives?

—Rev. A. J. Poynder.

Illustration

‘John Gough, who, after thirteen times being overcome by delirium tremens—a wreck, a human wreck—was enabled before the end of his life to take hold by faith of God’s omnipotence, so that God raised him up to be one of the very greatest of temperance advocates in the last century. How was it? It was because he considered how great things God had done and could do in the life of humanity. So, because he trusted God to make the impossible possible in his life, the chains of drink were broken and he was no longer its captive; and, emancipated from his old besetting sin, he was enabled, both in England and in America, to win many converts who gladly accepted temperance and meekness and Christianity as their watchword.’

25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”

CLARKE, "Ye shall be consumed - If ye do wickedly you shall be destroyed, your kingdom destroyed, and your king destroyed. Here they had set before them life and

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good, death and evil. Never was a people more fully warned, and never did a people profit less by the warning; and they continue to this day monuments of God’s justice and forbearance. Reader, What art thou? Perhaps a similar monument. Consider therefore what great things God has done for thee.

GILL, "But if ye shall still do wickedly,.... Continue to rebel against God, revolt from him, and depart from his worship, and despise his prophets, and serve idols: ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king; their king would be so far from protecting, that he should perish with them, be killed by the sword, as Saul their first king was, or go into captivity, as others of their kings did.

HAWKER, "Verse 25REFLECTIONSREADER! let us not too hastily pass over this chapter, without taking with us the several very interesting instructions it affords.

In this address of the prophet, dismissed, as he evidently was, by the people, we behold how pleasant a thing it is, in the close of any labours, to be able to make an appeal to God, for the rectitude of our proceedings. And while we are enabled to challenge the tongue of calumny, to be yet more refreshed, in the consciousness, that our record is on high.

In the beautiful recapitulation, which the man of God makes in his sermon of Israel's history, by way of calling up the remembrance of the people, both to divine mercies, and their unworthiness, we ought to learn the preciousness of faith, in referring all our blessings, while we review them, into the grace, and mercy, and loving kindness of our God. Faith finds great strength in such reviews, for future occasions. And I would desire the reader, not to overlook this instruction from it, while I pray, that my own mind may be refreshed in the thought; that the best method to seek strength for confidence in Jesus, for future blessings, is to make remembrance at the throne of what are past. Looking up to the great Author, and Finisher of faith, for suited strength for our day, we certainly take the most effectual means to trust him for what is to come, when we tell him of what he hath done before. And by giving him the glory of what we have received, to rely upon him for

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what we need.

But principally, as an improvement from the perusal of this chapter, in the call of Samuel to the Lord, and the Lord's answer, in a way contrary to the usual manner of things; let the Reader behold in the Prophet the type of his Master. Yes! blessed Jesus! I would desire grace, upon the humblest and slightest occasions, as well as the highest and the greatest, to discover somewhat of These. Do I not know, dearest Lord, that all intercourse with heaven can only be opened by Thee? No prophet, no patriarch, no apostle, no angel of light, could have procured for our fallen nature, this blessing. Heaven must have been forever inaccessible, hadst thou not opened that new, and that living way, by thy blood! Convinced therefore, of this most precious, and soul-reviving truth, oh! let me learn to prize the unspeakable mercy; delight myself in seeking constant communion, and intercourse with my God and Father, in Christ Jesus; and like Samuel, learn to be looking out for such manifestations of thy grace, and glory, as may be contrary to the usual plan of ordinary events; that at an evening time, if needful, it may be light.PETT, "1 Samuel 12:25“But if you shall still do wickedly, you will be consumed, both you and your king.”

On the other hand, if they do still behave sinfully, then they will be consumed, both them and their king. Thus their responsibility towards God is still the same. They cannot hide behind their king.

And with these exhortations, promises and pleas he relinquished his civic authority over them into the hands of Saul. From now on he would only have responsibility for their spiritual lives, and that only if they sought God with all their hearts.

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