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1 Samuel
Chapter Twelve
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 12
In
this chapter Samuel, resigning the government to Saul, asserts the integrity
with which he had performed his office, and calls upon the people of Israel to
attest it, who did, 1 Samuel 12:1, he
then reminds them of the great and good things the Lord had done for them in
times past, 1 Samuel 12:6 and
whereas they had desired a king, and one was given them, it was their interest
to fear and serve the Lord; if not, his hand would be against them, 1 Samuel 12:10 he
terrifies them by calling for thunder in an unusual time, 1 Samuel 12:16 and
then comforts and encourages them, that in doing their duty God would be with
them, and not forsake them, otherwise they might expect nothing but ruin and
destruction, 1 Samuel 12:20.
1 Samuel 12:1 Now Samuel said
to all Israel: “Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and
have made a king over you.
YLT
1And Samuel saith unto all
Israel, `Lo, I have hearkened to your voice, to all that ye said to me, and I
cause to reign over you a king,
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.
1 Samuel 12:2 2 And
now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and grayheaded, and
look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood
to this day.
YLT
2and now, lo, the king is
walking habitually before you, and I have become aged and gray-headed, and my
sons, lo, they [are] with you, and I have walked habitually before you from my
youth till this day.
And 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 generally say he was, since it is
not usual at such an age to be grey headed; see Gill on 1 Samuel 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.
1 Samuel 12:3 3 Here
I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed:
Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated?
Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with
which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
YLT
3`Lo, here [am] I; testify
against me, over-against Jehovah, and over-against His anointed; whose ox have
I taken, and whose ass have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I
bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide mine eyes with it?
-- and I restore to you.'
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; 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 Deuteronomy 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"F6אשיב לכם
"respondebo vobis", Munster. , or give in an answer to any such
charges when exhibited.
1 Samuel 12:4 4 And they said, “You have
not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s
hand.”
YLT
4And they say, `Thou hast not
oppressed us, nor hast thou crushed us, nor hast thou taken from the hand of
any one anything.'
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.
1 Samuel 12:5 5 Then 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 answered, “He is witness.”
YLT
5And he saith unto them, `A
witness [is] Jehovah against you: and a witness [is] His anointed this day, that
ye have not found anything in my hand;' and they say, `A witness.'
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 answeredF7ויאמר
"et dixit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; Drusius. , 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.
1 Samuel 12:6 6 Then Samuel said to the
people, “It is the Lord who raised up Moses and
Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.
YLT
6And Samuel saith unto the
people, `Jehovah -- He who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought up your
fathers out of the land of Egypt!
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.
1 Samuel 12:7 7 Now therefore, stand
still, that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all
the righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and
your fathers:
YLT
7and, now, station
yourselves, and I judge you before Jehovah, with all the righteous acts of
Jehovah, which He did with you, and with your fathers.
Now therefore stand still,.... Keep your place, and
do not as yet break up the 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.
1 Samuel 12:8 8 When Jacob had gone into
Egypt,[a] and your
fathers cried out to the Lord,
then the Lord
sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell
in this place.
YLT
8`When Jacob hath come in to
Egypt, and your fathers cry unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sendeth Moses and Aaron,
and they bring out your fathers from Egypt, and cause them to dwell in this
place,
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:
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".
1 Samuel 12:9 9 And when they forgot the Lord their God, He
sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the
hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought
against them.
YLT
9and they forget Jehovah
their God, and He selleth them into the hand of Sisera, head of the host of
Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of
Moab, and they fight against them,
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, Judges 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, Judges 13:1.
and into the hand of the king of Moab; as in the
times of Ehud, Judges 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.
1 Samuel 12:10 10 Then they cried out to the
Lord, and said, ‘We
have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and
Ashtoreths;[b] but now
deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’
YLT
10and they cry unto Jehovah,
and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and serve the
Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and now, deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and
we serve Thee.
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:
and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth; See Gill on Judges 2:11; see
Gill on Judges 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.
1 Samuel 12:11 11 And the Lord sent
Jerubbaal,[c] Bedan,[d] Jephthah,
and Samuel,[e] and
delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in
safety.
YLT
11`And Jehovah sendeth
Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivereth you out of the
hand of your enemies round about, and ye dwell confidently.
And the Lord sent Jerubbaal,.... Or Gideon, as the
Targum, for Jerubbaal was the name given to Gideon, when he first became a
judge, Judges 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 JeromF8Heb. Trad. in lib. Reg. fol. 75. K. , 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 writersF9So
in T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 25. 1. ; but a man of this name being among the
posterity of Manasseh, 1 Chronicles 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 Numbers 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, 1 Samuel 12:9 and
agrees with the words of the apostle, Hebrews 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, Genesis 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 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 Hebrews 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.
1 Samuel 12:12 12 And when you saw that
Nahash 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.
YLT
12`And ye see that Nahash
king of the Bene-Ammon hath come against you, and ye say to me, Nay, but a king
doth reign over us; and Jehovah your God [is] your king!
And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came
against you,.... Or "but yet"F11ותראו
"videntes autem", V. L. "sed", Tigurine version; "et
tamen", Vatablus, Piscator. ; 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, 1 Samuel 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.
1 Samuel 12:13 13 “Now therefore, here is
the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note,
the Lord
has set a king over you.
YLT
13And, now, lo, the king whom
ye have chosen -- whom ye have asked! and lo, Jehovah hath placed over you a
king.
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.
1 Samuel 12:14 14 If you fear the Lord and serve Him
and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you
and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.
YLT
14`If ye fear Jehovah, and
have served Him, and hearkened to His voice, then ye do not provoke the mouth
of Jehovah, and ye have been -- both ye and the king who hath reigned over you
-- after Jehovah your God.
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"F12היי־תאם־אחר יהוה "eritis
post Dominum", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator. : 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.'
1 Samuel 12:15 15 However, if you do not
obey the voice of the Lord,
but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against
you, as it was against your fathers.
YLT
15`And if ye do not hearken
to the voice of Jehovah -- then ye have provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and the
hand of Jehovah hath been against you, and against your fathers.
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"F13ובאבתיכם "et contra patres vestros", Pagninus,
Tigurine version. ; which is interpreted in the TalmudF14T. Bab.
Yebamot, fol. 63. 2. 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.
1 Samuel 12:16 16 “Now therefore, stand and
see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes:
YLT
16`Also now, station
yourselves and see this great thing which Jehovah is doing before your eyes;
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.
1 Samuel 12:17 17 Is
today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and He will
send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is
great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a
king for yourselves.”
YLT
17is it not wheat-harvest
to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and
see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask
for you a king.'
Is it not wheat harvest today?.... Of the time of wheat
harvest; see Gill on 1 Samuel 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 Proverbs 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
saysF15Comment. in Amos iv. 7. , 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, 1 Samuel 7:10.
1 Samuel 12:18 18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder
and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
YLT
18And Samuel calleth unto
Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth voices and rain, on that day, and all the people
greatly fear Jehovah and Samuel;
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:"
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 saysF16Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 6. 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
AlexandriaF17Stromat. l. 6. p. 630. 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 rainF18Vid. Schmid. in Pindar.
Nemea, Ode 5. p. 110. , at whose request it came, 1 Kings 18:42.
1 Samuel 12:19 19 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 the evil of asking a king for
ourselves.”
YLT
19and all the people say unto
Samuel, `Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, and we do not die, for we
have added to all our sins evil to ask for us a king.'
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.
1 Samuel 12:20 20 Then Samuel said to the
people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside
from following the Lord,
but serve the Lord
with all your heart.
YLT
20And Samuel saith unto the
people, `Fear not; ye have done all this evil; only, turn not aside from after
Jehovah -- and ye have served Jehovah with all your heart,
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 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.
1 Samuel 12:21 21 And do not turn aside; for
then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for
they are nothing.
YLT
21and ye do not turn aside
after the vain things which do not profit nor deliver, for they [are] vain,
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, 1 Corinthians 8:4.
1 Samuel 12:22 22 For the Lord will not
forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you
His people.
YLT
22for Jehovah doth not leave
His people, on account of His great name; for Jehovah hath been pleased to make
you to Him for a people.
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 1 Samuel 14:24.
1 Samuel 12:23 23 Moreover, as for me, far
be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to
pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
YLT
23`I, also, far be it from me
to sin against Jehovah, by ceasing to pray for you, and I have directed you in
the good and upright way;
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 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.
1 Samuel 12:24 24 Only fear the Lord, and serve Him
in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for
you.
YLT
24only, fear ye Jehovah, and
ye have served Him in truth with all your heart, for see that which He hath
made great with you;
Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart,.... Fear 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.
1 Samuel 12:25 25 But if you still do wickedly,
you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
YLT
25and if ye really do evil,
both ye and your king are consumed.'
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.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)