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1 Samuel 12

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Samuel's Farewell and Defense of Integrity 1–5

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 youth unto this day. ​
3
Here I am: witness against me before 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 taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. ​
4
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand.
5
And he said unto them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness. ​

God's Faithful Acts and Israel's Sin 6–12

6
And Samuel said unto the people, It is Jehovah that appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ​
7
Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteous acts of Jehovah, which he did to you and to your fathers. ​
8
When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.
9
But they forgat Jehovah 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.
10
And they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11
And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and ye dwelt in safety. ​
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 Jehovah your God was your king. ​

The Conditions for the New Monarchy 13–15

13
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for: and, behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you. ​
14
If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God, well: ​
15
but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as it was against your fathers.

God Confirms the Message with a Sign 16–19

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

Samuel's Final Exhortation and Promise 20–25

20
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart: ​
21
and turn ye not aside; for then would ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. ​
22
For Jehovah will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it hath pleased Jehovah to make you a people unto himself. ​
23
Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ​
24
Only fear Jehovah, 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.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 12

Verse 1

I have hearkened unto your voice — This repeats the LORD's own word to Samuel, 'Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king' (1 Sam 8:22). The word qol, voice, then runs through the chapter: Samuel obeyed the people's voice, and the people are told to obey 'his voice', the LORD's (vv.14–15).

Verse 2

the king walketh before you — The same verb, halak, is used of the king ('walketh') and of Samuel ('have walked'), who as a child had ministered 'before the LORD' (1 Sam 2:18). 'My sons are with you' recalls the elders' reason for asking a king: 'thy sons walk not in thy ways' (1 Sam 8:5).

Verse 3

whose ox have I taken? — Moses made a like declaration: 'I have not taken one ass from them' (Num 16:15). The 'bribe' (kopher) 'to blind mine eyes' recalls the law, 'the gift blindeth the wise' (Ex 23:8), and answers the charge made of Samuel's sons, who 'took bribes, and perverted judgment' (1 Sam 8:3). 'His anointed' is the king.

Verse 5

his anointed is witness — Samuel names the same two witnesses he called in v.3, the LORD and the king, and says that nothing has been 'found' in his hand. The people's answer, 'He is witness', settles the matter of his conduct as a judge in the presence of both.

Verse 6

advanced Moses and Aaron — 'Advanced' renders asah, to make or appoint. The verb recurs through the speech: the LORD 'did' righteous acts (v.7), the people 'have done' wickedness (v.17), and it pleased the LORD 'to make you his people' (v.22).

Verse 7

reason with you — Shaphat is to judge or plead a case, and Samuel 'judged Israel' (1 Sam 7:15). 'Righteous acts' (tsedaqot) is the phrase of Judg 5:11, where the people 'rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD'. He sets out the record in order: Egypt (v.8), the oppressions and deliverers (vv.9–11), and then the request for a king (v.12).

Verse 11

Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel — Jerubbaal is Gideon, so named for 'Let Baal plead against him' (Judg 6:32). Jephthah delivered Gilead from Ammon (Judg 11). Bedan is not named in the book of Judges; the name occurs only here and in 1 Chr 7:17, among the sons of Gilead's line in Manasseh. Samuel names himself last.

Verse 12

a king shall reign over us — Seeing Nahash 'the king of the children of Ammon' come against them (the attack of 1 Sam 11:1), they said 'Nay; but a king shall reign over us', though 'the LORD your God was your king'. Their reason in 1 Sam 8:20 was 'that we also may be like all the nations', and the LORD had said of it, 'they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them' (1 Sam 8:7).

Verse 13

whom ye have desired — 'Desired' is shaal, to ask, the root of the name Saul, 'asked'. The same verb is behind 'asking you a king' (v.17) and 'ask us a king' (v.19). 'Chosen' (bachar) and 'desired' describe the people's act, yet 'the LORD hath set a king over you'.

Verse 14

fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice — The conditions cover 'both ye and also the king', who is elsewhere commanded to read the law 'that he may learn to fear the LORD his God' (Deut 17:19). 'Commandment' is literally the 'mouth' (peh) of the LORD, and 'voice' (qol) is the word of v.1.

Verse 16

stand and see this great thing — 'Stand' is yatsab, the verb of Moses at the sea, 'stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD' (Ex 14:13), and of 'stand still' in v.7. The people are to watch what the LORD will do 'before your eyes'.

Verse 17

thunder and rain — 'Thunder' is qol, the word for voice, used also of the LORD's 'voice' in vv.14–15. It is wheat harvest, and rain in that season was out of place; Prov 26:1 uses 'rain in harvest' as a picture of what is unseemly. The sign is given 'that ye may perceive and see' how great their wickedness is in asking a king.

Verse 18

feared the LORD and Samuel — After the Red Sea Israel 'feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses' (Ex 14:31). Here Samuel stands in the same place beside the LORD, as later Scripture pairs the two: 'Though Moses and Samuel stood before me' (Jer 15:1).

Verse 19

Pray for thy servants — At Sinai the people asked Moses to speak to them, 'lest we die' (Ex 20:19); here they ask Samuel to pray, 'that we die not'. They say 'the LORD thy God'. Their confession names the request itself as the evil: 'to ask us a king' (shaal, as in vv.13, 17).

Verse 20

Fear not — The people who have done 'all this wickedness' are told not to be afraid, and the instruction that follows is to 'turn not aside' and serve 'with all your heart', as Samuel had called them earlier to 'return unto the LORD with all your hearts' (1 Sam 7:3) and as the law requires (Deut 10:12).

Verse 21

vain things — Tohu, the word translated 'without form' in Gen 1:2 and 'vanity' of idols in Isa 44:9, where their 'delectable things shall not profit'. It is used twice in this verse: they 'cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain'.

Verse 22

for his great name's sake — The promise rests on the LORD himself: 'it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.' Joshua pleaded the same ground, 'what wilt thou do unto thy great name?' (Josh 7:9), and the psalm says 'he saved them for his name's sake' (Ps 106:8).

Verse 23

ceasing to pray for you — 'God forbid' is chalilah, far be it. Samuel counts it a sin against the LORD to stop praying for them, and Scripture names him among those who called upon the LORD (Ps 99:6). 'I will teach' is yarah, to point out; the 'good and the right way' is close to the 'good way wherein they should walk' of 1 Kgs 8:36, which uses the same verb for teaching.

Verse 24

serve him in truth — 'Truth' is emet, as in Joshua's charge to 'serve him in sincerity and in truth' (Josh 24:14). 'Consider' is raah, to see, the verb in 'stand and see' (v.16): the people are sent to look at what the LORD has done for them.