1 Samuelchapter 12
25 verses · Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition · 10th century BC · History
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:
Introduction
Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition, History, 1 Samuel Overview.
This chapter records a speech given at a turning point, when the last judge hands the nation to its first king. Samuel has led Israel since childhood, and here he speaks as an old man before the whole assembly. His hearers have their king and are glad of it. Listen for the legal form of the speech, a man calling witnesses against himself and then calling the nation to account. Listen also for the sign given in the wrong season. The chapter sets the new monarchy under the old covenant.
Context
- Who
- Israelites who had just gotten what they asked for and needed to hear the terms
- What
- Samuel's public account of his own office, his review of Israel's history, and his charge to the people and their king.
- Where
- The national assembly at Gilgal, where the kingdom had just been renewed.
- When
- About 1050 BC, at the wheat harvest in late spring, on the traditional reckoning.
- Why
- To place the new monarchy under the covenant, so that king and people alike would live by following the LORD.
Historical context
Samuel speaks here as an outgoing judge, old and grey-headed, who has held public office in Israel since childhood. He is handing that office to a king the nation asked for and he had argued against.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The time is about 1050 BC, at the wheat harvest. The place is a national assembly at Gilgal, the same ground where the kingdom had just been renewed. The occasion is the handover itself, taken while the whole country stands there.
The categories Samuel clears himself of were the standard ones for official corruption: whose ox, whose donkey, whom have I defrauded or oppressed, and from whose hand have I taken a bribe. Asking for witnesses against oneself in open assembly was a legal act rather than a rhetorical one, and getting none settled the matter publicly. The history that follows runs as a covenant lawsuit in miniature, from Jacob's descent into Egypt through Moses and Aaron to the judges.
Wheat harvest falls in late May and June in the middle of the dry season, when the winter rains have ended in April and nothing comes until October. Thunder and rain on that day was out of season, and it endangered the harvest lying in the fields.
Significance
The people finally say it out loud, that they have added to all their sins this evil in asking for a king. Samuel's answer is to tell them not to be afraid, and then to warn them against turning aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For first hearers the terms were now on the record. Both they and their king could still follow the LORD and live. The monarchy did not cancel the covenant, and this chapter is where it was placed under it.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The greater part of the Haftarah that follows the portion Korach is taken from this chapter. The portion is Numbers 16:1 to 18:32, and the reading runs from 1 Samuel 11:14 to 12:22 (src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, line 172). So the congregation hears Samuel's farewell whole, from the challenge about the ox to the promise that the LORD will keep His people. The reading stops at verse 22, so Samuel's word about ceasing to pray falls just after the point where the congregation stops. The entry carries no separate Sephardi reading, so the same passage is heard in both rites. This book has no weekly portion of its own and no festival reading, so that Sabbath is its one fixed place in the Jewish year. This repository does not record why the reading was set with Korach, and no work in the corpus for this chapter gives the reason, so this card states none.
How it is read
Rashi is the only commentator the corpus carries with text on this chapter, in the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., under CC-BY. On Samuel calling himself old and grey he hands on the saying of the Rabbis that he aged early, citing Maseches Ta'anis (Rashi on I Samuel 12:2:1). On the challenge about the ox he adds three words to the question, that Samuel means an ox taken "For my work" (Rashi on I Samuel 12:3:1). The answer the people give is where the chapter's best known tradition sits. Rashi says a heavenly voice came out and said it was a witness, and he names this as one of three places where the holy spirit entered an earthly court (Rashi on I Samuel 12:5:1). The other two, he says from Maseches Makos, are the court of Shem and the court of Solomon (same ref). On the LORD who produced Moses and Aaron he reads the verb as preparing them for the mission out of Egypt (Rashi on I Samuel 12:6:1). On Samuel entering into judgment he gives the sense as debating with them (Rashi on I Samuel 12:7:1). On the judge named Jerubbaal he identifies him as Gideon, and points to Maseches Rosh Hashanah 25a (Rashi on I Samuel 12:11:1). On the promise to the obedient he reads it as long life for the people and the king alike (Rashi on I Samuel 12:14:1). On the warning that the hand would be against them and their fathers he gives the plain sense first, that it followed on their fathers (Rashi on I Samuel 12:15:1). He hands on the reading of the Rabbis beside it, which takes the phrase of the digging up of the dead, and cites Maseches Yevamos 63b (same ref). On the sign Samuel calls for he says the prophet was showing what his prayer could do (Rashi on I Samuel 12:16:1). Since his prayer could change the season, it could also have held off a war, so they had no need of a king while he lived (same ref). On the rain at the wheat harvest he says rain then is a sign of a curse, citing Maseches Ta'anis 12b (Rashi on I Samuel 12:17:1). On the promise that the LORD will keep His people he reads it as done for the sake of His Name, since His fame had spread through them (Rashi on I Samuel 12:22:1). On Samuel's refusal to stop praying he gives the ground the Gemara in Maseches Berachos 12b draws from it (Rashi on I Samuel 12:23:1). One who knows his prayer for another would be answered, and holds back from praying, is counted to have sinned (same ref). Radak and Metzudat David comment at twelve verses, and the corpus holds no English version of either, so they stand as citations. They are Radak on I Samuel 12:8:1, 12:10:1, 12:13:1, 12:20:1, 12:21:1 and 12:24:1, and Metzudat David on I Samuel 12:1:1, 12:4:1, 12:9:1, 12:12:1, 12:18:1 and 12:19:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty rabbinic locators on this chapter, thirty-four of them Midrash and six Talmud, each a locator without text. Samuel's word to all Israel draws Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yoma 2:4, and his age draws Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 2:1:5 and Midrash Shmuel 14:8. The challenge about the ox draws Bamidbar Rabbah 18:10, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Makkot 3:6, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Nedarim 4:4 and Ein Yaakov, Makkot 3:9. The people's answer that he had taken nothing draws Nedarim 38a:13. The witness called against them draws Midrash Lekach Tov on Esther 9:23:1, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 38:30:14 and Midrash Tehillim 72:1. The LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron draws Bamidbar Rabbah 11:2, Bereshit Rabbah 39:11, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 11 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Rosh Hashanah 2:3. The call to stand and be reasoned with draws Arakhin 17a:2, Ein Yaakov, Arakhin 3:10, Midrash Shmuel 15:3 and Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 1:1. Verse 10 draws Bamidbar Rabbah 19:23, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 19:1. The judges Samuel names draw Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 2:8:2, Kohelet Rabbah 1:4:4 and Midrash Aggadah, Deuteronomy 17:9:1. The warning about the fathers draws Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yevamot 6:13, Ein Yaakov, Yevamot 6:15 and Midrash Tehillim 53:4. The thunder and rain at the wheat harvest draw Devarim Rabbah 10:2, Devarim Rabbah 10:3 and Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 1:8:1, and verse 18 draws Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 17:1. Verse 21 draws Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 8. The promise made for the sake of the great Name draws Bereshit Rabbah 85:12, Esther Rabbah 7:12 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Ruth 1:6:1. Samuel's refusal to cease praying draws Berakhot 12b:6, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 1:55 and Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 21:4:4. The corpus records one further locator on this chapter, Bereshit Rabbah 84:10. The rabbis teach in these places, and this site reports them as their teaching rather than as a rule of the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on I Samuel 12:2:1, 12:3:1, 12:5:1, 12:6:1, 12:7:1, 12:11:1, 12:14:1, 12:15:1, 12:16:1, 12:17:1, 12:22:1 and 12:23:1, the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., CC-BY; Radak, Radak on I Samuel 12:8:1, 12:10:1, 12:13:1, 12:20:1, 12:21:1 and 12:24:1, cited only, no English version in the corpus; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on I Samuel 12:1:1, 12:4:1, 12:9:1, 12:12:1, 12:18:1 and 12:19:1, cited only; MannaFest, the readings table, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, line 172, for the portion Korach and the Haftarah 1 Samuel 11:14 to 12:22, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Whose ox have I taken? Samuel renders his account
1 Samuel 12:1-2
Samuel opens with "I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me," stating that he did what the people asked. He sets his sons beside him without comment, the complaint that began the request at 8:1 to 5. The words "from my youth until this day" put a whole life on trial.
1 Samuel 12:1
“Samuel said unto all Israel--This public address was made after the solemn re-instalment 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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Samuel 12:1
“Samuel therefore thinks fit to temper their joys, and to excite them to that repentance which he saw wanting in them, and which he knew to be necessary, to prevent the curse of God upon their new king, and the whole kingdom.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
John Wesley and Adam Clarke both read the sons as private men now, removed from the office they had abused at 8:3. Wesley adds that any man they had wronged could now bring his charge before the king. Samuel asks the people no favor for his sons.
1 Samuel 12:2
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:2
“My sons - Or, among you, in the same states 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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Samuel puts his own conduct on trial before the LORD and His anointed. His list of ox, donkey, cheating, oppression and bribe runs opposite to the list he gave at 8:11 to 18 of what a king takes. The judge took nothing, while the king they asked for will take what Deuteronomy 17 forbade him to multiply.
1 Samuel 12:3
In this way, too, Samuel, who judged the people so many years, and bore rule over Israel without any pride, in the end cleared himself, saying, "I have walked before you from my childhood even unto this day: answer me in the sight of God, and before His anointed; whose ox or whose ass of yours have I taken, or over whom have I tyrannized, or whom have I oppressed? or if I have received from the hand of any a bribe or [so much as] a shoe, speak out against me, and I will restore it to you."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · AGAINST HERESIES 4.26.4patristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:3
“His anointed - i. e., king Saul. The title Messiah, Χριστὸς Christos, 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.)”
1 Samuel 12:4-5
The people answer, "You have not wronged us or oppressed us," and Samuel calls the LORD’s anointed as a second witness beside the LORD. The title anointed had appeared only at 2:10 and 2:35, and here the man who anointed Saul treats the office as fit to witness beside God. The exchange reads as a formal lawsuit, closed by the people’s "He is a witness."
1 Samuel 12:4
“They said, Thou hast not defrauded - Of what minister or governor can any nation under heaven say such things?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:4
“Because indeed he had been known by all for such great contempt of worldly things, there follows: 'And they said: You have not falsely accused us, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from anyone's hand. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and His Christ is witness on this day, that you will not find anything in my hand. And they said: He is witness.'”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
The case closes with nothing found in Samuel's hand. Gregory the Dialogist noticed that Samuel names only the evil he has not done and keeps silent about the good. Gregory held that the silence kept his good works for their reward from the LORD.
1 Samuel 12:5
“Because indeed he had been known by all for such great contempt of worldly things, there follows: 'And they said: You have not falsely accused us, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from anyone's hand. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and His Christ is witness on this day, that you will not find anything in my hand. And they said: He is witness.'”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
A history lesson: they forgot, they cried, he sent
1 Samuel 12:6-8
Samuel moves from his own record to the nation’s, running from Jacob’s descent into Egypt through Moses and Aaron to the judges. The pattern of crying to God and receiving a deliverer is the shape Judges narrates at length, compressed here into three verses. The word rendered "confront" is a term for formal legal argument, the courtroom sense of verses 3 to 5.
1 Samuel 12:6
“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.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 12:6
“But he himself further adds, saying: 'The Lord, who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, He Himself is witness.' In this passage it should be noted that the holy man did not speak of the good things he had done, but rather set forth the evil things he had not done; so that by keeping silent he might preserve his good deeds for eternal rewards, and by speaking he might not lose the fragrance of his good reputation.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
1 Samuel 12:6
“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).”
The Hebrew reads the righteousnesses of the LORD, and John Wesley takes them as the mercies that delivered Israel and their fathers. Matthew Henry counts the punishments of the people's sins among them as well, citing Judges 5:11. Both kinds of righteous acts follow in verses 8 to 11.
1 Samuel 12:7
“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 ( Judg. v. 11 ), because in them he is just to his own honour.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:7
“Righteous acts - Hebrew. 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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Samuel starts the nation's record with Jacob's family in Egypt. They cried out, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, the same order of cry and rescue that verses 10 and 11 repeat. Albert Barnes notes how often this book turns back to the Exodus, as at 4:8 and 6:6.
1 Samuel 12:8
“Enumerating these same mercies, he says: "How Jacob entered into Egypt, and our fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and He brought our fathers out of Egypt, and settled them in this place. And because they forgot the Lord their God, He delivered them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Asshur, and into the hands of the Philistines, and of the king of Moab, and they fought against you.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:8
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 12:9-11
he sold them into the hand of Sisera: The judges named, Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, summarize the cycle of forgetting and crying out that Judges tells in full, with Sisera, the Philistines and the king of Moab standing for three deliverances. Samuel names himself last among the deliverers, counting his own office among the LORD's saving acts, which Albert Barnes calls fitting given how recent that deliverance was.
1 Samuel 12:9
“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.”
Samuel gives Israel the confession it made at Judges 10:10, and Albert Barnes finds his order of oppressors in the next verse there. His own hearers had put away the Baals and Ashtoreths at 7:4, at Samuel's call. The words were their own.
1 Samuel 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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The Berean reads Barak with the Septuagint, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that some versions read Samson for Samuel. The verse ends with Israel dwelling securely. John Wesley drew from it that the people asked for a king at verse 12 when they were already safe.
1 Samuel 12:11
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 12:11
“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.”
1 Samuel 12:11
“Bedan--The Septuagint reads "Barak"; and for "Samuel" some versions read "Samson," which seems more natural than that the prophet should mention himself to the total omission of the greatest of the judges.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 12:11
“Secondly, with other scriptures: for among the sons of a more ancient Jair, we meet with one called Bedan, 1 Chron. vii, 17, which name seems here given to Jair the judge, to distinguish him from that first Jair. Safe - So that it was no necessity, but mere wantonness, that made you desire a change.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Samuel names the occasion he remembers for the request, Nahash king of the Ammonites moving against them, the threat of chapter 11. Chapter 8 gives another reason in the people’s mouth, the wish to be like the nations and escape Samuel’s sons, and both stand side by side. The words "even though the LORD your God was your king" state as fact the kingship the request set aside.
1 Samuel 12:12
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:12
"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. He shows them that they are now upon their good behaviour, they and their king.
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Samuel 12:13-15
Samuel presents Saul as "the king you have chosen, the one you requested," then restates covenant terms older than the throne. If the people fear the LORD, both they and the king continue following Him, and if they rebel, the LORD’s hand turns against them as against their fathers. The king stands inside the covenant of Sinai, as Deuteronomy 17:14 to 20 required.
1 Samuel 12:13
“Ye have chosen - Though God chose him by lot, yet the people are said to chuse him; either generally, because they chose that form of government; or particularly, because they approved of God's choice, and confirmed it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The Hebrew closes the verse with the people and their king following after the LORD your God. John Wesley reads it as God still going before Israel as its leader, the place He held before any king. The king follows as well.
Israel had just rejoiced before the LORD at Gilgal in 11:15. Matthew Henry reads Samuel's warning as a check on that joy, lest the people think their request for a king had done no harm. The sign of verses 16 to 18 presses the same charge.
1 Samuel 12:15
“To convince the people of their sin in desiring a king. They were now rejoicing before God in and with their king ( ch. xi. 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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Thunder in wheat harvest, and a prophet who will not stop praying
1 Samuel 12:16-19
Wheat harvest falls in the dry season, when rain almost never comes, so Samuel’s call for thunder and rain names a sign the calendar makes unlikely. The storm comes that day, and the people confess "the evil of asking for a king" as a sin added to all their sins. The sign marks the request as sin without withdrawing the king God had granted through it.
1 Samuel 12:16
“As a matter of fact, the works Moses did, Samuel did too. Moses resisted God and prevented him from destroying his people when God said to him, "Let me alone, that I may strike this people." Just see the power of Moses! What does God say to him? Let me alone; you are compelling me, your prayers, as it were, restrain me; your prayers hold back my hand. I shoot an arrow; I hurl a javelin; and your prayers are the shield of the people. Let me alone that I might strike down this people.”
Jerome · written before 420 · HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 26 (PS 98)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:16
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Albert Barnes dates wheat harvest from mid-May to mid-June and cites Jerome, who wrote that he never saw rain in Judea in late June or July. John Gill points to Proverbs 26:1, where rain at harvest is the picture of a thing out of place. Samuel names the season before he prays.
1 Samuel 12:17
“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.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 12:17
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 12:17
“Wheat harvest - Between May 15 and June 15. Jerome’s testimony (that 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.”
the Lord sent thunder and rain: John Gill notes that the Targum renders Samuel's call as prayer before the LORD. Thunder had routed the Philistines at his prayer in 7:10. Adam Clarke reads the people's fear of Samuel as awe at a man with such power with God.
1 Samuel 12:18
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:18
“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.”
Adam Clarke finds the evil in the people putting a man in the place of God. A king as such was allowed at Deuteronomy 17:14 and 15. The confession answers the LORD's words to Samuel at 8:7, that the people had rejected Him as their king.
1 Samuel 12:19
“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?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 12:20-21
Samuel answers a terrified people with "Do not be afraid" and a call to keep serving the LORD with all their heart, the king notwithstanding. The word for the "worthless things" of verse 21 shares its root with the formless waste of Genesis 1:2, so idols are named by a word for emptiness. The warning reaches past the request for a king to the older danger of Canaan’s gods.
1 Samuel 12:20
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John Wesley notes that idols bear the same name at Deuteronomy 32:21 and Jeremiah 2:5, and that Israel went after them again despite this warning. Gregory the Dialogist widened the word to every passing good set beside eternal ones, reading Samuel with Ecclesiastes 1:2. Gregory kept the literal sense as idols first.
1 Samuel 12:21
“This the prophet of the Lord, Samuel, also openly suggests when he adds: "And do not turn aside after vain things, which will not profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain." 13. Literally, he calls vain things the images of demons. But for us, those vain things are to be understood here as what the preacher shows, saying: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. For in comparison with eternal goods, all things are vain, even temporal goods.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 12:21
“Turn aside-After idols; as they had often done before; and, notwithstanding this warning, did afterwards. Vain things - So idols are called, Deut. xxxii, 21 Jer. ii, 5, and so they are, being mere nothings, having no power in them; no influence upon us, nor use or benefit to us.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Samuel 12:21
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Israel is not cast off "for the sake of His great name," and no merit survives the request that brought the thunder. The words "He was pleased to make you His own" rest the nation’s standing on God’s prior choice. Moses argued the same ground at Sinai, appealing to the LORD’s reputation among the nations rather than to Israel’s record.
1 Samuel 12:22
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 12:22
“And this reason God alledgeth 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 heart; yet even in that case their salvation would not be due to their merits; but the effect of God's free mercy.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Samuel counts it sin "against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you," spoken by the man Israel has just partly set aside. He keeps two duties no throne can take from him, prayer and teaching "the good and right way" to the people. The vow holds through his life, most plainly when he cries out to the LORD all night over Saul’s rejection at 15:11.
1 Samuel 12:23
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 12:23
There follows: "But as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you." 15. He speaks these things, to whom the Lord said above concerning those to whom he speaks: "They have not rejected you, but me, that I should not reign over them." Behold, the prophet is rejected, and he speaks to those who reject him, saying: "Far be it from me that I should commit this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you."
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2patristic
1 Samuel 12:23
“It is a very great privilege to be permitted to pray for our fellow men. Prayer in each man's case must necessarily begin with personal petition, for until the man is, himself, accepted with God, he cannot act as an intercessor for others. And herein lies part of the excellence of intercessory prayer, for it is to the man who exercises it aright a mark of inward Grace and a token for good from the Lord.”
1 Samuel 12:24-25
The chapter closes on the terms of verse 14, and "consider what great things He has done for you" makes gratitude the ground of obedience. The warning binds king and people together, "both you and your king will be swept away," so Saul’s fate is announced before his first failure in chapter 13. The chapter opened on an old judge’s clean record and closes on a new king’s doubtful future.
1 Samuel 12:24
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John Gill saw the warning kept against both people and king. Saul died by his own sword when Israel fell to the Philistines at 31:1 to 4, and later kings were swept away into captivity with their people. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was taken to Babylon at 2 Kings 25:7.
1 Samuel 12:25
“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.”
How this psalm is built
The form: A covenant lawsuit delivered as one speech, opened by an oath of clearance, carried through a recital of God's acts, and sealed by a sign out of season, as Keil and Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The audit taken item by item | Verse 3 lists the standard charges of official corruption one after another, whose ox, whose donkey, whom have I defrauded, whom have I oppressed, and from whose hand have I taken a bribe. Keil and Delitzsch set the list against Samuel's own catalogue at 8:11 to 18 of what a king takes, sons, daughters, fields, a tenth and servants. The judge who governed for decades took nothing from the list, and the king they asked for is expected to take from the other.Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel, 1864, on 1 Samuel 12:3. | 1 Samuel 12:3, 1 Samuel 8:11, 1 Samuel 8:17 |
| The people called to answer as witnesses | The chapter is one speech with two interruptions, and both are the people answering in the words of a court. They say at verse 4 that Samuel has not defrauded them, and at verse 5 they answer that the LORD is witness. Samuel names his anointed as a second witness beside the LORD, which treats the new office as sacred enough to stand in a legal form.John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 1748 to 1763, on 1 Samuel 12:4 and 5. | 1 Samuel 12:4, 1 Samuel 12:5 |
| They forgot, they cried, He sent | Verses 9 to 11 compress the whole book of Judges into one turning cycle repeated. Israel forgets the LORD, is sold into a hand, cries out, and is delivered by a man God sends. Samuel names Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and himself as the deliverers, and Sisera, the Philistines and the king of Moab as the hands.Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1834 to 1885, on 1 Samuel 12:9 to 11. | 1 Samuel 12:9, 1 Samuel 12:10, 1 Samuel 12:11 |
| Fear the LORD and serve Him, said at both ends | Samuel states the condition at verse 14, that if the people fear the LORD and serve Him, both they and the king continue following Him. He returns to the same words at verse 24, only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth. The sign and the confession stand between the two statements, and the terms are unchanged by either.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765, on 1 Samuel 12:14. | 1 Samuel 12:14, 1 Samuel 12:24 |
The structure
11 more paragraphs on the patterns
Five units. The handover and the oath of clearance, verses 1 to 5. The recital of God's acts from Egypt through the judges, verses 6 to 11. The occasion of the request and the terms restated, verses 12 to 15. The sign of thunder and rain and the people's confession, verses 16 to 19. The answer, the ground of hope and the closing charge, verses 20 to 25.
The two catalogues set against one another
Samuel's five charges at verse 3 and his five warnings at 8:11 to 18 are the same kind of list used twice for opposite purposes. One asks what the judge took and is answered with nothing. The other states what the king will take and is answered with a demand for him anyway.
The historical value
The book's dossier carries the Sumerian King List, in copies of about 2000 to 1700 BC. It opens with kingship descending from heaven to a named city and passing from city to city by divine grant. The dossier's own verdict is that the contrast is sharper than the parallel, since kingship in 1 Samuel 8 is demanded from below and granted as a concession. This chapter is where that concession is written into terms. Israel receives the institution its neighbours had, on conditions none of them wrote.
Paul's recital in the synagogue at Antioch, at Acts 13:17 to 21, covers the same ground Samuel covers here, from Egypt through the judges to the giving of Saul.
The ground the chapter rests on
Verse 22 gives the reason Israel is not cast off, for the sake of God's own great name, rather than for anything surviving the request that had just drawn thunder from a dry sky. Adam Clarke sets it beside Moses at Sinai, who argued the same ground before God.
Verse 23 is Samuel's vow to keep praying for the people who replaced him. Matthew Henry reads it as the prophet keeping two duties no throne can take from him, prayer and teaching. The vow holds at 15:11, where Samuel cries to the LORD all night over Saul's rejection.
What the chapter hands forward
Verse 25 binds king and people in one sentence, that they shall be swept away together. Saul's end is announced here, before his first recorded failure in the next chapter.
Keep studying
Studies1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel, 1864, on 1 Samuel 12; the book page's own guide, src/components/book/guides/1-samuel/Book1SamuelGuide.tsx, the act entry for 8:1 to 15:35 and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel, Expositor's Bible, 1887, on 1 Samuel 12.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).