1 Samuel 12:13
in 1 Samuel 12Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for: and, behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you.
KJV
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 12
Commentary
4 notes on this verseYe 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.
This site's exposition
Now here is the king you have chosen
on 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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"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.
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Then both you. You will live to a ripe old age, both you and the king.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּחַרְתֶּ֖ם | bechartem | you have chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שְׁאֶלְתֶּ֑ם | sheeltem | you asked for | H7592 → | 171 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֨ה | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָתַ֧ן | natan | he has set | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾaleikhem | over you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ׃ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וְעַתָּ֗הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
הִנֵּ֥הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
הַמֶּ֛לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּחַרְתֶּ֖םyou have chosen
bechartemH977 →171 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שְׁאֶלְתֶּ֑םyou asked for
sheeltemH7592 →171 times
וְהִנֵּ֨הand here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
נָתַ֧ןhe has set
natanH5414 →2011 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֲלֵיכֶ֖םover you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
מֶֽלֶךְ׃a king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 9:20As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And upon whom is all the desire of Israel, if not upon you and all…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 8:5
“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 8:5
Through
Acts 13:21Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- 1 Samuel 15:1
Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Through
1 Samuel 8:5“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:14–15
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like…
- Deuteronomy 17:14–15
Through
1 Samuel 10:24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 21:6
let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,”…
- 1 Kings 1:39
Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!”
- 1 Kings 1:25
For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest.…
- Deuteronomy 17:15
you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not…
- 2 Samuel 21:6
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.