1 Samuel 12:7
in 1 Samuel 12Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verseRighteous 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.
This site's exposition
The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron
on 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.
This site's exposition
all the righteous acts He has done
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.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
But the holy man shows why he said these things first, for he added, saying: "Now therefore stand still, and I will contend with you in judgment before the Lord concerning all the mercies which he has done for you and for your fathers." 4. It is the order of the highest reason that he who does not take care to do good things should by no means reprove evils in others.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
14 ) and answer him in the secret place of thunder, Ps. lxxxi. Samuel, that son of prayer, was still famous for success in prayer. Now by this extraordinary thunder and rain sent on this occasion, [1.] God testified his displeasure against them in the same way in which he had formerly testified it, and at the prayer of Samuel too, against the Philistines.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Now therefore stand still,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Now therefore stand still - I have arraigned myself before God and you; I now arraign you before God.
The words behind it
15 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 therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הִֽתְיַצְּב֛וּ | hityatzevu | present yourselves | H3320 → | 48 times |
| וְאִשָּׁפְטָ֥ה | veishafetah | so let me enter into judgment | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אִתְּכֶ֖ם | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| צִדְק֣וֹת | tzidkot | [the] righteousness<es> of | H6666 → | |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֥ה | ʾasah | he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אִתְּכֶ֖ם | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
הִֽתְיַצְּב֛וּpresent yourselves
hityatzevuH3320 →48 times
וְאִשָּׁפְטָ֥הso let me enter into judgment
veishafetahH8199 →202 times
אִתְּכֶ֖םwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
צִדְק֣וֹת[the] righteousness<es> of
tzidkotH6666 →
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֥הhe did
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
אִתְּכֶ֖םwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 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
Isaiah 1:18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Revelation 7:14
“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the…
- Psalms 51:7
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Isaiah 43:24–26
You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.
- Isaiah 44:22
Through
Acts 17:3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.
it leads to
- Acts 18:28
For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
- Acts 9:22
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
- Luke 24:32
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Acts 18:28
About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
