Text -- 1 Samuel 12:2-25 (NET)

12:2 Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, though my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day. 12:3 Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, and I will return it to you!” 12:4 They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.” 12:5 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” They said, “He is witness!” 12:6 Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt. 12:7 Now take your positions, so I may confront you before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. 12:8 When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 12:9 “But they forgot the Lord their God, so he gave them into the hand of Sisera, the general in command of Hazor’s army, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 12:10 Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ 12:11 So the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hand of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely. 12:12 “When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us’– even though the Lord your God is your king! 12:13 Now look! Here is the king you have chosen– the one that you asked for! Look, the Lord has given you a king! 12:14 If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him and not rebelling against what he says, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. 12:15 But if you don’t obey the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. 12:16 “So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight. 12:17 Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves.” 12:18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel. 12:19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us– your servants– so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” 12:20 Then Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed sinned. However, don’t turn aside from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 12:21 You should not turn aside after empty things that can’t profit and can’t deliver, since they are empty. 12:22 The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. The Lord was pleased to make you his own people. 12:23 As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright. 12:24 However, fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Just look at the great things he has done for you! 12:25 But if you continue to do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:3

¹ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

² tn The words “tell me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:5

¹ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

² tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:6

¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 8).

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:7

¹ tn Heb “and I will enter into judgment with you” (NRSV similar); NAB “and I shall arraign you.”

² tn Heb “all the just actions which he has done with you and with your fathers.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:9

¹ tn Heb “sold” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “he allowed them to fall into the clutches of Sisera”; NLT “he let them be conquered by Sisera.”

² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

³ tn Heb “captain of the host of Hazor.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:10

¹ tn Heb “and said.”

² tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural). The words “images of” are supplied in both vv. 3 and 4 for clarity.

sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.

³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:11

¹ sn Jerub-Baal (יְרֻבַּעַל) is also known as Gideon (see Judg 6:32). The Book of Judges uses both names for him.

² tc The MT has “Bedan” (בְּדָן) here (cf. KJV, NASB, CEV). But a deliverer by this name is not elsewhere mentioned in the OT. The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “Barak.”

³ tc In the ancient versions there is some confusion with regard to these names, both with regard to the particular names selected for mention and with regard to the order in which they are listed. For example, the LXX has “Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel.” But the Targum has “Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, and Samuel,” while the Syriac Peshitta has “Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:14

¹ tn Heb “and you listen to his voice.”

² tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.” So also in v. 15.

³ tn The words “all will be well” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:15

¹ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

² tc The LXX reads “your king” rather than the MT’s “your fathers.” The latter makes little sense here. Some follow MT, but translate “as it was against your fathers.” See P. K. McCarter, 1 Samuel (AB), 212.

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:19

¹ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:20

¹ tn Heb “you have done all this evil.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:21

¹ tn Or “useless” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “nothing”; NASB “futile”; TEV “are not real.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 12:22

¹ tn Heb “on account of his great name.”