1 Samuel 12:1-15

12:1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done ¹  everything you requested. ²  I have given you a king. ³  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. ⁴  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, ⁵  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 ⁶  is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” ⁷  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 ⁸  up from the land of Egypt. 12:7 Now take your positions, so I may confront you ⁹  before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  them into the hand of Sisera, the general in command of Hazor’s ¹²  army, ¹³  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, ¹⁴  ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. ¹⁵  Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ ¹⁶  12:11 So the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, ¹⁷  Barak, ¹⁸  Jephthah, and Samuel, ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  and not rebelling against what he says, ²¹  and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. ²²  12:15 But if you don’t obey ²³  the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. ²⁴ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, I have listened to your voice.”

[12:1]  ² tn Heb “to all which you said to me.”

[12:1]  ³ tn Heb “and I have installed a king over you.”

[12:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:3]  ⁵ tn The words “tell me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

[12:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 8).

[12:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will enter into judgment with you” (NRSV similar); NAB “and I shall arraign you.”

[12:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the just actions which he has done with you and with your fathers.”

[12:9]  ¹¹ 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.”

[12:9]  ¹² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[12:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “captain of the host of Hazor.”

[12:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and said.”

[12:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural). The words “images of” are supplied in both vv. 3 and 4 for clarity.

[12:10]  ¹⁶ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[12:11]  ¹⁷ sn Jerub-Baal (יְרֻבַּעַל) is also known as Gideon (see Judg 6:32). The Book of Judges uses both names for him.

[12:11]  ¹⁸ 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.”

[12:11]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[12:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you listen to his voice.”

[12:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.” So also in v. 15.

[12:14]  ²² tn The words “all will be well” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:15]  ²³ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

[12:15]  ²⁴ 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.