The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Samuel’s Farewell Address
1 Samuel 12:1–25 — Samuel’s Farewell Address. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·mū·’êl way·yō·mer ’el- kāl- yiś·rā·’êl hin·nêh šā·ma‘·tî ḇə·qō·lə·ḵem lə·ḵōl ’ă·šer- ’ă·mar·tem lî wā·’am·lîḵ ‘ă·lê·ḵem me·leḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-said Samuel unto all-Israel: “Behold, I-have-heard in-your-voice, to-all that you-said to-me, and-I-have-caused-a-king-to-reign over-you.”
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He would not reprove the people for their sin, in desiring a king, while Saul was unsettled in his kingdom; lest, through their accustomed levity, they should as hastily cast off their king, as they had passionately desired him;Benson and Poole are nearly verbatim here; Poole (1685) is the earlier witness, and Benson (1810s) evidently follows him.
There is something very pathetic in the contrast he draws between Saul and himself.
for it was the Lord alone, that, properly speaking, made him a king.
Samuel starts with the fact, that he had given the people a king in accordance with their own desire, who would now walk before them.
2Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘at·tāh hin·nêh ham·me·leḵ miṯ·hal·lêḵ lip̄·nê·ḵem wa·’ă·nî zā·qan·tî wā·śaḇ·tî ū·ḇā·nay hin·nām ’it·tə·ḵem wa·’ă·nî hiṯ·hal·laḵ·tî lip̄·nê·ḵem min·nə·‘u·ray ‘aḏ- haz·zeh hay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-now, behold the-king walking-himself before-your-faces — and-I, I-have-grown-old and-gray; and-my-sons, behold-them, with-you. And-I, I-have-walked-myself before-your-faces from-my-youth until this day.”
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The metaphor is taken from the usual place of a shepherd in the East, where he goes before his flock.
This is no mere confirmation of the fact just stated that he was old, but a direct challenge of their dissatisfaction with his sons' conduct, as far at least as concerns any connivance on his part, or support of them in their covetousness.
He mentions the first expressly, but with the natural reluctance of a father to dwell upon his sons’ misconduct, only hints at the second.
3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hin·nî ‘ă·nū ḇî ne·ḡeḏ Yah·weh wə·ne·ḡeḏ mə·šî·ḥōw ’eṯ- mî šō·wr wa·ḥă·mō·wr lā·qaḥ·tî mî lā·qaḥ·tî wə·’eṯ- ‘ā·šaq·tî ’eṯ- mî raṣ·ṣō·w·ṯî mî ū·mî·yaḏ- mî lā·qaḥ·tî ḵō·p̄er wə·’a‘·lîm ‘ê·nay bōw wə·’ā·šîḇ lā·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Behold-me! Answer against-me before YHWH and-before His-anointed: whose ox have-I-taken, and-whose donkey have-I-taken? And-whom have-I-defrauded, whom have-I-crushed? And-from-whose hand have-I-taken a-ransom — and-I-hid my-eyes with-it? — and-I-will-restore to-you.”
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Samuel puts himself on his trial. The people are to be the accusers: Jehovah, and His representative Saul are the judges.
The thought is not that the judge covers his eyes from the copher, that he may not see the bribe, but that he covers his eyes with the money offered him as a bribe, so as not to see and not to punish the crime committed.
God would have this confession be a pattern for all who have any charge or office.
The ox and the ass are taken as representative possessions in this primitive age, in a country where agriculture formed the principal source of the national resources.
4“You have not cheated us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ‘ă·šaq·tā·nū wə·lō raṣ·ṣō·w·ṯā·nū way·yō·mə·rū wə·lō- lā·qaḥ·tā mə·’ū·māh mî·yaḏ- ’îš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-they-said: “Not have-you-defrauded-us, and-not have-you-crushed-us, and-not have-you-taken from-hand-of-a-man anything.”
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The people answered Samuel, that he had not done them any kind of injustice.
had done them no wrong, neither privately nor publicly, by fraud or by forceGill goes on to argue, against some readers, that Israel was nevertheless obliged to maintain its judge; the acquittal concerns corruption, not salary.
And that we have in our places lived honestly, will be our comfort, under any slights and contempt that may be put upon us.
5Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem Yah·weh ‘êḏ bā·ḵem mə·šî·ḥōw wə·‘êḏ hay·yō·wm haz·zeh kî lō mə·ṣā·ṯem mə·’ū·māh bə·yā·ḏî ‘êḏ way·yō·mer
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-said unto-them: “Witness is YHWH against-you, and-witness is His-anointed this day, that not you-have-found in-my-hand anything.” And-he-said: “Witness!”
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that, by their own acknowledgment, he had given them no cause to weary of the divine government by judges, and that, therefore, the blame of desiring a change of government rested with themselves.
Happy Samuel, who could thus call a whole kingdom to bear witness to his uprightness! Strange, infatuated people, that could wish to change such a governor for a king possessed of absolute power!
because with the declaration which the people had made concerning Samuel's judicial labours they had condemned themselves, inasmuch as they had thereby acknowledged on oath that there was no ground for their dissatisfaction with Samuel's administration, and consequently no well-founded reason for their request for a king.
And the assembly of Israel, again with one voice, shouted, Yes, He is witness.
6Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·mū·’êl way·yō·mer ’el- hā·‘ām Yah·weh ’ă·šer ‘ā·śāh ’eṯ- mō·šeh wə·’eṯ- ’a·hă·rōn wa·’ă·šer he·‘ĕ·lāh ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem ’eṯ- mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·rā·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-said Samuel unto the-people: “YHWH — who made Moses and-Aaron, and-who brought-up your-fathers from-the-land-of Egypt.”
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In the Hebrew Jehovah is put absolutely, without any government, and the Septuagint rightly supplies is witness.
Samuel proceeds to identify Jehovah, to whom they were now appealing as witness, with the God who brought their fathers out of the bondage of Egypt.
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
7Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘at·tāh hiṯ·yaṣ·ṣə·ḇū wə·’iš·šā·p̄ə·ṭāh ’it·tə·ḵem lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’êṯ kāl- ṣiḏ·qō·wṯ Yah·weh ’ă·šer- ‘ā·śāh ’it·tə·ḵem wə·’eṯ- ’ă·ḇō·w·ṯê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-now, station-yourselves, and-let-me-enter-judgment with-you before YHWH concerning all the-righteousnesses of-YHWH which He-did with-you and-with your-fathers.”
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is still kept up; but the relation of the parties is changed. Samuel is now the accuser, Israel the defendant.
Samuel vindicates God's dealings with them against the charge of his having failed to protect them implied in their demand for a king.Pulpit is directly contradicting Benson, Poole and Gill, who read tsᵉdâqôwt as “mercies or benefits.” We record the disagreement rather than resolve it: the plural noun carries both senses, and the lawsuit frame favours Pulpit.
Hebrews the righteousnesses; that is, mercies or benefits, the chief subject of the following discourse
8When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ka·’ă·šer- ya·‘ă·qōḇ bā miṣ·rā·yim ’ă·ḇō·w·ṯê·ḵem way·yiz·‘ă·qū ’el- Yah·weh Yah·weh ’eṯ- way·yiš·laḥ mō·šeh wə·’eṯ- ’a·hă·rōn way·yō·w·ṣî·’ū ’eṯ- ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem mim·miṣ·ra·yim way·yō·ši·ḇūm haz·zeh bam·mā·qō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“When Jacob came-to Egypt, and-your-fathers cried-out unto YHWH — and-YHWH sent Moses and-Aaron, and-they-brought-out your-fathers from-Egypt, and-they-settled-them in this place.”
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The additions of the Sept. seem necessary to complete the sense.
In this land; in which Moses and Aaron are said to settle them; partly, because they brought them into and seated them in part of it
The first proof of this was furnished by the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and their safe guidance into Canaan
9But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yiš·kə·ḥū ’eṯ- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·hem way·yim·kōr ’ō·ṯām bə·yaḏ sî·sə·rā śar- ṣə·ḇā ḥā·ṣō·wr ū·ḇə·yaḏ- pə·liš·tîm ū·ḇə·yaḏ me·leḵ mō·w·’āḇ way·yil·lā·ḥă·mū bām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-forgot YHWH their-God, and-He-sold them into-the-hand of-Sisera commander-of the-army-of Hazor, and-into-the-hand-of the-Philistines, and-into-the-hand-of the-king-of Moab, and-they-fought against-them.”
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abandonment of His people to their enemies is described under the figure of sale , just as the deliverance of them is called redemption or buying back.
Forgetting of God is oft put for all manner of wickedness, whereof indeed that is the true cause.Poole's larger point here is the chapter's real argument: Israel's misery under the judges was not a defect in the form of government, but in their keeping of it.
But Samuel here places it as the first great servitude, before that under Eglon king of MoabBarnes is defending Samuel's chronology against the received order of Judges; Pulpit simply notes the reversal without resolving it.
The idolatry of Israel, and the immorality and shame less wickedness which ever attended it, was simply an act of rebellion against the pure government of the invisible King, and was punished by the withdrawal of the Divine protection.
10Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yiz·‘ă·qū ’el- Yah·weh way·yō·mɛr ḥā·ṭā·nū kî ‘ā·zaḇ·nū ’eṯ- Yah·weh wan·na·‘ă·ḇōḏ ’eṯ- hab·bə·‘ā·lîm wə·’eṯ- hā·‘aš·tā·rō·wṯ wə·‘at·tāh haṣ·ṣî·lê·nū mî·yaḏ ’ō·yə·ḇê·nū wə·na·‘aḇ·ḏe·kā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-cried-out unto YHWH and-said: ‘We-have-sinned, for we-have-forsaken YHWH and-we-have-served the-Baals and-the-Ashtoreths; and-now, deliver-us from-the-hand-of our-enemies and-we-will-serve-You.’”
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they did not ask for a king to go before them, and fight their battles, as they did now, but applied to the Lord for deliverance
The resemblance of the language to Jdg 10:10 is so close as to lead us to suppose that the compiler of Samuel had the book of Judges before him
Baal and Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarté, were probably originally worshipped simply as the sun and moon.Ellicott's derivation of the Carthaginian cult and his reference to Flaubert's novel are nineteenth-century reconstruction, not evidence from the text.
11So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh ’eṯ- way·yiš·laḥ yə·rub·ba·‘al wə·’eṯ- bə·ḏān wə·’eṯ- yip̄·tāḥ wə·’eṯ- šə·mū·’êl way·yaṣ·ṣêl ’eṯ·ḵem mî·yaḏ ’ō·yə·ḇê·ḵem mis·sā·ḇîḇ wat·tê·šə·ḇū be·ṭaḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-YHWH sent Jerubbaal and-Bedan and-Jephthah and-Samuel, and-He-delivered you from-the-hand-of your-enemies from-around, and-you-dwelt in-security.”
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There is no other course left, therefore, than to regard Bedan as an old copyist's error for Barak
Possibly some scribe, mindful of Samuel's recent achievement at Mizpah, wrote his name in the margin, whence it was admitted into the text.This is conjecture, and Pulpit offers it as such; Barnes and K&D defend the received text against exactly this suggestion.
There is nothing improper or out of place in Samuel mentioning his own judgeship.
so that it was no necessity, but mere wantonness, that made you desire a change.
12But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wat·tir·’ū kî- nā·ḥāš me·leḵ bə·nê- ‘am·mō·wn bā ‘ă·lê·ḵem wat·tō·mə·rū lî lō kî- me·leḵ yim·lōḵ ‘ā·lê·nū Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem mal·kə·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-saw that Nahash king-of the-sons-of-Ammon was-coming against-you, and-you-said to-me: ‘No! — but a-king shall-reign over-us’ — and-YHWH your-God your-king.”
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when God was your immediate King and Governor, who was both able and willing to deliver you
As the demand for a king preceded the invasion of Nahash recorded in ch. 11, the reference must be to earlier inroads, or to a threatened attack.
According to Abarbinel, this preparation of Nahash to war with them was after they had asked for a king, and was a punishment of them for their requestGill is reporting Abarbinel's reconstruction, which reverses the sequence assumed by Cambridge, Pulpit and Ellicott; the text itself does not date the incursion.
13Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘at·tāh hin·nêh ham·me·leḵ bə·ḥar·tem ’ă·šer ’ă·šer šə·’el·tem wə·hin·nêh Yah·weh nā·ṯan me·leḵ ‘ă·lê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-now, behold the-king whom you-chose, whom you-asked-for! And-behold, YHWH has-given over-you a-king.”
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They had not only chosen the king with the consent or by the direction of Samuel; they had even demanded a king of their own self-will.
The people had desired a king, chosen and appointed by themselves, to represent the nation in temporal matters; Jehovah gave them a king to represent himself, with authority coming from God, and limited by God.
Though God chose him by lot, yet the people are said to choose him
14If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’im- tî·rə·’ū ’eṯ- Yah·weh wa·‘ă·ḇaḏ·tem ’ō·ṯōw ū·šə·ma‘·tem bə·qō·lōw wə·lō ṯam·rū ’eṯ- pî Yah·weh wih·yi·ṯem gam- ’at·tem wə·ḡam- ham·me·leḵ ’ă·šer mā·laḵ ‘ă·lê·ḵem ’a·ḥar Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“If you-will-fear YHWH and-serve Him and-hear in-His-voice, and-not rebel-against the-mouth of-YHWH — and-you-will-be, both you and-the-king who-reigns over-you, after YHWH your-God —”
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Samuel piled up one upon another the conditions of their happiness, and then from the depth of his emotion breaks off, leaving the blessed consequences of their obedience unsaid.Ellicott is here quoting Dean Payne Smith, whose note Pulpit also reproduces in slightly different words; treat the two as one witness.
The apodosis must be supplied from the context, as in Exodus 32:32
it notes not a duty to be performed, but a promise of a privilege to be received upon the performance of their duty
There is also nothing to be supplied to יהוה אחר ... והיתם, since אחר היה, to be after or behind a person, is good Hebrew, and is frequently met with, particularly in the sense of attaching one's self to the king, or holding to him (vid., 2 Samuel 2:10 ; 1 Kings 12:20 ; 1 Kings 16:21-22 ). This meaning is also at the foundation of the present passage, as Jehovah was the God-king of Israel.
15But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- lō ṯiš·mə·‘ū bə·qō·wl Yah·weh ū·mə·rî·ṯem ’eṯ- Yah·weh pî yaḏ- Yah·weh wə·hā·yə·ṯāh bā·ḵem ū·ḇa·’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-if you-will-not hear in-the-voice-of YHWH, and-you-rebel-against the-mouth-of YHWH — then-shall-be the-hand of-YHWH against-you, and-against your-fathers.”
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We mistake, if we think we can evade God’s justice by shaking off his dominion. If we will not let God rule us, yet he will judge us.The thought and much of the wording are Matthew Henry's, in his note on vv. 6-15; Benson restates him closely and without attribution, so the two are one witness here, not two.
The text is probably corrupt, and to make sense requires the insertion of some such words as those given in the A.V.
The allusion to the fathers is very suitable here, because the people were looking to the king for the removal of all the calamities, which had fallen upon them from time immemorial.
16Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
‘at·tāh gam- hiṯ·yaṣ·ṣə·ḇū ū·rə·’ū ’eṯ- haz·zeh hag·gā·ḏō·wl had·dā·ḇār ’ă·šer Yah·weh ‘ō·śeh lə·‘ê·nê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Even-now, station-yourselves and-see this great thing which YHWH is-doing before-your-eyes.”
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We note that he volunteered the sign, and, what is still more remarkable, that he is sure that God will send it in answer to his prayer.
By standing he intends not the posture of their bodies, but the consistency of their minds, by serious and fixed consideration.
Their wishing for an earthly king was the crown of a long course of rebellion against the Supreme will.
it was no less than a miracle, and might be called a "great thing", new and unheard of, and the pure effect of almighty power.Gill and K&D treat the storm as strictly miraculous; Pulpit, citing Conder, holds that harvest storms do occasionally occur and that the miracle lay in the timing and the prediction.
17Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hă·lō·w ḥiṭ·ṭîm qə·ṣîr- hay·yō·wm ’eq·rā ’el- Yah·weh wə·yit·tên qō·lō·wṯ ū·mā·ṭār ū·ḏə·‘ū ū·rə·’ū kî- rab·bāh ’ă·šer rā·‘aṯ·ḵem ‘ă·śî·ṯem bə·‘ê·nê Yah·weh liš·’ō·wl lā·ḵem me·leḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Is-it-not wheat-harvest today? I-will-call unto YHWH, and-He-will-give voices and-rain; and-know and-see that-great is-your-evil which you-did in-the-eyes-of YHWH, to-ask for-yourselves a-king.”
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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.
Samuel their judge could do as much or more by his prayers than a king could do by his sword
There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any prognostics of its approach
So that when God sent thunder and rain on that day in answer to Samuel's appeal to him, this was a miracle of divine omnipotence
18So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·mū·’êl way·yiq·rā ’el- Yah·weh ha·hū bay·yō·wm Yah·weh way·yit·tên qō·lōṯ ū·mā·ṭār ḵāl hā·‘ām mə·’ōḏ ’eṯ- way·yî·rā Yah·weh wə·’eṯ- šə·mū·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Samuel called unto YHWH, and-YHWH gave voices and-rain in-that day; and-all the-people feared exceedingly YHWH and-Samuel.
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Could their king thunder with a voice like God? Could their prince command such forces as the prophet could by his prayers?
Naturally, therefore, this storm deeply impressed the minds of the people. Though not in itself miraculous, the circumstances made it so.Pulpit is the one voice here who declines to call the storm miraculous in itself; K&D, Gill and JFB all do.
This miracle therefore inspired the people with a salutary terror.
19They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḵāl hā·‘ām way·yō·mə·rū ’el- šə·mū·’êl hiṯ·pal·lêl ’el- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bə·‘aḏ- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā wə·’al- nā·mūṯ kî- yā·sap̄·nū ‘al- kāl- ḥaṭ·ṭō·ṯê·nū rā·‘āh liš·’ōl lā·nū me·leḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-all the-people said unto Samuel: “Pray for your-servants unto YHWH your-God, and-let-us-not die; for we-have-added to-all our-sins evil, to-ask for-ourselves a-king.”
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so horribly were they biassed with their prejudices and passions, that nothing but a miracle could convince them of this particular sin.
Thus many who will not have Christ to reign over them, would yet be glad to have him intercede for them, to turn away the wrath of God.
though they had rejected him as their judge and supreme governor in desiring a king, now they were his humble servants, at least feignedly
20“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’al- tî·rā·’ū šə·mū·’êl ’el- hā·‘ām way·yō·mer ’at·tem ‘ă·śî·ṯem ’êṯ kāl- haz·zōṯ ’aḵ hā·rā·‘āh ’al- tā·sū·rū mê·’a·ḥă·rê Yah·weh wa·‘ă·ḇaḏ·tem ’eṯ- Yah·weh bə·ḵāl lə·ḇaḇ·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Samuel said unto the-people: “Do-not fear. You — you-have-done all this evil; only do-not turn-aside from-after YHWH, and-serve YHWH with-all your-heart.”
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No sin or course of sin was too great to be repented of.
He shows that there is no sin so great, but it shall be forgiven, if the sinner turn again to God.
In order, however, to give no encouragement to any false trust in the covenant faithfulness of the Lord, after the comforting words, "Fear not," he told them again very decidedly that they had done wrong
21Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·lō tā·sū·rū kî ’a·ḥă·rê hat·tō·hū ’ă·šer lō- yō·w·‘î·lū wə·lō yaṣ·ṣî·lū kî- hêm·māh ṯō·hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-do-not turn-aside — after the-emptiness, which cannot profit and-cannot deliver, for emptiness they-are.”
Where the English smooths the original
So Isaiah ( Isaiah 44:9 ) calls the makers of idols vanity, Hebrew, tohu, i.e. empty people, with no sense in them.
Singularly enough, not one of the ancient versions translate the Hebrew ki, “for”: they all omit it. It is therefore clear that this “for” has, through some copyist’s error, got into the text since the versions were made.K&D disagrees and defends the Masoretic kî by supplying the verb; the two readings give the same sense.
Whatever we make a god of, we shall find it deceive us. Creatures in their own places are good; but when put in God's place, they are vain things.
22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ba·‘ă·ḇūr hag·gā·ḏō·wl šə·mōw Yah·weh ’eṯ- lō- yiṭ·ṭōš ‘am·mōw kî Yah·weh hō·w·’îl la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ’eṯ·ḵem lōw lə·‘ām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“For for-the-sake-of His-great name, YHWH will-not abandon His-people; because YHWH has-been-pleased to-make you for-Himself a-people.”
Where the English smooths the original
for his own honour, which would seem to suffer much among men, if he should not preserve and deliver people in eminent dangers
Lest He should seem in the eyes of the heathen not to be such as He declares Himself to be, Almighty, True, Faithful.
The simple doctrine of election—as far as we can see, based alone on the arbitrary will of GodEllicott is candid that he is reading a doctrine into a single clause; Poole, Geneva and Gill reach the same conclusion by a different route, from the words “it pleased the LORD.”
it was not owing to any worth or worthiness in them that they became his people, but to his own sovereign good will and pleasure
23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
gam ’ā·nō·ḵî ḥā·lî·lāh lî mê·ḥă·ṭō Yah·weh mê·ḥă·ḏōl lə·hiṯ·pal·lêl ba·‘aḏ·ḵem wə·hō·w·rê·ṯî ’eṯ·ḵem haṭ·ṭō·w·ḇāh wə·hay·šā·rāh bə·ḏe·reḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Also-I — far-be-it from-me, to-sin against-YHWH by-ceasing to-pray for-you; and-I-will-teach you the-good and-the-right way.”
Where the English smooths the original
In this he sets a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjectsK&D is quoting the Berleburg Bible here, as Ellicott also does at this verse; it is one source reaching us through two commentaries.
the true function of the prophet or the preacher of the Eternal is to teach the people the good and the right way
I am sensible it is my duty, as I am a man, a Israelite, a minister, a prophet, to pray for you.
not only was Samuel earnest in discharging this prophetic office of teaching, but he made provision for a supply of teachers and preachers for all future time by founding the schools of the prophets.The founding of the schools of the prophets is Pulpit's inference from elsewhere in the books of Samuel, not a claim made by this verse.
24Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’aḵ yə·r·’ū ’eṯ- Yah·weh wa·‘ă·ḇaḏ·tem ’ō·ṯōw be·’ĕ·meṯ bə·ḵāl lə·ḇaḇ·ḵem kî rə·’ū ’êṯ ’ă·šer- hiḡ·dil ‘im·mā·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Only — fear YHWH and-serve Him in-truth with-all your-heart; for see what He-has-made-great with-you.”
Where the English smooths the original
Thus we see that amidst all the changes of the Hebrew state, their prophets steadily inculcated one and the same great principle, namely, that of fearing and serving the one true and living God, in spirit and in truth.
Samuel concludes his speech as he began it ( 1 Samuel 12:6-7 ), with an appeal to these as the motive for loyal obedience.
Fear him not with a servile fear, which is before dehorted from, but with a filial fear, a reverential affection for God
25But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- hā·rê·a‘ tā·rê·‘ū gam- ’at·tem gam- mal·kə·ḵem tis·sā·p̄ū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-if doing-evil you-do-evil — both you and-your-king shall-be-swept-away.”
Where the English smooths the original
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
Thus, as a faithful watchman, he gave them warning, and so delivered his own soul.
Lastly, he repeats once more his admonition, that they would continue stedfast in the fear of God, threatening at the same time the destruction of both king and people if they should do wrong
whose last words in public were to warn the people, and their king, of the danger of apostasy and disobedience to God.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The address opens with an inversion no one in Israel can have missed: שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי בְקֹֽלְכֶ֔ם — “I have obeyed your voice.” The idiom Samuel will demand of Israel in v. 14 (“obey His voice”) he here confesses of himself toward them, and the Hifil וָאַמְלִ֥יךְ makes him the agent of the monarchy he opposed. Gill corrects the impression at once: “it was the Lord alone, that, properly speaking, made him a king.” Benson and Poole agree on the timing — Samuel waited until Saul's throne was secured by victory, so that the rebuke could not be mistaken for a bid to keep power. Maclaren hears something rawer in the two matched Hitpaels of v. 2, the king walking himself before them and the old man who has walked himself before them since childhood: “There is something very pathetic in the contrast he draws between Saul and himself.” Then the trial proper. עֲנ֣וּ בִי֩ is courtroom language — Pulpit: “Literally, ‘answer,’ as in a court of justice” — and Cambridge fixes the roles: “The people are to be the accusers: Jehovah, and His representative Saul are the judges.” The charge sheet is drawn from the Decalogue's ox and ass (Ellicott, Cambridge) and from the law of the bribed judge; K&D reads the syntax with care, denying that Samuel covers his eyes from the money — “he covers his eyes with the money offered him as a bribe, so as not to see and not to punish the crime committed.” Acquitted three times over by the word עֵ֧ד, Samuel springs the trap: JFB sees that the witness is called “against you,” so that “the blame of desiring a change of government rested with themselves,” and K&D presses the same point — their own sworn testimony leaves “no well-founded reason for their request for a king.”
At v. 6 the Hebrew stands the divine name alone with no predicate, and the commentators divide instructively. Pulpit supplies the LXX's verb — “the Septuagint rightly supplies is witness” — and stages the scene as rapid antiphon; K&D hears Samuel catching the crowd's shouted “Witness!” and answering, “Jehovah … who made Moses and Aaron.” Barnes notes that עָשָׂה֙ is “literally, made,” and K&D defines the sense as making a man “what he is to be.” Then the verbs turn forensic: הִֽתְיַצְּב֛וּ (“station yourselves”) and the Nifal cohortative וְאִשָּׁפְטָ֥ה (“let me enter judgment with you”). Cambridge marks the reversal — “Samuel is now the accuser, Israel the defendant” — and points to Micah 6 and Ezekiel 20 where the same form recurs. The evidence is the צִדְק֣וֹת, the righteousnesses of YHWH; Poole and Benson call them “mercies or benefits,” Pulpit answers bluntly that “the margin, benefits, is wrong,” and we let the disagreement stand, since the plural noun bears both. The history that follows is cyclical and unflattering: they shrieked (זעק) in Egypt and shrieked again under Sisera; they forgot (שכח) and He sold them (מכר) — Cambridge: “God's abandonment of His people to their enemies is described under the figure of sale.” Poole adds the sharpest diagnostic: “Forgetting of God is oft put for all manner of wickedness, whereof indeed that is the true cause,” and answers the obvious objection — the judges' era was insecure, yes, “but adds, that they themselves were the cause of it.” The list of deliverers in v. 11 is textually vexed (see the apparatus), but its rhetorical function is exact, and v. 12 delivers the verdict: they demanded a מֶ֖לֶךְ while וַיהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם מַלְכְּכֶֽם — “and YHWH your God your king.” Poole: “when God was your immediate King and Governor, who was both able and willing to deliver you.”
Verse 13 sets the two accounts of the monarchy side by side without reconciling them: “behold the king whom you chose, whom you asked for” and “behold, YHWH has given a king over you.” K&D catches the force of the double הִנֵּ֥ה — “They had not only chosen the king with the consent or by the direction of Samuel; they had even demanded a king of their own self-will” — while Pulpit draws the theological distinction: “The people had desired a king … to represent the nation in temporal matters; Jehovah gave them a king to represent himself, with authority coming from God, and limited by God.” Then comes the most striking piece of Hebrew in the chapter. Verse 14 piles up five conditions — fear, serve, obey, do not rebel, follow — and never states the consequence. Cambridge: “The apodosis must be supplied from the context, as in Exodus 32:32.” Ellicott, quoting Dean Payne Smith, catches the emotion in the broken syntax: “Samuel piled up one upon another the conditions of their happiness, and then from the depth of his emotion breaks off, leaving the blessed consequences of their obedience unsaid.” Poole reads אַחַ֖ר יְהוָ֥ה (“after the LORD”) not as duty but as gift — “it notes not a duty to be performed, but a promise of a privilege to be received.” The threat of v. 15 is by contrast complete, and Benson draws its edge: “We mistake, if we think we can evade God's justice by shaking off his dominion. If we will not let God rule us, yet he will judge us.”
The sign is a matter of climate, and the sources are unanimous and first-hand. K&D quotes Jerome — “Nunquam in fine mensis Junii aut in Julio in his provinciis maximeque in Judaea pluvias vidimus” — and Robinson's survey, “rain never falls, and the sky is usually serene”; Barnes calls Jerome's testimony “that of an eye-witness”; Cambridge adds that “rain in harvest” had become a proverb for the unnatural (Proverbs 26:1). Pulpit alone enters a modest caution, citing Conder — “Storms still occur occasionally in harvest time” — and concludes: “Though not in itself miraculous, the circumstances made it so.” Maclaren asks the better question — how Samuel dared promise the sign at all — and answers that “he recognised that the impulse to proffer the sign came from God.” Gill draws the polemical point the storm was meant to make: “Samuel their judge could do as much or more by his prayers than a king could do by his sword.” The Hebrew helps here: what YHWH sends is קֹל֖וֹת, voices (H6963) — the same noun that in v. 1 Israel's demand had been, and that in vv. 14-15 God's command will be. Israel asked Samuel to hear their voice; now a Voice answers over the wheat. The repentance that follows is instant and, Maclaren judges, shallow: “The faith that is built on ‘signs and wonders’ is easily battered down; the repentance that is due to a thunderstorm is over as soon as the sun comes out again.” Their own words betray it — אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ, “thy God” (Poole: “whilst we are ashamed and afraid to call him our God”), and a petition only “that we die not.”
Samuel's answer to terrified men is not to soften the charge but to refuse despair: “Do not fear. You have done all this evil — do not turn aside.” Geneva reads the pastoral logic exactly: “He shows that there is no sin so great, but it shall be forgiven, if the sinner turn again to God,” and Ellicott hears the gospel in it — “No sin or course of sin was too great to be repented of.” K&D guards the other flank: the comfort must give “no encouragement to any false trust in the covenant faithfulness of the Lord.” The alternative to YHWH is named with one contemptuous word, הַתֹּ֗הוּ (tohu, H8414) — the formless void of Genesis 1:2. Pulpit: idols “cannot profit nor deliver; for they are tohu, emptiness”; Henry turns it on the reader — “Whatever we make a god of, we shall find it deceive us.” Then the ground shifts from Israel's performance to God's name: בַּעֲב֖וּר שְׁמ֣וֹ הַגָּד֑וֹל. Poole explains why that is the safest of all arguments — it removes “all conceit of their own merit”; Cambridge glosses it as God's refusal to “seem in the eyes of the heathen not to be such as He declares Himself to be,” and points to Romans 11:1-2. Finally, v. 23: חָלִ֤ילָה לִּי֙, “profanation to me!” — Samuel classes the abandonment of intercession as a sin against YHWH. K&D, quoting the Berleburg Bible, calls it “a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjects”; Ellicott recalls Gregory's observation, from Jeremiah 15:1, that Moses and Samuel are named together as the great intercessors “because they prayed for their enemies.” The speech ends where the sign ended, with two verbs of seeing: fear and consider — and a last conditional, this one complete, that sweeps away king and people together (תִּסָּפֽוּ).
⚙ Read as one movement, 1 Samuel 12 is about who may be heard. The chapter opens with Samuel obeying Israel's voice (v. 1) and closes with Israel commanded to obey God's (vv. 14-15, 24); in between, God answers with קֹל֖וֹת — literally voices — over a wheat field, and the nation that had insisted on being heard discovers what it is to be spoken to. That is the spine.
⚙ The chapter's hardest gift is that it does not undo what it condemns. Samuel proves the demand for a king was רָעָ֔ה, evil (v. 17, 19, 20) — and then tells them to keep the king and fear the LORD. There is no un-asking. The broken conditional of v. 14, which Ellicott and Cambridge both mark as an unfinished sentence, is the grammar of this mercy: the blessing is left unstated because it was never a wage to be calculated, and the very next thing Samuel puts beneath their feet is not their obedience at all but God's name (v. 22) and God's pleasure (הוֹאִ֣יל, “He was pleased to make you His own”). Israel's security rests on a reason located entirely outside Israel. We hold this as our own fallible reading and offer it to be tested: the demand for a visible king is not primarily a political error but a refusal to live by an unseen faithfulness, and the cure God applies is not to restore the invisible arrangement but to attach the visible one to His own name.
⚙ One honest hesitation. The commentators before us — Maclaren most bluntly — judge Israel's repentance shallow, produced by weather and dissolved with it. We think the text neither confirms nor denies this; it records instead that Samuel, who had every reason to let them stew, treated the fear as real enough to answer. If there is a rule here for readers, it is Samuel's, not ours: the sin of the moment was theirs to confess, and the sin he named as his own temptation was to stop praying for them.
They asked for a king they could see, and were given a God who would not be seen and would not let go. (This line is our own synthesis, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The Verifier's sharpest find in this unit is also its quietest. וָשַׂ֔בְתִּי (v. 2, sîyb, H7867) is not the ordinary adjective for gray hair; it is a verb the Verifier locates in only two verses of the whole canon, the other being Eliphaz's taunt to Job that “both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.” Both occurrences put gray hair forward as a credential in an argument — Eliphaz to overbear a sufferer, Samuel to press an accounting on a nation. The link is lexical and real; it is not a quotation, and neither passage shows any awareness of the other.
Job 15:10
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H7867 sîyb, which occurs in only 2 verses in the canon (rare) — a genuine verbal link; no quotation or literary dependence is claimed in either direction
The confession Samuel puts in Israel's mouth at v. 10 — “we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths” — is not free composition. The same pairing, with the same verb of service, stands at 1 Samuel 7:4, where under Samuel's own reformation “the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served the LORD alone,” and at Judges 10:6. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes. הָעַשְׁתָּר֑וֹת (ʻAshtârôwth, H6252) is rare — twelve verses in all — which is what makes the collocation a fixed formula rather than a coincidence of subject matter. Cambridge notices the same closeness at the level of whole sentences: the language of v. 10 “is so close” to Judges 10:10 “as to lead us to suppose that the compiler of Samuel had the book of Judges before him, or at any rate that the words are derived from a common source.” K&D independently observes that v. 10 “agrees almost word for word with Judges 10:10,” except that the Ashtaroth are added. The irony is that the words Israel repents in are the words Israel has repented in before.
1 Samuel 7:4 · Judges 10:6
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H6252 ʻAshtârôwth (in 12 vv — rare), H1168 Baʻal (in 70 vv), H5647 ʻâbad (in 262 vv) with 1 Samuel 7:4; H6430, H4124, H5647 with Judges 10:6. The rare Ashtaroth + Baal + serve collocation is a fixed liturgical formula, not a citation of one text by another
Samuel's two verbs in v. 3-4, עָשַׁ֙קְתִּי֙ and רַצּ֔וֹתִי (ʻâshaq H6231 + râtsats H7533), travel together. K&D notes the pairing and cites Deuteronomy 28:33, where the covenant curse is that Israel will be “only oppressed and crushed continually,” and Amos 4:1, where the cows of Bashan “oppress the poor and crush the needy.” Hosea 5:11 uses the pair of Ephraim. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes in each case. What Samuel claims never to have done is precisely what the law threatens as judgment and what the prophets will name as the ruling class's characteristic sin — so his acquittal in v. 4 is, by the same words, an advance measurement of every king who follows him.
Deuteronomy 28:33 · Amos 4:1 · Hosea 5:11
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H7533 râtsats (in 18 vv) and H6231 ʻâshaq (in 35 vv) in all three pairs — a real verbal collocation shared across a common motif of judicial oppression; no quotation or dependence is claimed, so the tier is held at structural
Verse 9 compresses Judges 4 into one clause. The Verifier confirms the shared name סִֽיסְרָא֩ (Çîyçᵉrâʼ, H5516, nineteen verses) with Judges 4:2, together with mâkar (“sold”) and mâlak. Cambridge explains the metaphor: “God's abandonment of His people to their enemies is described under the figure of sale, just as the deliverance of them is called redemption or buying back.” Both Barnes and Pulpit note that Samuel's ordering of the oppressions — Sisera, then the Philistines, then Moab — is not the order of the book of Judges; Barnes argues it nevertheless matches “the internal evidence of the Book of Judges itself.” The link is a deliberate historical recall, not a citation, which is why we tier it structural.
Judges 4:2
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5516 Çîyçᵉrâʼ (in 19 vv), H4376 mâkar (in 74 vv), H4427 mâlak (in 284 vv) — a real lexical link naming the same event, but an allusive summary rather than a quotation
The Verifier's basis for this pair is as strong as a lexeme link can be and as weak as a fact can be: בְּדָ֔ן (Bᵉdân, H917) occurs in exactly two verses in the canon, here and 1 Chronicles 7:17, where it names a descendant of Machir the Manassite. That is the whole evidence, and the commentators split irreparably. The LXX, Syriac and Arabic read Barak; K&D, Cambridge, JFB and Pulpit follow them, K&D concluding “there is no other course left, therefore, than to regard Bedan as an old copyist's error for Barak,” and noting that Barak stands beside Gideon and Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32. The Targum, Jerome, Kimchi, Geneva and most Jewish interpreters read Samson (Ben-Dan, “of the tribe of Dan”). Poole prefers Jair the Gileadite; Ellicott records Wordsworth's argument that the very obscurity authenticates the speech, since “a forger would not have ventured to insert a name which occurs nowhere else.” BSB prints “Barak.” We flag rather than decide.
1 Chronicles 7:17 · Judges 4:6 · Judges 13:2
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H917 Bᵉdân (in 2 vv) — maximally rare, but the identification is textually contested: LXX/Syriac/Arabic and K&D, Cambridge, JFB, Pulpit read Barak; Targum, Jerome, Kimchi and Geneva read Samson; Poole reads Jair. The 1 Chronicles 7:17 Bedan is a different person on every reading
The roll of v. 11 reappears, in a Greek letter, as the roster of faith: “Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.” Several of our commentators argue the two lists directly: K&D uses the Hebrews sequence as evidence that Bedan should be read Barak, “a conclusion which is favoured by the circumstance that Barak … is placed by the side of Gideon and Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32”; JFB and Gill argue the same way; Barnes argues the reverse, that the passage “is quite as favorable to the mention of Samuel here as to that of Samson.” No shared Strong's number can be computed across the two languages, so no verbal tier is available: the link is a shared roster and a shared theological point — that Israel's rescuers were sent, not elected — carried in two different tongues.
Hebrews 11:32
basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): shared Strong's lexemes are impossible in principle, so no verbal tier may be claimed. The recorded basis is the overlapping named-deliverer list, argued explicitly in both directions by K&D, JFB, Gill and Barnes
Verse 12 ends on a nominal clause with no verb: וַיהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם מַלְכְּכֶֽם, “and YHWH your God — your king.” Both Cambridge and Pulpit send the reader to Judges 8:23, where Gideon, offered a dynasty after the Midianite victory, answers, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.” The verb there is mâshal, not mâlak, so this is a link of doctrine rather than of vocabulary — and it is worth saying plainly that the Verifier returned no computed lexeme basis for this pair. We record it on the commentators' authority, and because v. 12's own contrast is unintelligible without the principle Gideon states.
Judges 8:23 · 1 Samuel 8:7
basis: No Verifier-computed shared lexeme for this pair; the recorded basis is the explicit citation of Judges 8:23 at this verse by both Cambridge and Pulpit, plus the shared theocratic proposition (YHWH as Israel's ruler) stated in 1 Samuel 8:7
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Twice in three verses Samuel calls Saul מְשִׁיח֗וֹ — His anointed, His mâshîyach (H4899). Barnes states the historical fact precisely: the title “had been given to the High Priests (Leviticus 4:3),” and had been heard in Hannah's song before any king existed (1 Samuel 2:10), “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.” Cambridge concurs that it is “here for the first time actually applied to the King.” Ellicott traces what the name afterward became: “The infinite charm which the name ‘Anointed of the Eternal’ carried with it for centuries is, no doubt, due to the fact that one greater than any of the sons of men would, in the far future, assume the same sacred designation.” ⚙ The redemptive-historical weight is in the staging, not only the word. The Anointed is seated here as judge, with YHWH, over a man who invites examination and is found to have taken nothing, crushed no one, and hidden his eyes for no ransom. Israel's first messiah presides over Israel's most thorough acquittal — and the acquitted man is not the messiah. Both figures point past themselves: Saul, who will be swept away with the people (v. 25); Samuel, whose spotless record cannot stand in for theirs. The line of the anointed runs from this ambiguous king through David to the one before whose judgment seat all appear, and who is Himself the only one who can say “whose ox have I taken?” without a witness being suppressed.
1 Samuel 12:3 · 1 Samuel 12:5 · 1 Samuel 2:10 · Leviticus 4:3
Verse 23 is the chapter's strangest sentence. Samuel, publicly rejected, calls the cessation of intercession for the people who rejected him חָלִ֤ילָה לִּי֙ מֵחֲטֹ֣א לַֽיהוָ֔ה — a sin against YHWH. K&D, quoting the Berleburg Bible, calls this “a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjects.” Ellicott records Gregory's reading of Jeremiah 15:1, where Moses and Samuel are singled out as the two whose prayer carried extraordinary weight — and why: “because they prayed for their enemies.” Pulpit observes that “in no character of the Old Testament does this duty of intercessory prayer stand forward so prominently as in Samuel.” Matthew Henry makes the christological turn explicit, and does it with an edge: “Thus many who will not have Christ to reign over them, would yet be glad to have him intercede for them, to turn away the wrath of God.” ⚙ The people's petition is the exact shape of Henry's charge — they ask for prayer, not for pardon, and only “that we die not.” The one who both reigns and intercedes, and who prayed for those who were crucifying Him, is what Samuel here does in part and cannot do in whole: he can pray, and teach “the good and right way,” but he cannot save. The office is the same; the capacity is not.
Jeremiah 15:1 · Luke 19:14 · Hebrews 7:25 · Romans 8:34
After proving Israel guilty, Samuel rests their future on a reason that has nothing to do with them: כִּ֠י בַּעֲב֖וּר שְׁמ֣וֹ הַגָּד֑וֹל — “for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because it pleased Him (הוֹאִ֣יל, H2974) to make you His own.” K&D fixes the referent of the name as what YHWH “had acquired in the sight of all the nations,” comparing Joshua 7:9; Cambridge compares Moses' plea at Exodus 32:12 and Numbers 14:13 and then sends the reader to Romans 11:1-2 — “God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew.” Poole draws the doctrinal consequence: the argument is put this way “to take them off from all conceit of their own merit,” so that even a truly repentant Israel's salvation “would not be due to their merits, but the effect of God's free mercy.” Geneva: “Of his free mercy, and not of your merits.” Ellicott, more cautiously, calls it “the simple doctrine of election.” ⚙ Paul takes up this precise argument in Romans 11 and grounds it, there, in the Deliverer who comes from Zion; the unbreakable thing under Israel is not Israel's record but God's committed name — which is at last given a human one. The reading is the apostle's own and is recorded here by Cambridge; what we add beyond the sources is only the observation that v. 22 sits deliberately after the verdict, not before it.
Romans 11:1-2 · Deuteronomy 7:6-11 · Joshua 7:9 · Exodus 32:12
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
Text. This unit carries an unusual density of textual difficulty, and we have flagged rather than smoothed it. (1) v. 3: the LXX reads “from whose hand have I received as a bribe even a pair of shoes?” — Cambridge argues it “represents a small change in the consonants of the Heb. text, and may possibly preserve the original reading,” and notes it is attested as early as Sirach 46:19. BSB follows the Masoretic Text; so do we. (2) v. 5: the verb is singular, “and he said,” with a plural subject; Poole explains it as the nation speaking “as one person,” K&D rejects the Keri plural as unnecessary, and Ellicott preserves a Talmudic tradition (Maccoth 23) that the singular is the Holy Spirit's own answer. (3) v. 11: Bedan is unidentifiable — see the flagged thread; BSB prints “Barak,” following LXX and Syriac, and the Hebrew reads בְּדָ֔ן. Some versions also substitute Samson for Samuel in the same verse; K&D defends the Masoretic “Samuel,” Pulpit and JFB doubt it. (4) v. 15: the Hebrew reads “against you and your fathers”; LXX reads “and your king,” which parallels v. 25. Pulpit judges the text “probably corrupt”; K&D defends the received reading as comparative (“as upon your fathers”) and calls the LXX “a very unhappy conjecture.” The BSB rendering follows the comparative sense. (5) v. 21: the initial כִּ֣י is absent from every ancient version; Ellicott concludes it “got into the text since the versions were made,” Cambridge agrees the sense gains by its omission, K&D defends it by supplying the verb.
Sources. BSB text and the Berean interlinear with Strong's numbers and parsings are the sourced base; every parse, gloss and frequency count above comes from that brief. All commentary is public-domain and quoted verbatim by anchor, never retyped: Ellicott, Maclaren, Benson, Henry, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge, Pulpit, Keil & Delitzsch. Where these authors contradict one another — Pulpit against Benson/Poole/Gill on tsᵉdâqôwt in v. 7; Barnes against K&D and Pulpit on “Samuel” in v. 11; Pulpit against Gill and K&D on whether the harvest storm was miraculous in itself — we have printed the disagreement rather than picked a winner. Benson's notes on vv. 1 and 9 are near-verbatim Poole; readers should treat them as one witness, not two.
Uncertain. Two of the twelve entries were capped in our brief (Maclaren at 12:1 and 12:16; K&D at 12:8-12), so quotations from those authors are drawn from the portions available to us and may not represent their fullest argument. The Verifier returned no computed lexeme basis for the Judges 8:23 and Hebrews 11:32 threads; both are recorded on commentator authority and tiered accordingly. The chronology of v. 9 (Sisera before Eglon) disagrees with the present arrangement of Judges, as Barnes and Pulpit both observe, and we have not attempted to harmonise it. Everything marked ⚙ is our own fallible synthesis and is offered to be tested against the text and the named voices above.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)