Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
He said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” They said, “He is witness.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 God would that this confession should be a pattern…
God would that this confession should be a pattern for all them that have any charge or office.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 1Sa 12:3 Behold, here I [am]: witness against me…
1Sa 12:3 Behold, here I [am]: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received [any] bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
Ver. 3. Whose ox have I taken?] So Moses purgeth himself, {Num 16:15} that he had not taken a hoof of any one: and St Paul to the same purpose in many places; as Act 20:33 1Co 9:18, &c.: and Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. 32. Quid populure hunc per avaritiam circumvenimus? nunquid privatis utilitatibus consuluimus? &c. Whom have we circumvented by covetousness? and wherein have we sought our own ends? &c. So Melancthon; George, prince of Anhalt; the late victorious Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden; "I protest before God," said he, in a speech to his German plunderers, "that I have not by all this war enriched myself so far as a pair of boots comes to. Yea, I had rather ride without boots than in the least degree enrich myself by the damage of poor people."
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Or whom have I defrauded?] Quem calumniatus sum? Vatab. - Compare Luk 19:8. Whom have I deprived of his wealth by forged cavillation?
Whom have I oppressed?] Contrivi, pulsavi. Whom have I beaten, bruised, shattered, or any way violenced?
Or of whose hand have I received any bribe?] Munus expiatorium. Olim didici, quid sint munera, saith one: I know well the danger of meddling with bribes or ransoms, as they are here called. For, like the fish torpedo, they will infect and benumb the hand that touches them. {a}
To blind mine eyes therewith.] "A gift blindeth the eyes of the wise," {Deu 16:19} transformeth him into a very walking idol, that hath eyes and seeth not, ears that hear not: only he hath hands to hold bribes. {Isa 33:15}
{a} Plin.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 Witness against me; I here present myself before the…
Witness against me; I here present myself before the Lord, and before your king, being ready to give an account of all my administrations, and to make satisfaction for any injuries that I have done. And this protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation or vain-glory; but partly, for his own just vindication, that the people might not hereafter, for the defence of their own irregularities, reproach his government; partly, that being publicly acquitted from all faults in his government, he might more freely and boldly reprove the sins of the people, and particularly that sin of theirs in desiring a king, when they had so little reason for it, and they had so just a governor, from whom they might have promised themselves an effectual redress of his sons’ mal-administrations, if they had acquainted him therewith; and partly, that by his example he might tacitly admonish Saul of his duty, and prevent his misunderstanding of what he had formerly said, 1Sa 8:11 &c., and mistake that for the rule of his just power, which was only a prediction of his evil practices.
Whom have I oppressed? whom have I wronged, either by fraud and false accusation, or by might and violence?
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Any bribe, Heb. price of redemption, given to redeem an unjust and lost cause or person from that righteous sentence which they deserved.
To blind mine eyes therewith; that I should not discern what was right and just, or dissemble it, as if I did not see it. Or, that I should hide or cover mine eyes (i.e. wilfully wink at the plain truth) for it, i.e. for the bribe; or, for him, i.e. for his sake. I will restore it you, or, and I will cover mine eyes for him, i.e. I will take shame to myself, and cover my face as one ashamed to look upon him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Behold, here I am,.... No longer the supreme governor,…
Behold, here I am,.... No longer the supreme governor, but a subject, and accountable for any misdemeanour charged upon me, and to which I am ready to give answer, being now at your bar to be tried and judged before you:
witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed; signifying, that if they had anything to lay to his charge, that they would produce it, and give proof and evidence of it in the presence of God, in whose name they met, and of Saul, anointed king, and supreme judge and ruler of the nation:
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whose ox have I taken? by force to employ in his own service in ploughing his ground, or treading out his corn:
or whose ass have I taken? to ride about on in his circuit, or to carry any burden for him:
or whom have I defrauded? of their money or goods, by any artifice circumventing and cheating them:
whom have I oppressed? struck, beaten, broken, or caused to be so used wrongfully; to whose person have I been injurious any more than to their property? Some derive the word from a root which signifies favour and goodwill, and interpret it as some of the Rabbins do, of his not taking money of persons with their goodwill; or rather, that he had done nothing as a judge for favour and affection, but had acted the upright part, without regard to rich or poor, friends or foes:
or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? his meaning is, that he had never taken a gift or present from any person to favour his cause, that was to be brought before him, and give it for him right or wrong; to connive at any injury he had done, or to turn away his eyes from seeing where the justice of the cause lay; or that he had not received money to spare the life of a criminal that deserved to die; for the word used for a bribe signifies a ransom price, see Deu 16:19.
and I will restore it to you; the ox or ass, money or goods, gifts and presents, or bribes taken, or make compensation for any injury done to the persons or estates of men. Some render it, "I will answer you" (f), or give in an answer to any such charges when exhibited.
(f) "respondebo vobis", Munster.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v3 Behold - I here present myself before the Lord,…
Behold - I here present myself before the Lord, and before your king, ready to give an account of all my administrations. And this protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation; but for his own just vindication, that the people might not hereafter for the defense of their own irregularities, reproach his government, and that being publickly acquitted from all faults in his government, he might more freely reprove the sins of the people, and, particularly, that sin of theirs in desiring a king, when they had so little reason for it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Verse 3. Witness against me] Did ever a minister…
Verse 3. Witness against me] Did ever a minister of state, in any part of the world, resign his office with so much self-consciousness of integrity, backed with the universal approbation of the public? No man was oppressed under his government, no man defrauded! He had accumulated no riches for himself; he had procured none for his friends; nor had one needy dependant been provided for out of the public purse. He might have pardoned his own sons, who had acted improperly, before he quitted the government; but though he was the most tender of parents, he would not, but abandoned them to national justice, with only a tacit solicitation of mercy: Behold, my sons are with you! They have acted improperly; I deprived them of their authority; they are amenable to you for their past conduct; I have walked uprightly and disinterestedly among you; they have not followed my steps: but can you forgive them for their father's sake? As a minister of justice, he abandons them to their fate; as a tender father, he indirectly and modestly pleads for them on the ground of his own services. Had he not acted thus in both these relations, he would have been unworthy of that character which he so deservedly bears.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 1Sa 12:3. Behold, here I am — I here…
1Sa 12:3. Behold, here I am — I here present myself before the Lord, and before your king, ready to give an account of all my administrations. And this protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation, but for his own just vindication, that the people might not hereafter, for the defence of their own irregularities, reproach his government; and that, being publicly acquitted from all faults in his government, he might more freely reprove the sins of the people, and particularly that sin of theirs in desiring a king, when they had so little reason for it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v3 His anointed - i. e., king Saul. The title…
His anointed - i. e., king Saul. The title Messiah, Χριστὸς Christos, unctus, or anointed, had been given to the High Priests (Lev 4:3 : compare also 1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 2:35); 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.
Any bribe - literally, a “ransom,” the fine paid by a criminal in lieu of bonds or death Exo 21:30, applied to the bribe paid to an unjust judge to induce him to acquit the guilty. (Compare Amo 5:12.)
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To blind ... - See the margin. The phrase is used of one who averts his eyes, as refusing assistance, or as showing contempt, or, as here, as winking at what is wrong.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v3 Anointed, "Christ," as the anointing of kings prefigured that…
Anointed, "Christ," as the anointing of kings prefigured that of the Messias, which, in Hebrew, has the same import as the word Greek: christos has in Greek. (Calmet) --- Wronged. Literally, "by calumny," or by any other mode of oppression. (Haydock) --- Despise. Hebrew, "hide my eyes," through confusion. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "to blind my eyes therewith." (Haydock) --- Septuagint have read nalim, "shoes," instead of anlim. (Calmet) --- "Have I taken from the hand of any one a preset, to render me favourable, so much as a shoe? (upodema, or latchet) answer against me," &c. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v5 the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed…
the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness--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. This was only insinuated, and they did not fully perceive his drift.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 3. Before his anointed — That is, Saul, the…
3. Before his anointed — That is, Saul, the king, who had probably been publicly anointed before this assembly at Gilgal.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v3 3. Behold, here I am] Samuel puts himself on…
3. Behold, here I am] Samuel puts himself on his trial. The people are to be the accusers: Jehovah, and His representative Saul are the judges.
before his anointed] The title “the anointed of Jehovah” (see 1Sa_10:1, note) is here for the first time actually applied to the King, though it had been employed before in prophecy (ch. 1Sa_2:10; 1Sa_2:35). Its use certainly gains point if we may follow the Sept. in 1Sa_11:15 (see note), and suppose that the ceremony of anointing had just been performed in the presence of all the people.
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whose ox … whose ass] The most valuable property of a pastoral and agricultural people, hence named expressly in the Tenth Commandment (Exo_20:17). Cp. Num_16:15.
any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith] Cp. Exo_23:8; Deu_16:19.
The Sept. reads here, “from whose hand have I received as a bribe even a pair of shoes? Answer against me, and I will restore it to you.” A pair of shoes seems to have been a proverbial expression for a mere trifle, a paltry bribe. See Amo_2:6; Amo_8:6. This rendering represents a small change in the consonants of the Heb. text, and may possibly preserve the original reading. At any rate it is as old as the Greek translation of the book of Ecclesiasticus (170–150 b.c.), the author of which must have found it in the Sept. (even if the author of the Hebrew original did not find it in his Hebrew text), for in ch. Sir_46:19 we read, “And before his long sleep [Samuel] made protestations in the sight of the Lord and his anointed, I have not taken any man’s goods, so much as a shoe: and no man did accuse him.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 (3) Behold, here I am: witness against me before…
(3) Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed.—I speak in a solemn presence, “before the Eternal,” went on the old man, looking up heavenward, “and before His anointed,” pointing with a reverent gesture to the kingly form by his side. “His Anointed”—this is the earliest instance of a king bearing this title of honour. The high priest, whose blessed office brought him in such close contact with the invisible and eternal King, is in the early Hebrew story styled now and again by this honoured name. But henceforth it seems to be limited to the man invested with the kingly dignity. 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—“His Anointed,” or “His Christ.” (The words are synonymous, both being translations of the Hebrew word Messiah.)
Nor has this peculiar reverence for the “Lord’s Anointed “been limited to His own people. Since the seer in the early morning on the hill-side, looking on “Ramah of the Watchers,” poured out the holy oil on the young Saul’s head, and then before all Israel gathered at Gilgal styled the new king by the title of the “Anointed of the Eternal,” wherever the one true God has been worshipped, an infinite charm has gone with the name, a strange and peculiar reverence has surrounded every one who could fairly claim to bear it, and for many a century, among all peoples, an awful curse has at once attached itself to any one who would dare lift his hand against the “Lord’s Anointed.”
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Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken?—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. Before the wars and conquests of David and Solomon, there was comparatively little of the precious metals among the Hebrew people, who seem to have traded in those early days but rarely with foreign nations; horses were, too, unknown among them. The law of Exo_20:17 especially makes mention of the ox and the ass as things the Israelite was forbidden to covet. On these words of Samuel the Babylonian Talmud has an important note, which well illustrates the doctrine of the “Holy Spirit” as taught in Israel before the Christian era.
“Rabbi Elazer said, on three occasions did the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in a peculiar manner—in the judicial tribunal instituted by Shem, in that of Samuel the Ramathite, and in that of Solomon. In that of Shem, Judah declared, “She is righteous,” &c. How could he know it? Might not another man have come to her as well as he did? But an echo of a voice was heard exclaiming: Of me (the word ממגי is separated from the preceding word, and taken as a distinct utterance of the Holy Spirit); these things were overruled by me. Samuel said (1Sa_12:3-5), “Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? . . . And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, &c . . . And he said, He is witness” (ו׳אמך). It ought to read, “And they said.” But it was the Holy Spirit that gave that answer. So with Solomon the words “She is the mother thereof (1Ki_3:27) were spoken by the Holy Spirit.”—Treatise Maccoth, fol. 23, Colossians 2.
Whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed?—Alluding, of course, to his conduct during his long continuance in office as supreme judge in Israel. The “bribe”—literally, ransom—alludes to that practice unhappily so common in the East of giving the judge a gift (usually of money) to buy his favour, and thus a criminal who had means was too often able to escape punishment.
The sons of Samuel, we know from 1Sa_8:3, “took bribes, and perverted judgment.” This accusation, we know, had been preferred by the very elders of the nation before whom the seer was then speaking. The old judge must have been very confident of his own spotless integrity to venture upon such a solemn challenge. The elders had shown themselves by their bold accusation of the seer’s sons no respecters of persons, and from the tone of Samuel’s address, must have felt his words were but the prelude of some scathing reproaches they would have to listen to, and yet they were constrained with one voice to bear their witness to the perfect truth of his assertion that his long official life had been indeed pure and spotless. The Talmud has a curious tradition respecting the prophets, based apparently upon this saying of Samuel. “All the prophets were rich men. This we infer from the account of Moses, Samuel, Amos, and Jonah. Of Moses, as it is written (Num_16:15), ‘I have not taken one ass from them.’ Of Samuel, as it is written (1Sa_12:3), ‘Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken?’ Of Amos, as it is written (Amo_7:14), ‘I was an herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit,’ i.e., I am proprietor of my herds and own sycamores in the valley. Of Jonah, as it is written (Jon_1:3), ‘So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it.’ Rabbi Yochanan says he hired the whole ship. Rabbi Rumanus says the hire of the ship amounted to four thousand golden denarii.”—Treatise Nedarim, fol. 38, Colossians 1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v3 Vers. 3, 4, 5. Witness against me. Literally, "answer,"…
Vers. 3, 4, 5. Witness against me. Literally, "answer," as in a court of justice to the formal question of the judge. His anointed. Ie. the king. (see 1Sa_2:10, 35 2:1) Whose ox,... whose ass? See on 1Sa_8:16. Of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? Bribe should be rendered ransom. Literally it signifies a covering, and was used of money given by a guilty person to induce the judge to close or "blind his eyes," and not see his sin. It does not mean, therefore, any bribe, but only that given to buy off a guilty person. Such persons are generally powerful men who have oppressed and wronged others; and the knowledge that they can cover their offence by sharing their gains with the judge is to this day in the East the most fruitful source of bad government. The people all bear witness to Samuel"s uprightness, nor is there any contradiction between this and their desire to have a king. His internal administration was just and righteous, but they were oppressed by the nations round them, and needed a leader in war. And in Samuel"s sons they had men, not vicious or licentious, but too fond of money, and so neither fit to be their generals in war nor their judges in peace. We gather 1Sa_22:2 that though Saul proved a competent leader in war, he was not successful in the government of the country in peace.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v3 Behold, here I am, witness against me.
1Sa_12:3-5
Behold, here I am, witness against me.
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Ad magistratum
A bold and just challenge of an old judge, made before all the people, upon his resignal of the government into the hands of a new king. In which words are observable both the matter and form of Samuels challenge. We may observe concerning Samuel three things. First, his great forwardness in the business, in putting himself upon the trial by his own voluntary offer, before he was called thereunto by others. Behold, here I am. Secondly, his great confidence, upon the conscience of his own integrity; in that he durst put himself upon his trial before God and the world. Witness against me before the Lord, and before His Anointed. Thirdly, his great equity, in offering to make real satisfaction to the full, in case anything should be justly proved against him in any of the premises, Whose ox, or whose ass, etc., and I will restore it you.
I. Samuel on self-testing voluntarily. We cannot marvel that Samuel should thus offer himself to the trial, when no man urged him to it; since there may be rendered so many congruous reasons for it. Especially being withal so conscious to himself, of having dealt uprightly, that he knew all the world could not touch him with any wilful violation of justice. He doth not therefore decline the trial, but seek it. The righteous are bold as a lion. The merchant that knoweth his wares to be faulty, is glad of the dark shop, and false light; whereas he that will uphold them right and good, willeth his customers to view them in the open sun. A corrupt magistrate or officer may sometimes set a face upon it, and in a kind of bravery bid defiance to all the world; but it is then when he is sure he hath power on his side to bear him out; when he is so backed with his great friends that no man dare once open his lips against him for fear of being shut. Even as a rank coward may take up the bucklers, and brave it like a stout champion, when he is sure the coast is clear and nobody near to enter the lists with him. And yet all this is but a mere flourish, a faint and feigned bravado; his heart the while is as cold as lead, and he meaneth nothing less than what he maketh show of. If the offer should be indeed accepted, and that his actions were like to be brought upon the public stage, there to receive a due and impartial hearing and doom; how would he then shrink and hold off trow ye? Be just then, fathers and brethren, and ye may be bold: so long as you stand right, you stand upon your own legs, and not at the mercy of others. But turn aside once to defrauding, oppressing, or receiving rewards, and you make yourselves slaves foreverse Possibly you may bear up, if the times favour you, and by your greatness out-face your crimes for a while: but that is not a thing to trust to. The wind and the tide may turn against you, when you little think it: and when once you begin to go down the wind, every base and busy companion will have one puff at you, to drive you the faster and farther down. Yet mistake not, as if I did exact from magistrates an absolute immunity from those common frailties and infirmities, whereunto the whole race of mankind is subject: the imposition were unreasonable. I doubt not but Samuel, notwithstanding all this great confidence in his own integrity, had yet among so many causes, as in so many years space had gone through his hands, sundry times erred in judgment, either in the substance or the sentence, or at least in some circumstances of the proceedings. By misinformations, or misapprehensions, or by other passions or prejudices, no doubt but he might be carried, and like enough sometimes was, to shew either more lenity, or more rigour, than was in every respect expedient. But this is the thing that made him stand so clear, both in his own conscience and in the sight of God and the world, that he had not wittingly and purposely perverted judgment, nor done wrong to any man with an evil or corrupt intention.
II. Samuels confidence. See we next, what the things are he doth with so much confidence disclaim, as the matter of the challenge. It is in the general, injury or wrong: the particular kinds whereof in the text specified, are fraud, oppression, and bribery. Against all and every of these he expressly protesteth. It is verily nothing so much as our covetousness that maketh us unjust: which St. Paul affirmeth to be the root of all evil; but is most manifestly the root of this evil of injustice. But men that are resolved of their end (if this be their end, to make themselves great and rich howsoever) are not much moved with arguments of this nature. The evidence of Gods Law, and conscience of their own duty, work little upon them: gain is the thing they look after; as for equity they little regard it. A man may seem to profit by them, and to come up wonderfully for a time; but time and experience show, that they moulder away again at the last, and crumble to nothing; and that for the most part within the compass of an age. What gained Ahab by it, when he made himself master of Naboths vineyard, but the hastening of his own destruction? And what was Gehazi the better for the gifts be received from Naaman? which brought an hereditary leprosy with them? And what was Achan the richer for the golden wedge he had saved out of the spoils, and hidden in his tent, which brought destruction upon him and all that appertained to him? It ought to be the care of every private man, thus far to follow Samuels example that he keep himself from doing any man wrong. But men that are in place of government, as Samuel was, have yet a further charge lying upon them, over and besides the former; and that is, to preserve others from wrong, and being wronged, to relieve them to the utmost of their power. The more have they to answer for that abuse any part of this so sacred an ordinance, for the abetting, countenancing, or strengthening of any injurious act. They that have skill in the laws, by giving dangerous counsel in the chamber or pleading smoothly at the bar. They that attend about the courts, by keeping back just complaints, or doing other casts of their office in favour of an evil person or cause; but especially the magistrates themselves, by a perfunctory or partial hearing, by pressing the laws with rigour, or qualifying them with some mitigation where they ought not. Where others do wrong, if they know it, and can help it, their very connivance maketh them accessories; and then the greatness and eminency of their places enhanceth the crime yet further, and maketh them principals.
1. A very grievous thing it is to think of, but a thing merely impossible to reckon up (how much less then to remedy and reform?) all the several kinds of frauds and deceits that are used in the world. It is stark nought, saith the buyer: It is perfect good, saith the seller: when many times neither of both speaketh, either as he thinketh, or as the truth of the thing is. Blessed is the man, then, in whose heart, and tongue, and hands, there is found no deceit; that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness; and speaketh the truth from his heart; that hath not stretched his wits to hurt his neighbour; nor made advantage of any mans unskilfulness, simplicity or credulity, to gain from him wrongfully; that can stand upon it, as Samuel here doth, and his heart not give his tongue the lie, that he hath defrauded no man.
2. The other kind of injury, here next mentioned, is oppression: wherein a man maketh use of his power to the doing of wrong, as he did of his wits in defrauding. Which is for the most part the fault of rich and great men; because they have the greatest power so to do, and are not so easily resisted in what they will have done. Yet is it indeed a very grievous sin, forbidden by God himself in express terms (Lev_25:1-55). If thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbours hand, ye shall not oppress one another: and so going on, concludeth, Ye shall not therefore oppress one another, but thou shalt fear thy God; implying that it is from want of the fear of God that men oppress one another Solomon therefore saith, that he that oppresseth the poor, reproacheth (or despiseth) his Maker (Pro_14:1-35). And, indeed, so he doth, more ways than one. First, he despiseth his Makers commandment, who hath (as you heard) peremptorily forbidden him to oppress. Secondly, he despiseth his Makers creature: the poor man whom he so oppresseth being Gods workmanship as well as himself. Thirdly, he despiseth his Makers example; who looketh upon the distresses of the poor and oppressed, to provide for them, and to relieve them. Fourthly, he despiseth his Masters ordinance; in perverting that power and wealth, which God lent him purposely to do good therewithal, and turning it to a quite contrary use, to the hurt and damage of others. And he that goeth on to reproach his Maker (without repentance) must needs do it to his own confusion He that made him, can mar him when he pleaseth; and the greatest oppressors shall be no more able to stand before him then, than their poorer brethren are now able to stand out against them. But herein especially may you behold the baseness of oppression; that the basest people, men of the lowest rank and spirit, are evermore the most insolent, and consequently (according to the proportion of their power) the most oppressive Solomon compareth a poor man, when he hath the opportunity to oppress another poor man, to a sweeping rain that leaveth no food (Pro_28:1-28). How roughly did that servant in the parable deal with his fellow servant, when he took him by the throat for a small debt, after his master had but newly remitted to him a sum incomparably greater? The reason of the difference was the master dealt nobly, and freely, and like himself, and had compassion; but the servant, being of a low and narrow spirit, must insult. Conclude hence, all ye that are of generous births or spirits, how unworthy that practice would be in you, wherein men of the lowest minds and conditions can (in their proportion) not equal only, but even exceed you. Which should make you, not only to hate oppression, because it is wicked, but even to scorn it, because it is base, and to despise it.
3. There is yet a third behind, against which Samuel protesteth as a branch of injustice also; which also concerned him more properly as a judge; to wit, bribery. Bribery is properly a branch of oppression. For if the bribe be exacted, or but expected yet so, as that there can be little hope of a favourable, or but so much as a fair hearing without it; then is it a manifest oppression in the receiver, because he maketh an advantage of that power, wherewith he is entrusted for the administration of justice, to his own proper benefit, which ought not to be, and is clearly an oppression. But if it proceed rather from the voluntary offer of the giver, for the compassing of his own ends, then is it an oppression in him; because thereby he getteth an advantage in the favour of the court against his adversary, and to his prejudice. For, observe it, the general oppressors are ever the greatest bribers, and freest of their gifts to those that may bestead them in their suits. What is it to blind the eyes? Or, how can bribes do it? Justice is not unfitly portrayed in the form of a man with his right eye open, to look at the cause; and his left eye shut or muffled, that he may not look at the person. Now a gift putteth all this out of order, and setteth it the quite contrary way. It giveth the left eye liberty but too much, to look asquint at the person; but putteth the right eye quite out that it cannot discern the cause. Even as in the next foregoing chapter, Nahash the Ammonite would have covenanted with the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, upon condition he might thrust out all their right eyes. From this property of hoodwinking and muffling up the eyes it is that a bribe is in the Hebrew to cover, to dawn up, or to draw over with lime, plaster, or the like. Whereunto our English word, to cover, hath such near affinity in the sound that (were it not apparently taken from the French couvrir, and that from the Latin cooperire) it might with some probability be thought to owe its original to the Hebrew. But however it be for the word, the thing is clear enough: this copher doth so cover and plaster up the eyes, that they cannot see to do their office aright, and as they ought.
III. Is Samuels equity, in offering, in case anything should be truly charged against him in any of the premises, to make the wronged parties restitution, (Whose ox have I taken? etc. And I will restore it you.). Samuel was confident he had not wittingly done any man wrong, either by fraud, oppression of bribery; whereby he should be bound to make, or should need to offer restitution. A duty, in case of injury, most necessary, both for quieting the conscience within and to give satisfaction to the world; and for the more assurance of the truth and sincerity of our repentance in the fight of God for the wrongs we have done. Without which (at least in the desire and endeavour) there can be no true repentance for the sin. There is an enforced restitution, whereof perhaps Zophar speaketh in Job_20:1-29. (That which he laboured for, he shall restore, and not swallow it down; according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein); and such as the law imposed upon thefts, and other manifest wrongs; which although not much worth, is yet better than none. But as Samuels offer here was voluntary: so it is the voluntary restitution that best pleaseth God, pacifieth the conscience, and in some measure satisfieth the world. Such was that of Zaccheus (Luk_19:1-48). It may be feared, if every officer that hath to do in or about the Courts of Justice, should be tied to that proportion, many one would have but a very small surplusage remaining, whereout to bestow the one moiety to pious uses, as Zaccheus there did. There is scarce any one point in the whole body of moral divinity, that soundeth so harsh to the ear, or relisheth so harsh in the palate of a worldling, as that of restitution doth. To such a man this is indeed a hard, very hard saying; yet as hard as it seemeth to be, it is full of reason and equity. Whole volumes have been written of this subject; and the casuists are large in their discourses thereof. But for one thing itself in general, this much is clear from the Judicial Law of God, given by Moses to the people of Israel; from the letter whereof, though Christians be free (positive laws binding none but those to whom they were given), yet the equity thereof still bindeth us as a branch of the unchangeable Laws of Nature. That whosoever shall have wronged his neighbour in anything committed to his custody, or in fellowship, or in anything taken away by violence, or by fraud, or in detaining any found thing, or the like, is bound to restore it; and that in integrum, to the utmost farthing of what he hath taken, if he be able. Not so only, but beside the principal, to offer some little overplus also by way of compensation for the damage; if at least the wronged party have sustained any damage thereby, and unless he shall be willing freely to remit it. The Lord give us all hearts to do that which is equal and right, and in all our dealings with others, to have evermore the fear of God before our eyes; knowing that of the Lord, the righteous Judge, we shall in our souls receive at the last great assize according to that we have done in our bodies here, whether it be good or evil. (Bishop Sanderson.)
Lessons from the life of Samuel
I. The public scenes of a noble life. A mans life of outward relationships naturally divides into three parts, but there are not fresh and interesting scenes in each part of every mans life. There were in Samuels. Take
1. Samuels relation to the social life of his childhood. Elis rule was weak. It has been beautifully said that in this case the ivy supported the feeble tottering wall--the child Samuel was the stay of aged Eli. Samuel was the only one there who was in real harmony with Gods holy house. He was a living witness in the world for God, even as a child.
2. Samuels relation to the social life of his manhood. Judges were in part patriotic deliverers and in part civil rulers. In Samuels life there is one great military scene, that with which the word Ebenezer is associated; but his chief work was magistracy and moral influence. In his time the nation was outgrowing the mode of government by temporary and uncertain judgeships; the way was preparing for fixed and hereditary rulers. We may think of him as saying with King Arthur--
The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
3. Samuels relation to the social life of his older age. Then came the demand for a hereditary sovereign. And this demand Samuel had to meet, and the Divine response to it he was called to arrange. The position as viewed by Samuel was this,--If Israel was to be a common nation, developing an ordinary civilisation, it would be better for them to have a king, a court, a stated army, and national alliances. But if Israel was to be a special nation, called of God to the supremely high, honourable, unique work of conserving for the world the foundation truths of the Divine revelation, they must be willing to give up what men call civilisation, and keep the separateness and directness of the Divine rule, the theocracy. Alas! they were weak in faith in those days. They chose the lesser good. Samuel became the prophet of the new kingdom; and prophets--or persons in direct relations with Jehovah--were specially needed when the hereditary idea of kingship was destroying the prevailing idea of immediacy of Divine rule.
II. The private sources of the nobility of this life. We note in Samuel--
1. A pure and beautiful childhood. There have been cases in which men of power have come up out of a wild and wayward childhood--Augustine, Loyola, John Newton, etc. But these are exceptions The rule is, that the worlds great benefactors grew out of a lovely, gracious, and godly childhood.
2. The spirit of self-abnegation.
3. Force of character. Illustrated in his later interviews with Saul; in the severity of his carrying out the Jehovah-judgment on Agag; in the influence he gained with the people; and in the scene at his death.
4. Power of prevailing prayer. He was preeminently an interceder.
5. Continuity of goodness--the usual feature marking the life of men whose conversion is a growth rather than a sudden change. The quietly converted usually have a patient, persistent influence for good, along with breadth of view, and readiness to see truth and goodness in others. Samuels great power lay in this direction. In Samuels case we have this supremely beautiful thing, a whole life for God. (R. Tuck, B. A.)
Retrospsect of public life
There are two great aspects of human character--that which is manifest to the all-seeing eye of God, and that which is seen by men,--both of which are of great importance to every one. It is too common to attend chiefly to the opinion of men, and many who obtain respect from their contemporaries are devoid of the favour of God. But all those who live in the fear of the Most High, seek to maintain a constant character among men. From such motives as these some of the most notable personages of Holy Scripture, ere they laid down their offices, or slept with their fathers, reviewed their whole public career before the people, and challenged accusation if any wrong were manifest. Thus Moses, in the last of his books, gives the retrospect which be spake to the children of Israel, and in which we find this solemn appeal, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Thus also his illustrious successor. Joshua, finished his public life, and left Israel under a solemn obligation to continue in the way wherein he had led them. Thus also St. Paul, when he was about to part with the Ephesian elders, recapitulated his self-denying labours, declared that he was free from the blood of all men, charged them to keep the faith, and received from their tears and affectionate embraces testimony to his zeal for God and his love to them. He had spent his manhood in a struggle to reform the Church and rekindle patriotism. He referred to his sons to show that he claimed no hereditary right to rule, and no indulgence to their guilt. He would not screen them. He was too much concerned for the glory of God and the good of Israel, to permit any personal or relative matter to stand in the way of righteous judgment. No Roman Brutus could feel more self-denial in his patriotism than Samuel in that love for truth and justice which the fear of God imparted to his character. He would not wish respect for him to hide the scandal which his sons had caused. Eli had his family wrecked by neglect of discipline. We are not told that Samuel sinned after the same manner, nor can we suppose it. We have reason to hope that his sons improved under his correction, for we find the next generation among the most godly of their day. Haman, one of the chief singers, and himself the author of some psalms of very deep spiritual experience, was the grandson of Samuel. Samuel was a most notable example, and he was preserved throughout a long period of gross corruption and religious backsliding. Obadiah was another, and the grace of God flourished in his soul, and led to sacrifice for the Lords sake, though he lived in Ahabs godless household and near the wicked Jezebel. Joseph did so, and he was enabled to be faithful amidst temptations to lust, in prison, and in a place of dignity among an idolatrous people. It is good to make an early choice. The course in which it leads you brings no regrets because of your decision. If you would not be afraid of the scrutiny and condemnation of the world, when about to leave it, you must begin and act upon the principle of maintaining a good conscience, and of doing to others as ye would that they should do to you. This was Samuels aim, and hence his spotless reputation. His life is both an example and a rebuke.
1. It is an example. To stand forth and make so successful an appeal must have presented to Saul an illustrious example of personal excellence, and of public probity. He thus saw that it was possible to live in high places, and be a righteous man; to administer the state, and retain integrity; to direct the concerns of millions, and receive their spontaneous and unanimous approval--truths which few governors have ever found. He saw that what had been done by one man might be done again by another. Such a specimen of fidelity could not fail to impress his mind. It taught him what the people would expect, and what he should do. It had been well for Saul had he followed so beautiful and righteous an example. Samuel was also an example to the whole people. If there be anything which can recommend the religion of the Bible, surely a consistent example of its living union with an active and public life ought to do so. This we have in a most striking form before us in Samuel. It declares that godliness never blunts, but sharpens the intellect; never destroys, but regulates studies or business; never hinders, but promotes well-being; never narrows, but expands benevolence. Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that Which is to come.
2. It is a rebuke. (R. Steel.)
Samuels consistency
Samuel knew that he might tell his grief to the God of all comfort. Such acts of prayer are the souls noble confessions of weakness, self-distrust, and self-surrender; but like the turning of the flower to the light, they are its equally noble efforts after strength, fulness of life, and power. In Samuels private, personal prayers there is one fact that is specially noteworthy; and that is their consistence with his public life and duty. For it does not always follow from a man having to pray in public and offer to God the desires of others that he will as certainly, and fully, and reverently pray in private, and turn to God with bin own need and trial. Every man is in danger of professionalism, especially in sacred things; and one form of its occurrence is in the possibility that the intercedings at the bedside of the sick, or in public service, may lead to forgetfulness of private intercourse with God. They are truly blessed souls who, the more frequently they are called to speak to others for God and pray to God for their fellows, are able also to preserve freshness and continuousness of personal life with God in prayer. Such a man was Samuel. The same noble and consistent trust in God, and prayer to God, marks the aged prophet, when, Saul having been chosen and anointed king, and having beaten Nahash the Ammonite, the people assembled at Gilgal for the renewal of the kingdom, as it was called. To Saul and the people renewing the kingdom meant jubilation, shouting, and sword brandishing, as much as anything else. To Samuel it meant the re-affirming of their sinfulness, the re-assertion of Gods supremacy, and the solemn declaration that their new and jubilant king was as much under the law and power of God as the meanest peasant that hung on the skirts of the army. See how Samuel dealt with them.
1. First of all, though rejected by them, he challenged judgment on his own life. And this was in order to show the unfitness, the unfairness of the occasion that they had seized for rejecting the Lord his God. It was well for the Jews in after times to be reminded that if, in Samuels time, there had not been so much fighting and military pageantry as in Davids reign, nor so much taxation and kingly show as in Solomons, nor so much devil worship as in the ceaseless wars and ambition of subsequent kings, yet there had been justice, and judgment, and knowledge, and some little approach to the fear of the Lord. Such rulers and such governments have been rarities and curiosities ever since. But Samuel went farther than challenging judgment on his public life. He offered to restore if anyone had been wronged by him. Most of us are capable of the sentiment of penitence, regret, shame for wrong doing; especially where detected. Many of us say, I will do so no more; but the number fines off into a very small one of those who live to restore to God or man the loss by wrong done or right withheld. Deeper still may be put the probe into our hearts when we think of Pauls farewell to his friends: I have coveted no mans silver, or gold, or apparel. The men who occupy the space in history that Samuel and Paul take up, and of whom such things can be said, are to be remembered more vividly than they have been for such excellencies. Think of the few great honest men of God that have had power over nations, especially those whose names are in this Book; and remember that while none of us can expect to have much success and admiration among men, yet all of us, even the lowliest and the simplest, may be like Samuel and Paul; all of us may be approved of God; all of us may be honest men of God. Think of the men who have occupied public stations with unselfishness and uncovetousness, and honoured it chiefly by integrity and holiness; and let the popular idols fall before your heavenly desire and purpose to be like such men.
2. The next thing that Samuel did was to rehearse the historic goodness of God to them. Though the illustrations of the same truth may not have been so vividly traced in other histories, yet we need to learn and remember that the principles which may be found in Samuels words are of worldwide significance. There may not be chosen people now as Israel was then; though, perhaps, if we knew the purposes of God, we might see as much of calling and election among nations as in the olden time. History, as now slowly working itself towards solemn changes among the nations, witnesses abundantly to faith that, as with ancient Israel, so now, God gives no abiding to iniquity among peoples and communities; but that His wrath abides on those who take hands with the wicked, and identify their welfare with the vile of the earth.
3. When Samuel recounted Gods goodness to the Hebrews it involved him in the reassertion of their wickedness. And this he accompanied with a prayer to God, who in answer sent thunder in the midst of wheat harvest, and terrified the sinful nation. Would that God would thunder now when nations do wrong and rulers sin unchecked! It is not for lack of sin that the heavens are silent; and the earth is blood-stained enough to bring more than thunderous voices from heaven to stay the follies and miseries of reckless men. Perhaps Gods people, it may be Christs Church, is not praying enough; that the eyes of His covenanted ones are not towards Him for these things; that Christian faith and longings are running in shallow selfish grooves, or round little rings of merely local and personal desire, instead of believing and hoping in Him as the God of all nations and families. With deeper necessities and wider knowledge than ancient Israel, we, at least, might take the spirit of Isaiahs word, and say to one another in these days of fear and foreboding, Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He establish the nations, and make all lands a praise in the earth.
4. Samuels answer to this is one of the tenderest things that ever fell from the lips of man. He counselled them to serve the Lord, and promised them his continued prayers. The almost womanlike tenderness of Samuel to the erring people is seen in his answer to their call for his prayers: God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing, to pray for you: I will teach you the good and right way. If he could not judge them, he could pray for them; if he could not rule, he could teach. Yet he did not say this to please and soothe them. It would have been sin against the Lord to do otherwise. A mans Divine work, a prophets vocation, a Christian duty is not altered by the rejection or the petition of men. He is the Lords servant; whether men will bear or forbear, whether men approve or not, his duties and privileges are too solemn for him to take them up or lay them down at the voice of man. Samuel would still teach, though they forgot his word: he would still pray, for it was Gods will. He did not give them up in shame and sadness: he prayed and taught the more. Is not this altogether worthy in him? Is he not to be admired? But do not the like duties press on us? Are there not times in all our lives when we smart from undeserved injury, or fret over unwarranted neglect and despite? If at such times we but silenced our self-conscious complaints, we might hear a voice calling us to as august and noble an act as Samuels. (G. B. Ryley.)
Justice unborn
Israel never had a judge like Hannahs son. Josephus says that Samuel had an inborn love of justice. And so he had. Some men still both in public and in private life have that same love of justice born in them. And they are happy men, and all men are happy who have to do with them. Some other men, again, most men indeed, have an inborn love of injustice that they have to fight against all their days. The golden rule is written as if with natures own finger, on some mens hearts; while other men are never able all their days to learn that rule. Samuel was still The Seer as he sat on the judgment seat; but there was nothing enthusiastic, carried away, or impracticable about Samuel. He was a clear-eyed, firm-handed, sure-footed, resolute-minded, righteous man, with an inborn sense of truth end righteousness; and all his opinions, and decisions, and sentences carried all mens consent and conscience with them. In ancient Rome they used to put on a white robe when they went out to ask for the votes of the voters, and it was for this that they were called candidates in the language of Rome; clean men, that is, in our language. But it was only one famous name here and another famous name there that came out of office as clean as they entered it. Look at Samuel laying down his office, and putting on his snow-white mantle. (A. Whyte, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3–4 Here I am; testify against me before Yahweh and…
Here I am; testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one
By this statement, Samuel is challenging the people to speak up if he has done anything wrong to anyone. AT: "I stand in front of you now. I ask you to speak in front of Yahweh and his anointed king if I have done you any wrong" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken?
Samuel uses rhetorical questions to remind the people that he has never stolen their animals. AT: "I have never stolen a prized animal from anyone." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Whom have I defrauded?
Samuel uses another rhetorical question to say he has always been honest. AT: "I have never cheated or bribed any man." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Testify against me, and I will restore it to you
"If I have done any of these evil things, speak now, and I will pay back what I owe. I will make right any wrong"
translationWords
testimony
Yahweh
anoint
cow
donkey
oppress
hand
restore
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5 12:3 God’s anointed one was Saul (see 9:16). •…
12:3 God’s anointed one was Saul (see 9:16). • Whose ox or donkey: Cp. Num 16:15. • have I stolen? In contrast to the behavior of kings (1 Sam 8:11-16). • Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? No, but Samuel’s sons did (8:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.