1 Samuel 12:3

Contextual Overview

¹Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ¹ Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ¹Then Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and I have appointed a king over you. ¹ Then Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a king over you. ¹ And Samuel sayd vnto al Israel: Beholde, I haue hearkened vnto your voyce in all that ye sayde vnto me, and haue made a king ouer you. ¹ Samuel said to all Israel: "I have done everything you wanted me to do. I have put a king over you. ¹ And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have heard your voice, to all that you said to me, and I made a king to reign over you. ¹ And Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and have made a king over you. ¹ Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. ¹ And Samuel saide vnto all Israel, Beholde, I haue hearkned vnto your voice in all that ye said vnto mee, and haue made a King ouer you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

his anointed: 1 Samuel 12:5, 1 Samuel 10:1, 1 Samuel 24:6, 2 Samuel 1:14-16, Matthew 22:21, Romans 13:1-7

whose ox: Numbers 16:15, Acts 20:33, 2 Corinthians 12:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 1 Thessalonians 2:10, 1 Peter 5:2

bribe: Heb. ransom

blind mine eyes: or, that I should hide mine eyes at him, Exodus 23:8, Deuteronomy 16:19

I will: Exodus 22:4, Leviticus 6:4, Luke 19:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:32 - before Genesis 31:37 - set it here Exodus 18:21 - hating Leviticus 6:5 - restore Leviticus 25:14 - General Numbers 3:51 - Moses Numbers 16:16 - before Deuteronomy 1:17 - ye shall hear Deuteronomy 24:17 - pervert 1 Samuel 2:10 - anointed 1 Samuel 20:1 - What have 1 Samuel 29:8 - But what have 2 Samuel 22:22 - I have kept 2 Kings 10:9 - Ye be righteous Nehemiah 5:11 - Restore Job 6:22 - Bring unto me Job 15:34 - the tabernacles Job 20:19 - Because Job 24:3 - drive Psalms 99:7 - kept Proverbs 11:6 - righteousness Proverbs 17:23 - General Proverbs 22:6 - when Ecclesiastes 7:7 - a gift Isaiah 33:15 - shaketh Lamentations 4:20 - the anointed Ezekiel 18:7 - hath not Hosea 4:18 - her Hosea 12:7 - oppress Micah 2:2 - oppress Micah 3:11 - heads Acts 24:26 - hoped Acts 25:11 - if I 2 Corinthians 7:2 - we have wronged 2 Corinthians 12:18 - in the same steps 1 Thessalonians 2:3 - General 1 Thessalonians 4:6 - defraud

Cross-References

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Genesis 18:18
since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Genesis 18:18
since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Genesis 18:18
Seyng that Abraham shall surely be a great and a myghtie nation, and all the nations of the earth shalbe blessed in hym?

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed because of him.

Genesis 18:18
seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?

Genesis 18:18
sithen he schal be in to a greet folk and moost strong, and alle naciouns of erthe schulen be blessid in hym?

Genesis 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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:

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 Deuteronomy 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 אשיב לכם "respondebo vobis", Munster.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

His anointed - i. e., king Saul. The title Messiah, Χριστὸς Christos, unctus, or anointed, had been given to the High Priests (Leviticus 4:3 : compare also 1 Samuel 2:10, 1 Samuel 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 Exodus 21:30, applied to the bribe paid to an unjust judge to induce him to acquit the guilty. (Compare Amos 5:12.)

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 12:3. 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.