1 Samuel 12:3

1 Samuel 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.

Verses 3, 4, 5. - Witness against me. Literally, "answer," as in a court of justice to the formal question of the judge. His anointed. I.e. the king (see on 1 Samuel 2:10, 35; 2:1). Whose ox,... whose ass? See on 1 Samuel 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 from 1 Samuel 22:2 that though Saul proved a competent leader in war, he was not successful in the government of the country in peace. 1 Samuel 12:3

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 1 Samuel 10:1 , note) is here for the first time actually applied to the King, though it had been employed before in prophecy (ch. 1 Samuel 2:10 ; 1 Samuel 2:35 ). Its use certainly gains point if we may follow the Sept. in 1 Samuel 11:15 (see note), and suppose that the ceremony of anointing had just been performed in the presence of all the people. whose ox … whose ass ] The most valuable property of a pastoral and agricultural people, hence named expressly in the Tenth Commandment ( Exodus 20:17 ). Cp. Numbers 16:15 . any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ] Cp. Exodus 23:8 ; Deuteronomy 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 Amos 2:6 ; Amos 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.

Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: {c} 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. (c) God would have this confession be a pattern for all who have any charge or office.

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.

(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.” 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 Exodus 20:17 especially makes mention of the ox and the ass as things the Israelite was forbidden to covet.

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, 1 Samuel 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? 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.