1 Samuel 12:6

6 Then Samuel told the people: “The witness is indeed the LORD, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 12:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 12:6

And Samuel said unto the people
Having cleared and established his own character, he proceeds to lay before the people some of the great things God had done for them formerly, and quite down to the present time, the more to aggravate their ingratitude in rejecting God as their King:

[it is] the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron;
raised them from a low estate, the one in a foreign country in Midian, the other in bondage in Egypt, to be deliverers, guides, and governors of his people Israel. Kimchi thinks this refers to what goes before, and that the sense is, that God, that raised Moses and Aaron to great honour and dignity, was a witness between him and the people; in which he is followed by some Christian interpreters. Ben Gersom makes mention of the same, but rather approves of the connection of the words with what follows, as does Abarbinel, and is doubtless most correct; the Targum is,

``who hath done mighty things by the hands of Moses and Aaron:''

and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt;
when they were in bondage there, and that by the means of Moses and Aaron, by whose hands he wrought signs and wonders and inflicted plagues on the Egyptians, which made them willing at last to let Israel go.

1 Samuel 12:6 In-Context

4 "You haven't oppressed or mistreated us, and you've never taken anything from anyone," the people answered.
5 Samuel replied, "The LORD and his anointed one are witnesses against you today that you haven't found anything in my possession." "Agreed," they said.
6 Then Samuel told the people: “The witness is indeed the LORD, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.
7 So now stand here, and I will judge you in the LORD's presence because of all the LORD's righteous acts that he has done for you and your ancestors:
8 “When Jacob entered Egypt, the Egyptians oppressed them. So your ancestors cried out to the LORD. The LORD then sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them here.

Footnotes 1

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