1 Samuel 12:5

5 Er sprach zu ihnen: Der HERR sei Zeuge wider euch und sein Gesalbter heutigestages, daß ihr nichts in meiner Hand gefunden habt. Sie sprachen: Ja, Zeugen sollen sie sein.

1 Samuel 12:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 12:5

And he said unto them, the Lord is witness against you, and his
anointed is witness this day
Should they hereafter reproach and vilify him, and charge him with any acts of corruption, injustice, and violence:

that ye have not found ought in my hand;
that they had nothing to accuse him of and charge him with throughout his whole administration, but had asserted his innocence and integrity, had honourably acquitted him, and given him a fair character: and they answered, he is witness; the omniscient God is a witness against us, should we depart from this testimony, and Saul, the Lord's anointed, is a witness that we have fully cleared thee from any imputations of maladministration. The word is singular, he "said" or answered ^F7, that is, Israel said, the whole body of the people, they all replied as one man: the reason why Samuel made such a speech at this time, when he resigned his government to Saul, was not only to secure his own character, but to suggest to Saul how he should rule and govern according to his example; and that having established his own character, he could the more freely, and with the better grace, reprove the people for their sin, as in some following verses.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (rmayw) "et dixit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; Drusius.

1 Samuel 12:5 In-Context

3 Siehe, hier bin ich; antwortet wider mich vor dem HERRN und seinem Gesalbten, ob ich jemandes Ochsen oder Esel genommen habe? ob ich jemand habe Gewalt oder Unrecht getan? ob ich von jemandes Hand ein Geschenk genommen habe und mir die Augen blenden lassen? so will ich's euch wiedergeben. {~}

4 Sie sprachen: Du hast uns keine Gewalt noch Unrecht getan und von niemandes Hand etwas genommen.

5 Er sprach zu ihnen: Der HERR sei Zeuge wider euch und sein Gesalbter heutigestages, daß ihr nichts in meiner Hand gefunden habt. Sie sprachen: Ja, Zeugen sollen sie sein.

6 Und Samuel sprach zum Volk: Ja, der HERR, der Mose und Aaron gemacht hat und eure Väter aus Ägyptenland geführt hat.

7 So tretet nun her, daß ich mit euch rechte vor dem HERRN über alle Wohltat des HERRN, die er an euch und euren Vätern getan hat.