1 Samuel 12:4

4 “No,” they replied, “you have never cheated or oppressed us, and you have never taken even a single bribe.”

1 Samuel 12:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 12:4

And they said
One in the name of the rest, or they all cried out as one man:

thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us;
had done them no wrong, neither privately nor publicly, by fraud or by force:

neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand;
as a gift, present, or bribe, to fit your his cause. Some would infer hence that be took nothing of them for his support and maintenance, and that he lived upon his own substance; but that is not likely or reasonable; it was but just that they should support him and his family suitably to his character as a judge, whose whole life was spent in their service.

1 Samuel 12:4 In-Context

2 Your king is now your leader. I stand here before you—an old, gray-haired man—and my sons serve you. I have served as your leader from the time I was a boy to this very day.

3 Now testify against me in the presence of the LORD and before his anointed one. Whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong.”

4 “No,” they replied, “you have never cheated or oppressed us, and you have never taken even a single bribe.”

5 “The LORD and his anointed one are my witnesses today,” Samuel declared, “that my hands are clean.” “Yes, he is a witness,” they replied.

6 “It was the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron,” Samuel continued. “He brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt.