1 Samuele 12:5

5 Ed egli a loro: "Oggi l’Eterno è testimone contro di voi, e il suo unto pure e testimone, che voi non avete trovato nulla nelle mie mani". Il popolo rispose: "Egli e testimone!"

1 Samuele 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 Samuele 12:5 In-Context

3 Eccomi qui; rendete la vostra testimonianza a mio carico, in presenza dell’Eterno e in presenza del suo unto: A chi ho preso il bue? A chi ho preso l’asino? Chi ho defraudato? A chi ho fatto violenza? Dalle mani di chi ho accettato doni per chiuder gli occhi a suo riguardo? Io vi restituirò ogni cosa!"

4 Quelli risposero: "Tu non ci hai defraudati, non ci hai fatto violenza, e non hai preso nulla dalle mani di chicchessia"

5 Ed egli a loro: "Oggi l’Eterno è testimone contro di voi, e il suo unto pure e testimone, che voi non avete trovato nulla nelle mie mani". Il popolo rispose: "Egli e testimone!"

6 Allora Samuele disse al popolo: "Testimone è l’Eterno, che costituì Mosè ed Aaronne e fe’ salire i padri vostri dal paese d’Egitto.

7 Or dunque presentatevi, ond’io, dinanzi all’Eterno, dibatta con voi la causa relativa a tutte le opere di giustizia che l’Eterno ha compiute a beneficio vostro e dei vostri padri.