1 Samuel 12:15

15 But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers. ^[a]

1 Samuel 12:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 12:15

But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel
against the commandment of the Lord
They and their king, by sinning, disregarding his precepts, both affirmative and negative:

then shall the hand of the Lord be against you;
by sending some judgments upon them, as famine, sword, or pestilence, particularly captivity and subjection to their enemies:

as it was against your fathers;
who had no king; and it is suggested that their case, who had one, would be no better than theirs; their king would not be able to save them from the hand of God: the words in the original are, "and against your fathers" ^F13; which is interpreted in the Talmud ^F14 of their fathers dead, and in their graves, and of their enemies digging them up, and taking them out in contempt; but much better, by Kimchi, of their kings, who are, or should be, fathers of their subjects, as Augustus Caesar was called the father of his; and so the Septuagint version renders it, "and upon their king"; signifying that both they and their king should feel the weight of the hand of the Lord, if they rebelled against him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Mkytbabw) "et contra patres vestros", Pagninus, Tigurine version.
F14 T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 63. 2.

1 Samuel 12:15 In-Context

13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.

14 If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well.

15 But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.

16 Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.

17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.”

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; LXX against your king