1 Samuel 12:6

6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who ^[a] appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of 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 have not cheated us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”

5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.

6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

7 Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.

8 When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; LXX The LORD is the witness who