1 Samuel 12:4

4 They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand."

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 "Now, here is the king walking before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day.

3 "Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you."

4 They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand."

5 He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand." And they said, "He is witness."

6 Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.