1 Samuel 12:6

6 “It was the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron,” Samuel continued. “He brought your ancestors 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 “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.
7 Now stand here quietly before the LORD as I remind you of all the great things the LORD has done for you and your ancestors.
8 “When the Israelites were in Egypt and cried out to the LORD, he sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them from Egypt and to bring them into this land.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.