Chapter 12:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Ruth 2 Samuel
1 Samuel 12
Samuel clears himself from all imputation of abusing the
power which he now resigns to Saul, ver. 1-5. He reminds them of
the great things God had done, ver. 6-13. He sets before them the
blessing and the curse, ver. 14, 15. He calls upon God for thunder,
ver. 16-19. He encourages and exhorts them, ver. 20-25.
Verse 1. Said - While they were assembled together in Gilgal. And this
is another instance of Samuel's great wisdom and integrity. He
would not reprove the people for their sin, in desiring a king,
whilst Saul was unsettled in his kingdom; lest through their
accustomed levity, they should as hastily cast off their king, as
they had passionately desired him, and therefore he chuseth this
season for it; because Saul's kingdom was now confirmed by an
eminent victory; and because the people rejoiced greatly,
applauded themselves for their desires of a king; and interpreted
the success which God had given them, as a divine approbation of
those desires. Samuel therefore thinks fit to temper their joys, and
to excite them to that repentance which he saw wanting in them,
and which he knew to be necessary, to prevent the curse of God
upon their new king, and the whole kingdom.
Verse 2. Walketh - Ruleth over you. To him I have fully resigned my
power, and own myself one of his subjects. Old - And therefore
unable to bear the burden of government. My sons - Or, among
you, in the same states private persons, as you are; if they have
injured any of you, the law is now open against them; any of you
may accuse them, your king can punish them, I do not intercede
for them. Walked before you - That is, been your guide and
governor; partly, as a prophet; and partly, as a judge.
Verse 3. Behold - I here present myself before the Lord, and before your
king, ready to give an account of all my administrations. And this
protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation;
but for his own just vindication, that the people might not
hereafter for the defense of their own irregularities, reproach his
government, and that being publickly acquitted from all faults in
his government, he might more freely reprove the sins of the
people, and, particularly, that sin of theirs in desiring a king, when
they had so little reason for it.
Verse 7. Righteous acts - Hebrew. the righteousnesses; that is, mercies
or benefits the chief subject of the following discourse; some of
their calamities being but briefly named, and that for the
illustration of God's mercy in their deliverances.
Verse 8. This place - In this land: in which Moses and Aaron are said to
settle them; because they brought them into, and seated them in
part of it, that without Jordan; because they were, under God, the
principal authors of their entering into the land of Canaan;
inasmuch as they brought them out of Egypt, conducted them
through the wilderness; and thereby their prayers to God, and
counsel to them, preserved them from ruin, and gave command
from God for the distribution of the land among them, and
encouraged them to enter into it. And lastly, Moses substituted
Josh. in his stead, and commanded him to seat them there, which
he did.
Verse 9. Forgat - That is, they revolted from him, and carried
themselves, as if they had wholly forgotten his innumerable
favours. This he saith to answer an objection, that the reason why
they desired a king, was, because in the time of the Judges they
were at great uncertainties, and often exercised with sharp
afflictions: to which he answereth by concession that they were
so; but adds, by way of retortion, that they themselves were the
cause of it, by their forgetting God: so that it was not the fault of
that kind of government, but their transgressing the rules of it.
Fought - With success, and subdued them.
Verse 11. Bedan - This was either Samson, as most interpreters believe,
who is called Bedan; that is, in Daniel, or of Daniel, one of that
tribe, to signify that they had no reason to distrust that God, who
could raise so eminent a saviour out of so obscure a tribe: or, Jair
the Gileadite, which may seem best to agree, first, with the time
and order of the Judges; for Jair was before Jephthah, but Samson
was after him. Secondly, with other scriptures: for among the sons
of a more ancient Jair, we meet with one called Bedan, 1 Chron.
vii, 17, which name seems here given to Jair the judge, to
distinguish him from that first Jair. Safe - So that it was no
necessity, but mere wantonness, that made you desire a change.
Verse 12. Your king - That is, when God was your immediate king and
governor, who was both able and willing to deliver you, if you
had cried to him, whereof you and your ancestors have had
plentiful experience; so that you did not at all need any other king;
and your desire of another, was a manifest reproach against God.
Verse 13. Ye have chosen - Though God chose him by lot, yet the
people are said to chuse him; either generally, because they chose
that form of government; or particularly, because they approved
of God's choice, and confirmed it. The Lord - He hath yielded to
your inordinate desire.
Verse 14. Then, &c. - Hebrew. then shall-ye-be, (that is, walk, or go)
after the Lord; that is, God shall still go before you, as he hath
hitherto done, as your leader or governor, to direct, protect, and
deliver you; and he will not forsake you, as you have given him
just cause to do. Sometimes this phrase of going after the Lord,
signifies a man's obedience to God; but here it is otherwise to be
understood, and it notes not a duty to be performed, but a
privilege to be received upon the performance of their duty;
because it is opposed to a threatening denounced in case of
disobedience, in the next verse.
Verse 15. Your fathers - Who lived under the Judges; and you shall have
no advantage by the change of government, nor shall your kings
be able to protect you against God's displeasure. The mistake, if
we think we can evade God's justice, by shaking off his dominion.
If we will not let God rule us, yet he will judge us.
Verse 17. Wheat-harvest - At which time it was a rare thing in those
parts to have thunder or rain; the weather being more constant in
its seasons there, than it is with us. Rain - That you may
understand that God is displeased with you; and also how
foolishly and wickedly you have done in rejecting the government
of that God, at whose command are all things both in heaven and
in earth.
Verse 18. Samuel - Who had such power and favour with God. By this
thunder and rain, God shewed them their folly in desiring a king
to save them, rather than God or Samuel, expecting more from an
arm of flesh than from the arm of God, or from the power of
prayer. Could their king thunder with a voice like God? Could
their prince command such forces as the prophet could by his
prayers? Likewise he intimates, that how serene soever their
condition was now, (like the weather in wheat harvest) yet if God
pleased, he could soon change the face of their heavens, and
persecute them with his storms.
Verse 19. Thy God - Whom thou hast so great an interest in, while we
are ashamed and afraid to call him our God.
Verse 20. Fear not - With a desponding fear, as if there were no hope
left for you.
Verse 21. Turn aside-After idols; as they had often done before; and,
notwithstanding this warning, did afterwards. Vain things - So
idols are called, Deut. xxxii, 21 Jer. ii, 5, and so they are, being
mere nothings, having no power in them; no influence upon us,
nor use or benefit to us.
Verse 22. His name's sake - That is, for his own honour, which would
suffer much among men, if he should not preserve and deliver his
people in eminent dangers. And this reason God alledgeth to take
them off from all conceit of their own merit; and to assure them,
that if they did truly repent of all their sins, and serve God with all
their heart; yet even in that case their salvation would not be due
to their merits; but the effect of God's free mercy. To make - Out
of his own free grace, without any desert of yours, and therefore
he will not forsake you, except you thrust him away.
Verse 24. Only, &c. - Otherwise neither my prayer nor counsels will
stand you in any stead.
Chapter 12:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Ruth 2 Samuel
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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