2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day.
and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Jehovah be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah.
Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting.
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in `my' habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I.
Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, Until I have declared thy strength unto `the next' generation, Thy might to every one that is to come.
Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne `by me' from their birth, that have been carried from the womb; and even to old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry `you'; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 12
Commentary on 1 Samuel 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
We left the general assembly of the states together, in the close of the foregoing chapter; in this chapter we have Samuel's speech to them, when he resigned the government into the hands of Saul, in which,
1Sa 12:1-5
Here,
1Sa 12:6-15
Samuel, having sufficiently secured his own reputation, instead of upbraiding the people upon it with their unkindness to him, sets himself to instruct them, and keep them in the way of their duty, and then the change of the government would be the less damage to them.
1Sa 12:16-25
Two things Samuel here aims at:-