2<\/strong>. the king walketh before you<\/em> ] Goes in and out in your presence in the exercise of his regal authority.<\/p>\n and I am old and gray-headed; and, behold my sons are with you<\/em> ] Samuel refers to the two reasons alleged by the elders in ch. 1Sa 8:5<\/span> for asking a king, ( a<\/em>) his own age, ( b<\/em>) the misgovernment of his sons. He mentions the first expressly, but with the natural reluctance of a father to dwell upon his sons’ misconduct, only hints at the second. The Hebrew conjunction “and” here as often introduces the reason, and may be translated by “for” or “seeing that.”<\/p>\n from my childhood<\/em> ] “From my youth,” as the word is rendered everywhere else in the E. V. Samuel’s public life may be said to have commenced when God first spoke to him in Shiloh (1Sa 3:11<\/span>), so that they had had full opportunity of knowing him from the first.<\/p>\n My sons are with you – <\/B>Possibly, however, a tinge of mortified feeling at the rejection of himself and his family, mixed with a desire to recommend his sons to the favor and goodwill of the nation, is at the bottom of this mention of them.<\/P><\/p>\n 1Sa 12:2<\/span><\/p>\n I am now old and grey-headed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n A good old age<\/strong><\/p>\n A good old age has been cynically defined as an age at which a man is good for nothing; but it is our own fault if we are good for nothing in old age. The old can help the rising generation by sympathy and advice, and do much to prevent them from rising in the wrong direction. (Quiver.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Age in the service of God<\/strong><\/p>\n The late Mr. George Muller, of Bristol, sent this testimony as a message to Christian Endeavourers: The joy of serving God increases with the multiplying years. I have never had more delight in the work of the Master than now, at the end of more than threescore years and ten. The richest blessings will be discovered in the path of service.<\/p>\n Beautiful old age<\/strong><\/p>\n How beautiful it is to see a man, below whose feet time is crumbling away, holding firmly by the Lord whom he has loved and served all his days, and finding that the pillar of cloud, which guided him while he lived, begins to glow in its heart of fire as the shadows fall, and is a pillar of light to guide him when he comes to die. (A. Maclaren, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A peaceful retrospect<\/strong><\/p>\n The only life that bears being looked back upon is a life of Christian devotion and effort. It shows fairer when seen in the strange cross lights that come when we stand on the boundary of two worlds–with the white radiance of eternity beginning to master the vulgar oil lamps of earth–than when seen by these alone. (A. Maclaren, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. My sons<\/B><\/I> are <\/B>with you<\/B><\/I>] It is generally agreed that these words intimate that Samuel had deprived them of their public employ, and reduced them to a level with the common people.<\/P> <\/P> Have walked before you from my childhood<\/B><\/I>] He had been a long, steady, and immaculate servant of the public.<\/P> <\/p>\n Walketh before you; <\/B>goeth out and cometh in before you, i.e. ruleth over you, as that phrase signifies, Num 27:17<\/span>; Deu 31:2<\/span>; 2Ch 1:10<\/span>. To him I have fully resigned all my power and authority, and do hereby renounce it, and own myself for a private person, and one of his subjects. <\/P> I am old and gray-headed; <\/B>and therefore unable to bear the burden of government, and feel myself greatly at ease to see it cast upon other shoulders; and therefore do not speak what I am about to say from envy of Sauls advancement, or from discontent at the diminution of my own power. <\/P> My sons are with you, <\/B>or among you, in the same stake and place, private persons, as you are; if they have injured any of you in their government, as you once complained, the law is now open against them; any of you may accuse them, your king can punish them; I do not intercede for them, I have neither power nor will to keep them from receiving the just fruits of their misdemeanours. <\/P> I have walked before you, <\/B>i.e. been your guide and governor, partly as a prophet, and partly as a judge. <\/P> <\/p>\n And now, behold, the king walketh before you<\/strong>,…. He invested with his office, and in the exercise of it, and goes in and out as the captain, commander, and leader of the people; it is expressive of his being in the full possession of regal power and authority, and therefore Samuel might speak the more freely, as he could not be thought to have any hope and expectation of being reinstated in his government, or to have parted with it with any regret; and he wisely took this opportunity of reproving the people for their sin of desiring a king, when Saul was settled and established in his kingdom, and when they were in the midst of all their mirth and jollity, who might, from the success that had attended this first adventure of their king, conclude that they had done a right and good thing in requesting to have one:<\/p>\n and I am old, and grey headed<\/strong>; and so unfit for government, and very willing to be eased of the burden of it: he must surely be more than fifty two years of age, as the Jews generally say he was, since it is not usual at such an age to be grey headed, [See comments on 1Sa 8:1]<\/span>; however, on this account he merited reverence and respect, and demanded attention:<\/p>\n and, behold, my sons are with you<\/strong>; as private persons in the condition of subjects, making no pretension to government; and if they had committed anything criminal, they were open to the law, and might be charged, and tried, and treated according to their deserts; and there they were, and might be asked what questions they thought proper with respect to what they knew of his conduct; and to be hostages or bail for him, if they could prove anything against him; or to be taken to make satisfaction for any injuries committed by him:<\/p>\n and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day<\/strong>; his manner of and conversation from his infancy to this time was well known to them, and he had spent all his days in the service of God, and for the good of Israel.<\/p>\n (2) And now, behold, the king walketh before you.<\/strong>No doubt, here pointing to Saul by his side. The term walketh before you implied generally that the kingly office included the guiding and governing the people, as well as the especial duty of leading them in war; from henceforth they must accept his authority on all occasions, not merely in great emergencies. Both king and people must understand that the days when Saul could quietly betake himself to his old pursuits on the farm of the Ephraim hills were now past for ever. He must lead, and they must follow. The metaphor is taken from the usual place of a shepherd in the East, where he goes before his flock. Compare the words of our Lord, who uses the same image of a shepherd walking before his sheep (Joh. 10:27<\/span>): My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow <\/em>me.<\/p>\n And I am old and grayheaded.<\/strong>Here the prophet, with some pathos, refers to the elders own words at Ramah (chap 8:5). Yes, said the seer, I am oldgrown grey in your service; listen to me while I ask you what manner of service that has been. Can any one find in it a flaw? has it not been pure and disinterested throughout?<\/p>\n My sons are with you.<\/strong>Yes, old indeed, for my offspring are numbered now among the grown men of the people. Possibly, however, a tinge of mortified feeling at the rejection of himself and his family, mixed with a desire to recommend his sons to the favour and goodwill of the nation, is at the bottom of this mention of them.Speakers Commentary. <\/em>It is evident that these sons, whose conduct as Samuels deputies had excited the severest criticism on the part of the elders (1Sa. 8:5<\/span>), had been reducedwith the full consent, of course, of their father, who up to this period exercised evidently supreme power in all the coasts of Israelto the condition of mere private citizens.<\/p>\n From my childhood unto this day.<\/strong>Samuels life had in truth been constantly before the public observation from very early days; well known to all were the details of his careerhis early consecration under peculiar and exceptional circumstances to the sanctuary service, the fact of the word of the Lord coming directly to him when still a boy, his recognition by the people directly afterwards as a prophet, then his restless, unwearied work during the dark days which followed the fall of Shiloh. It was indeed a public life. He would have Israel, now they had virtually rejected his rule, think over that long busy life of his for a moment, and then pronounce a judgment on it.<\/p>\n 1Sa 12:2<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Behold, the king walketh before you<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> When Samuel says, and my sons are with you, <\/em>he seems to mean that the sons of whom they complained are now in their hands, deprived of their public station, reduced to the rank of subjects to the king, like the rest of the people, and punishable before his tribunal, according to their deserts. See Wall’s note on the place. This fine apology which Samuel makes for himself puts one in mind of St. Paul’s upon the like occasion. See Act 20:33<\/span>. <\/p>\n 1Sa 12:2 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 childhood unto this day.<\/p>\n Ver. 2. And now, behold, the king walketh before you.<\/strong> ] Graditur ante vos: gressu, sc., grallatorio,<\/em> with a pace and state befitting a king: with care and charge also, to be unto you a shepherd and a shield. See Num 27:17<\/span> . For which purpose, Samuel, as he here resigneth his power to him, so he propoundeth himself for a pattern to him in the ensuing apology. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And I am old and gray headed.<\/strong> ] About sixty, as it is conceived, and much decayed in nature by his incessant pains in his office: Cura facit canos.<\/em> What marvel that he who was so old-a-young-man should not be a young-old man? a<\/em> Some Rabbis think that Samuel was but fifty and two when he died, but then he must have been gray headed at thirty-four, which is not likely, since he lived eighteen years after Saul was king, as Josephus holdeth. b<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And, behold, my sons are with you.<\/strong> ] Conditione privata,<\/em> as private persons, so that you may question them, and deal by them as they deserve. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And I have walked before you.<\/strong> ] In all integrity and good conscience, not only “harmless and blameless, as the son of God, without rebuke,” Php 2:15 but useful and serviceable in my place and station; trading all my talents for the common good of you all. Samuelis sane nomen (ut de Socrate, Plinius) c<\/em> non hominis, sed integritatis et sapientiae nomen. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n a<\/em> . <\/p>\n b<\/em> Lib. vi., in fine.<\/em> <\/p>\n c<\/em> Lib. vii. cap. 31,34.<\/p>\n walketh: 1Sa 8:20, Num 27:17 <\/p>\n I am old: 1Sa 8:1, 1Sa 8:5, Psa 71:18, Isa 46:3, Isa 46:4, 2Ti 4:6, 2Pe 1:14 <\/p>\n my sons: 1Sa 2:22, 1Sa 2:29, 1Sa 3:13, 1Sa 3:16, 1Sa 8:3 <\/p>\n I have walked: 1Sa 3:19, 1Sa 3:20 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:47 – Ammon Job 23:11 – My foot Psa 26:11 – I will Pro 16:31 – if Pro 22:6 – when Isa 1:26 – And I will<\/p>\n 1Sa 12:2. The king walketh before you Ruleth over you. To him I have fully resigned my power, and own myself one of his subjects. I am old And therefore unable to bear the burden of government. My sons are with you Or, among you, in the same state, 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.<\/p>\n 12:2 And now, behold, the king walketh {b} before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons [are] with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.<\/p>\n (b) To govern you in peace and war.<\/p>\n 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 childhood unto this day. 2. the king walketh before you ] Goes in and out in your presence in the exercise of his regal authority. and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 12:2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"