1 Samuel 12:1-5

Samuel’s self-vindication 12:1-5

Why did Samuel feel the need to justify his behavior publicly? Perhaps he knew that because the people had rebelled against God by demanding a king, they would experience discipline from the Lord. When it came, he did not want anyone to think he was responsible for it. Also, it is likely that Samuel took the people’s request for a king as a personal rejection of himself. [Note: Wood, Israel’s United . . ., p. 70.] He probably wanted to show the people that they had no reason to reject him because of his behavior. Samuel’s words may seem to expose personal pride. I think more probably they express his concern that no one should conclude that living a life of commitment to God, as he had lived, would bring God’s discipline. The discipline to come would be a result of the sin of the people, not Samuel’s. Furthermore, by his life and ministry among them, Samuel had given the people no reason for demanding a king. He was also seeking to vindicate the type of rule he represented that was God’s will for Israel then.

"Here, as in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, a keyword is the verb take: if kingship was to be characterized by the tendency to take rather than to give, it was otherwise with the prophet. As he stepped down from high office, Samuel’s hands were empty (1 Samuel 12:5)." [Note: David Payne, pp. 57-58.]