1 Samuel 12:5
 1 Samuel 12:5 
New International Version (©2011)
Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." "He is witness," they said.

New Living Translation (©2007)
"The LORD and his anointed one are my witnesses today," Samuel declared, "that my hands are clean." "Yes, he is a witness," they replied.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand." And they said, "He is witness."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
He said to them, "The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today that you haven't found anything in my hand." "He is a witness," they said.

International Standard Version (©2012)
He told them, "Today the LORD is testifying, along with his anointed, that you haven't found any bribes in my possession." They said, "He's a witness."

NET Bible (©2006)
He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and his chosen king is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me." They said, "He is witness!"

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Samuel told them, "The LORD is a witness to what you've said, and his anointed king is a witness today that you've found nothing in my hands." "He is a witness," they answered.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

American King James Version
And he said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

American Standard Version
And he said unto them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.

Darby Bible Translation
And he said to them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand! And the people said, He is witness!

English Revised Version
And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

World English Bible
He said to them, "Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." They said, "He is witness."

Young's Literal Translation
And he saith unto them, 'A witness is Jehovah against you: and a witness is His anointed this day, that ye have not found anything in my hand;' and they say, 'A witness.'

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-5 Samuel not only cleared his own character, but set an example before Saul, while he showed the people their ingratitude to God and to himself. There is a just debt which all men to their own good name, especially men in public stations, which is, to guard it against unjust blame and suspicions, that they may finish their course with honour, as well as with joy. And that we have in our places lived honestly, will be our comfort, under any slights and contempt that may be put upon us.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he said unto them, the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day,.... Should they hereafter reproach and vilify him, and charge him with any acts of corruption, injustice, and violence:

that ye have not found ought in my hand; that they had nothing to accuse him of and charge him with throughout his whole administration, but had asserted his innocence and integrity, had honourably acquitted him, and given him a fair character: and they answered, he is witness; the omniscient God is a witness against us, should we depart from this testimony, and Saul, the Lord's anointed, is a witness that we have fully cleared thee from any imputations of maladministration. The word is singular, he "said" or answered (g), that is, Israel said, the whole body of the people, they all replied as one man: the reason why Samuel made such a speech at this time, when he resigned his government to Saul, was not only to secure his own character, but to suggest to Saul how he should rule and govern according to his example; and that having established his own character, he could the more freely, and with the better grace, reprove the people for their sin, as in some following verses.

(g) "et dixit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; Drusius.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness—that, by their own acknowledgment, he had given them no cause to weary of the divine government by judges, and that, therefore, the blame of desiring a change of government rested with themselves. This was only insinuated, and they did not fully perceive his drift.


1 Samuel 12:5 Parallel Commentaries

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Samuel's Farewell Address
4And they said, You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken ought of any man's hand. 5And he said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. 6And Samuel said to the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. …

Acts 23:9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
Acts 24:20 Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin--
Exodus 22:4 If the stolen animal is found alive in their possession--whether ox or donkey or sheep--they must pay back double.
1 Samuel 12:4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."