1 Samuel 12:9

1Sa 12:9 And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

Ver. 9. And when they forgat the Lord.] As their wont was: and hence grew all their other wickednesses. See Rom 3:17-18.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa_12:9-15

And when they forgot the Lord their God he sold them into the hand of Sisera.

National judgments the consequence of national sins

Let us learn from this transaction the important lesson, that national judgments are the certain consequences of national transgression! A lesson, taught not merely in this particular passage of Jewish history, but written in characters the most legible upon every period of their national career--a truth, for the confirmation of which we need not search the annals of other countries; we have merely to look back to the past experience of our own. Yes, whatever be the instrument to which the Almighty may see fit to entrust the execution of His vengeance; whether it be the sword, or the famine, or the pestilence, or the far more terrible scourge of popular fury and civil discord; whether He raise up a tyrant to oppress His people, and grievously afflict them with a rod of iron; whatever may be the means employed to inflict the chastisement, the occasion of that chastisement is sin. The same spirit is at work among us,--the self-willed spirit of insubordination,--the spirit of opposition to all constituted authority--of dissatisfaction with all long established institutions. The same principles are broached among us; principles which, if carried out to their legitimate conclusions, must lead inevitably to the same miserable results. Now, as in those days, the majesty of the people is held to be the only true source of power; the will of the multitude is substituted for the authority of God! Surely, when we see these things come to pass, there can be nothing very unreasonable in the fear that trouble may be hard at hand; that the day of calamity may be nearer than we are willing to believe? Should the Almighty deal with us after our sins, and reward us according to our iniquities, (Psa_103:10), the issue may be easily foreseen. Did the transgression of our fathers draw down upon them the calamities which we this day deplore, and are we better than they? No! in nowise. Our privileges, indeed, are greater--our deliverances have been greater--our responsibilities are greater--let us beware lest our condemnation, also, be greater. (W. Brickwell.)

Unheeding warnings prepare for judgment

Things to which, says Manton, we are used do not work upon us; we are not much moved with them. Custom maketh men sleep quietly by the falls of great waters, where much noise is; and some parts of the body grow callous, brawny, dry, and dead, as the labourers hand, and the travellers heel, by much use. So doth the conscience gradually lose its force. At first, like a cataract, its great roar astounds the soul, and effectually prevents its slumbers of carnal security; but by-and-by its noise is scarcely heard, and men are even lulled to sleep by its sound. Now this is to be dreaded exceedingly, for it is the forerunner of doom. No more warnings are heard because sentence has gone forth and the mans destruction is sealed.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 12:9. They forgat the Lord — That is, they revolted from him, and carried themselves as if they had wholly forgotten his innumerable favours. This he says 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, 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:9 handed them over: See Judg 3:8; 4:1-3. • the king of Moab: See Judg 3:12. Not all of Israel’s enemies in the era of the judges are listed (e.g., the Ammonites and Midianites). This list is representative to emphasize the highs and lows of that era.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Captain of Jabin’s host, King of Hazor.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 9. The hand of Sisera] See these transactions in the book of Judges, as marked in the margin; and see the notes on those passages. Jdg 4:2 (note)

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) And when they forgot the Lord their God.—The idolatry of Israel, and the immorality and shame less wickedness which ever attended it, was simply an act of rebellion against the pure government of the invisible King, and was punished by the withdrawal of the Divine protection. The instances which are here adduced of the people being given up into the hands of strange hostile nations are prominent ones, quoted as they occurred to him, without any careful attention being paid to the order of events and times, which was here not necessary for the course of his argument. Three leading nations out of the neighbouring peoples are mentioned by him as having been allowed, in consequence of Israel’s rebellion against the Eternal, to oppress and harass, for a season, the tribes of God’s inheritance—the Canaanites, the Philistines, and the Moabites.

Captain of the host of Hazor.—Hazor is mentioned as the capital city of the Canaanites in Jos_11:1; Jos_11:10; Jos_11:13, &c., and again as a royal residence in Jdg_4:2. Sisera is specially named as the well-known commander of the army against which Israel fought, and as the victim of the sanguinary but patriotic deed of fury of Jael.

Into the hand of the Philistines.—These “Phœnicians,” who literally dwelt among the Israelites, were most formidable foes to the chosen people for a long series of years. We have before compared their many strongholds and fastnesses to those robber nests which in the stormy middle ages disturbed the peace, and were the scourge of the commerce and trade, of Central Europe. It was owing especially to these Philistines that for so long a period such slow progress in wealth and the arts of civilisation was made in Israel. The advance of the Hebrew nation, from the days of Samuel, who first really checked these Philistine robbers, was singularly rapid. In an almost incredibly short period, from being a poor, half-barbarous people, the Israelites became a highly cultured, wealthy, and powerful nation. In great measure this strangely rapid progress was owing to the complete subjugation of the Philistines under the rule of Samuel, Saul, and David.

The king of Moab.—The king referred to here is Eglon, who was slain by Ehud. (See Judges 3)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. he sold them] God’s abandonment of His people to their enemies is described under the figure of sale, just as the deliverance of them is called redemption or buying back. Cp. Jdg_2:14; Jdg_3:8; Psa_44:12.

The three chief oppressors of Israel during the period of the Judges are mentioned. (1) The Canaanites, who were led by Sisera, general of the army of King Jabin. Their chief city was Hazor (= stronghold) situated on the high ground west of the Lake of Merom, where Jebel Hadîreh perhaps still preserves the name. This oppression lasted for 20 years. See Jdg_4:5. (2) The Philistines. See Jdg_3:31; Jdg_10:7; Jdg_13:1, and Note IV. p. 238. (3) The Moabites under Eglon. See Jdg_3:12-30.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when they forgat the Lord their God,.... The worship of the Lord their God, as the Targum; that is, they fell into idolatry, which is a plain instance and proof of forgetfulness of God; for such that neglect his worship, and serve idols, may be truly said to forget him:

he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor; who was general of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, Jdg 4:2, where they are said to be sold into the hands of Jabin, here into the hands of Sisera; because it is highly probable he was sent against them by Jabin, and subdued them, as he afterwards was sent by him, when they rebelled against him, and were delivered out of his hand:

and into the hand of the Philistines: as they were in and before the times of Samson, Jdg 13:1.

and into the hand of the king of Moab; as in the times of Ehud, Jdg 3:14, the exact order of these things is not observed:

and they fought against them; the king of Moab, Sisera, and the Philistines, and overcame them, and so they fell into their hands.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

According to the present arrangement of the Book of Judges, and the common chronology, the oppression of Sisera must have occurred about 200 years after the entrance into Canaan. But Samuel here places it as the first great servitude, before that under Eglon king of Moab, or that from which Shamgar delivered them. And this is in accordance with the internal evidence of the Book of Judges itself. It is also the order of Jdg 10:11, except that there the Ammonites Jdg 3:13 are placed before the Philistines.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hasor. See Judges iv. 1. --- Moab. Jephte delivered the people from the hands of the Ammonites, who claimed all that country, Judges xi. 15. Eglon had been slain by Aod, before the Chanaanites enslaved Israel. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They forgat the Lord, i.e. they revolted from him, as it is explained, 1Sa 12:10, and carried themselves as ungratefully and unworthily towards God, as if they had wholly forgotten his great and innumerable favours, and their infinite obligations to him.

Forgetting of God is oft put for all manner of wickedness, whereof indeed that is the true cause. See Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Eze 22:12. This he saith, partly to answer all objection, That the reason why they desired a king was, because in the time of the judges they were at great uncertainties, and ofttimes 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 of God; so that it was not the fault of that kind of government, but their transgressing the rules of it; and partly to mind them that this their ungrateful carriage towards God was no new or strange thing, but an hereditary and inveterate disease, that so they might more easily believe their own guilt herein, and be more deeply humbled, both for their own and for their parents’ sins.

They fought against them, to wit, with success, and subdued them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

When they forgat Jehovah their God. The theocracy, as we have seen, (1Sa_10:18) was a moral government, under which idolatry and the immorality attendant upon it, as being rebellion, were punished by Jehovah"s withdrawing his protection, and the consequent subjection of the nation to foreign rule. It was the repeated sin, therefore, of the people which made Israel"s history so checquered. Sisera, (Jud_1:4:2) the Philistines (Jdg_3:31), and Eaton, king of, (Jud_1:3:12) are mentioned as three of the earlier oppressors of Israel, but are given here in the reverse order to that found in the Book of Judges.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.