properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people
עַמּ֔וֹa.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
great
הַגָּד֑וֹלha.ga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
name’s
שְׁמ֣וֹshe.Mo
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
pleased
הוֹאִ֣ילho.'Il
H2974
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
make
לַעֲשׂ֥וֹתla.'a.Sot
H6213
to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
people
לְעָֽםle.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations…
1 Kings 6:13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
Psalms 106:8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people…
Jeremiah 14:21 Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
Joshua 7:9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: an…
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 12:16–end
Two things Samuel here aims at: -
I. To convince the people of their sin in desiring a king. They were now rejoicing before God in and with their king (Sa1 11:15), and offering to God the sacrifices of praise, which they hoped God would accept; and this perhaps made them think that there was no harm in their asking a king, but really they had done well in it. Therefore Samuel here charges it upon them as their sin, as wickedness, great wickedness in the sight of the Lord. Note, Though we meet with prosperity and success in a way of sin, yet we must not therefore think the more favourably of it. They have a king, and if they conduct themselves well their king may be a very great blessing to…
HE TERRIFIES THEM WITH THUNDER IN HARVEST-TIME. (Sa1 12:17-25)
Is it not wheat harvest to-day?--That season in Palestine occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom or never rains, and the sky is serene and cloudless. There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any prognostics of its approach, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an attestation of his words being true. The people regarded it as a miraculous display of divine power, and, panic-struck, implored the prophet to pray for them. Promising to do…
The Lord will not forsake his people - He will not as yet cast you off, though you have deserved it. His purpose in preserving them in their land and religion was not yet accomplished. It was not however for their sake that he would not cast them off, but for his own great name's sake. He drew his reasons from himself.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 12:22
For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake. For the sake of himself, his honour and glory; should he forsake his people, and suffer them to come to ruin, his name would be blasphemed among the Heathens; he would be charged either with want of power to help them, or with want of faithfulness to his promise to them, and with inconstancy to himself, or want of kindness and affection for them; all which would reflect upon his honour and glory:
because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people; it was not owing to any worth or worthiness in them that they became his people, but to his own sovereign good will and pleasure; and therefore, as it was nothing in them tha…
The Church Fathers
But the fruit by which vain things are despised is suggested when it is added: "And the Lord will not forsake his people for the sake of his great name, because the Lord has sworn to make them a people for himself." 14. These vain things inflict a great evil upon those who turn aside after them: because while they pursue earthly things in a disordered way, they are abandoned by the supreme and omnipotent God to endure future torments. Therefore, to those who are forbidden to turn aside after vain things, the prophet rightly makes a promise, saying: "The Lord will not forsake His people for the sake of His great name." Because those who despise vain things for the love of Him are rescued from true evils, and by faith in the promise they receive the reward of an eternal inheritance. Indeed, the Lord makes them His people whom He raises up to the joys of eternal blessedness. For there, with the glory of His majesty revealed, He presides over those whom in the world He holds, taken up from the love of vanity by His hidden grace. To swear to the Lord is to make a promise and to make Him one's people; the Lord swears to the one who does not turn aside after vain things: because earthly things must be despised so that we may deserve to obtain the goods of an eternal inheritance. Yet let no one believe that he can be brought to those things by his own merits; because here it is strictly expressed: "For the sake of His great name." For it is not by our goodness, but by God's, that an earthly man enjoys heavenly goods. For it is the gift of God, not from ourselves.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Predestination — This word is properly used only with reference to God’s plan or purpose of salvation. The Greek word rendered “predestinate” is found only in these six passages, Acts 4:28; Rom. 8:29, 30; 1 Cor. 2:7;…
Predestination · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Reproof · When from God: Should be accompanied by exhortation to repentance — When from God: Should be accompanied by exhortation to repentance
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
"For (כּי gives the reason for the main thought of the previous verse, 'Fear not, but serve the Lord,' etc.) the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake; for it hath pleased the Lord (for הואיל, see at Deu 1:5) to make you His people." The emphasis lies upon His. This the Israelites could only be, when they proved themselves to be the people of God, by serving Jehovah with all their heart. "For His great name's sake," i.e., for the great name which He had acquired in the sight of all the nations, by the marvellous guidance of Israel thus far, to preserve it against misapprehension and blasphemy (see at Jos 7:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 12:22
because that would dishonor his great name: God will never contradict his own character and detract from his glory (see also Isa 37:35; 43:25; 48:9-11). Therefore, he always keeps his covenant promises, even if his people do not. • his very own people: Israel is God’s treasured possession (see Exod 19:5; Deut 9:25-29). He will never abandon them (see Rom 11:1-5, 25-32).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 12:22
For the sake of His great Name. For His fame has spread because of you, that He is your savior, and lest the fame of His greatness be lessened.12 This verse indicates that ‘ה will not abandon the Bnei Yisroel because of the lack of their own merits, in order to uphold His own Name.—Radak
Adonoy has sworn.הוֹאִיל meaning he swore, as in, "And Shaul made the people swear ]וַיֹאֶל[."13 Below 14:24.
