a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
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
Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of…
Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers…
2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and…
1 Thessalonians 3:10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
1 Kings 8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they shou…
Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
Psalms 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find re…
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…
God forbid that I should sin - They had earnestly begged him, Sa1 12:19, to pray to God for them, that they might not die; and he tells them that he should consider himself a sinner, should he cease to be their intercessor.
But I will teach you the good and the right way - I will show you, as long as I am with you, what true religion is; it is the way to happiness and heaven. It is right - there is no crookedness in it; it is good - there is no evil in it.
John Gill
The Church Fathers
What then is it that Moses and Samuel are preferred to the other fathers in petition, except that these two alone in the entire sequence of the Old Testament are read to have prayed even for their enemies? One is assailed with stones by the people, and yet he entreats the Lord for the one who stoned him; the other is cast down from leadership, and yet when asked to pray, he confesses saying: "Far be this sin from me against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you."
What did Samuel profit Saul? Did he not mourn for him even to his last day, and not merely pray for him only? What did he profit the Israelites? Did he not say, "God forbid that I should sin in ceasing to pray for you"? Did they not all perish? Do prayers then, you say, profit nothing? They profit even greatly: but it is when we also do something. For prayers indeed coöperate and assist, but a man coöperates with one that is operating, and assists one that is himself also working. But if thou remainest idle, thou wilt receive no great benefit.
Wherefore also to Peter Christ saith, "If thou lovest Me, feed My sheep." For he who loveth Christ loveth also His flock. And Moses too did He then set over the people of the Jews, when he had shown a kindly feeling towards them. And David in this way came to be king, having been first seen to be affectionately-minded towards them; so much indeed, though yet young, did he grieve for the people, as to risk his life for them, when he killed that barbarian.… And Samuel too was very affectionate; whence it was that he said, "But God forbid that I should sin in ceasing to pray unto the Lord for you." In like way Paul also, or rather not in like way, but even in a far greater degree, burned towards all his subjects.
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
Intercession · OF MAN WITH GOD — OF MAN WITH GOD
Prayer, Intercessory · Sin of neglecting — Sin of neglecting
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).
on 1 Samuel 12:23
Moreover, as for me,.... As he had given them reason to believe that God would forgive their sin, by which they had offended him, rejecting him as their King, so he likewise forgave their offence against him in rejecting him as their governor under him, and so neither need fear the Lord nor him with a servile fear; and as God would still be gracious to them, if they abode by his service, so he, Samuel, would do all the good offices for them that lay in his power:
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, in ceasing to pray for you; for since they had returned to the Lord, and acknowledged their sin, it would have been an evil in him not to pray for them, that they might share in the pa…
Samuel then promised the people his constant intercession: "Far be it from me to sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you, and to instruct you in the good and right way," i.e., to work as prophet for your good. "In this he sets a glorious example to all rulers, showing them that they should not be led astray by the ingratitude of their subordinates or subjects, and give up on that account all interest in their welfare, but should rather persevere all the more in their anxiety for them" (Berleb. Bible).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 12:23
I will continue to teach you: Samuel was both intercessor and educator. • Although this address marked the end of Samuel’s political leadership, he continued his spiritual ministry for some time (e.g., 19:24).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 12:23
And as for me, far be it from me. Since you will do your part by returning to 'ה, I also, far be it from me to stop praying on your behalf.14 From this verse, the Gemara in Maseches Berachos 12b, derives, that if a person knows that his prayers will be answered if he prays for mercy for his fellow but refrains from doing so, he is considered to have sinned.
