שמואל א י״ב

ואני זקנתי ושבתי. אמרו רבותינו: זקנה קפצה עליו, כדאיתא במסכת תענית (ה ב):

I have aged and become gray. Our Rabbis said that he aged prematurely, as stated in Maseches Ta'anis.¹ 5b.

את שור מי לקחתי. לעבודתי:

Whose ox have I taken? For my work.

וחמור מי לקחתי. כשהייתי הולך מעיר לעיר לשפוט אותם על עסקי צרכיהם, הייתי הולך על החמור שלי, והיה לי ליטול משלהם:

Whose donkey have I taken? When I used to travel from city to city to judge them concerning their matters, I used to travel on my donkey, although I should have taken theirs.² See Bamidbar Rabbah 18:10. And when I brought a sacrifice for their sake, I should have taken their ox. Shmuel took this extra precaution because he witnessed how severely Eili’s sons were punished for having abused the privileges of their office. He therefore avoided any action that could be misconstrued as resembling their behavior.

את מי רצותי. כל לשון מרוצה הסמוך לעושק, לשון עשוק ורצוץ הוא, חומס דלים ורוצץ:

Whom have I oppressed? Every expression of מְרַצֶּה which follows עשֶׁק [robbery], is an expression of "robbed and oppressed,³ Devarim 28:33. one who robs the poor and oppresses them.

ואעלים עיני בו. כדי להעלים עיני מן המשפט בשביל הממון:

To look away from him. In order to hide my eyes from the judgment because of the money [bribe].

ואשיב לכם. כל מה שתאמרו:

And I will give it back to you. Whatever you will say.

ויאמר עד. בת קול יוצאת ואומרת: 'עד', וזה אחד משלשה מקומות שהופיעה רוח הקודש בבית דין של מטה, כדאיתא במסכת מכות (כג ב):

And they said [as one], "Witnessed." A heavenly voice came out and said, '[I am] a witness.' This is one of three places in which the holy spirit entered the earthly court, as it is stated in Maseches Makos.⁴ 23b. The other two places in which the holy spirit entered the earthly court are in the court of Sheim and in the court of Shlomo.

אשר עשה את משה ואת אהרן. להיות נכונים לשליחותו, להוציא אבותיכם ממצרים:

Who produced Moshe and Aharon. To be prepared for His mission to bring your forefathers out of Egypt.

ואשפטה אתכם. אתוכח עמכם:

And I shall enter into judgment. I.e., I shall debate with you.

ירובעל. זה גדעון:

יְרֻבַּעַל. This is Gideon.⁶ Shoftim 6:32. See Maseches Rosh Hashanah 25a.

בדן. זה שמשון, שמשבט דן בא:

Bedan. This is Shimshon who came from the tribe of Don.⁷בְּדָן=“in Don” or בֶּן דָן=בְּדָן meaning “a member of Don’s tribe.”

ואת יפתח. הרי שלשה קלי עולם, עם שלשה חמורי עולם, משה ואהרן ושמואל, לומר לך, הקל בדורו, כחמור בדורו, כל בית דין המתמנה על הדור, צריך לילך אחריו כאלו הוא אביר שבאבירים:

And Yiphtoch. Here are three insignificant leaders with three world-important leaders: Moshe, Aharon and Shmuel, to teach you that the insignificant leader in his generation is equal to the important leader in his generation. Every court which is appointed over the generation, must be followed as though its [members] were the mightiest of the nobility.⁸Ibid., 25b. Shmuel indicated to the people that every generation must regard its sages and leaders with the same respect they would give to Moshe, Aharon or Shmuel. Therefore, Yiphtoch in his generation was equal to Moshe in his generation. See Rashi in Devarim 19:17.

והיתם גם אתם. ותתקיימו לאורך ימים גם אתם גם המלך:

Then both you. You will live to a ripe old age, both you and the king.

והיתה יד ה' בכם ובאבותיכם. כלומר והיתה בכם אחר שהיתה באבותיכם ורבותינו אמרו (יבמות סג ב): בכם ובאבותיכם, חטוטי שכבי, והיא מכת בזיון על המתים:

Then Adonoy's hand will be against you and against your forefathers. Meaning it will be against you after it was against your fathers. Our Rabbis however said, "against you and against your fathers" refers to the digging up of the dead, which is a disgrace upon the dead.⁹ Maseches Yevamos 63b. When people sin, the past generations are also punished by having their grave sites disturbed.—Radak

התיצבו וראו וגו'. וכשם שעל ידי תפלתי אני יכול לשנות את העתים, כך אם פגעה בכם מלחמה, היה כח בתפלתי לעמוד על האויב, ולא הייתם צריכים לשאול מלך בחיי, ואף על פי שאני זקן:

Stand up and see… And just as through my prayer, I am able to change the seasons, similarly, if a war befell you, my prayer would have the power to protect you against the enemy, and you had no need to ask for a king during my lifetime,¹⁰ Shmuel demonstrated to the nation how unnecessary their request for a king was. Just as ‘ה responded immediately to Shmuel’s prayers for rain, so too would ‘ה answer his prayers to save the Bnei Yisroel from their enemies. even though I am old.

הלא קציר חטים היום. והגשמים סימן קללה, וקשה בעיני הקב"ה להביא פורענות חנם, אף על פי כן יש בי כח, ואקרא אל ה' ויתן קולות ומטר:

Is today not the [season of the] wheat harvest? And rain is a sign of a curse,¹¹ Maseches Ta’anis 12b. and the Holy One, Blessed is He, is reluctant to visit punishment unnecessarily. Nonetheless, I have power, and I shall call to 'ה, and He will make it thunder and rain.

ודעו וראו. כי לא הייתם צריכים לשאול מלך לזלזל בי:

Then you will know and see. That it was unnecessary for you to ask for a king and to show disrespect towards me.

בעבור שמו הגדול. אשר יצא שמו עליכם שהוא מושיעכם, ולמען לא יתמעט שם גדלו:

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

הואיל ה'. נשבע, כמו (לקמן יד כה): ויואל שאול את העם:

Adonoy has sworn.הוֹאִיל meaning he swore, as in, "And Shaul made the people swear ]וַיֹאֶל[."¹³ Below 14:24.

גם אנכי חלילה לי. מאחר שתעשו אתם את שלכם לשוב אל ה', גם אנכי חלילה לי מחדול מהתפלל בעדכם:

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.