5 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.
5 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.
5 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."
5 "That settles it then," said Samuel. "God is witness, and his anointed is witness that you find nothing against me - no faults, no complaints."
5 Then 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 answered, "He is witness."
5 "The Lord and his anointed one are my witnesses today," Samuel declared, "that my hands are clean." "Yes, he is a witness," they replied.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 12:5
Commentary on 1 Samuel 12:1-5
(Read 1 Samuel 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.