1 Samuel 12 · Verse 17

1 Samuel 12:17

Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.
1 Samuel 12:17, King James Version

1 Samuel 12:17 in other translations

BSBIs it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.”
WEBIsn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the LORD’s sight, in asking for a king.”
ASVIs it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, that he may send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah, in asking you a king.
YLTis it not wheat-harvest to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for you a king.'
DARBYIs it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, and he will send thunder and rain; and ye shall perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah in asking for yourselves a king.
BBEIs it not now the time of the grain cutting? My cry will go up to the Lord and he will send thunder and rain: so that you may see and be conscious of your great sin which you have done in the eyes of the Lord in desiring a king for yourselves.
WebsterIs it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call to the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

What does 1 Samuel 12:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 12:17-25
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 so, he dispelled their fears. The conduct of Samuel, in this whole affair of the king's appointment, shows him to have been a great and good man who sank all private and personal considerations in disinterested zeal for his country's good and whose last words in public were to warn the people, and their king, of the danger of apostasy and disobedience to God.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 Is it not wheat harvest to-day? - That is, This is the time of wheat harvest. According to St. Jerome, who spent several years in the promised land, this harvest commenced about the end of June or beginning of July, in which he says he never saw rain in Judea: Nunquam enim in fine mensis Junii, sive in mense Julio, in his provinciis, maximeque in Judea, pluvias vidimus. - Hier. in Amo 4:7; where he refers to this very history. What occurred now hardly ever occurs there but in the winter months.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 12:16-25

At Samuel's word, God sent thunder and rain, at a season of the year when, in that country, the like was not seen. This was to convince them they had done wickedly in asking a king; not only by its coming at an unusual time, in wheat harvest, and on a clear day, but by the prophet's giving notice of it before. He showed their folly in desiring a king to save them, rather than God, or Samuel; promising themselves…

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 12:16-25 →

1 Samuel 12:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הֲל֤וֹאha.Lo'¿ notH3808
קְצִיר\־ke.tzir-[is] [the] harvest ofH7105
חִטִּים֙chi.Timwheat<s>H2406
הַיּ֔וֹםhai.Yomthis dayH3117
אֶקְרָא֙'ek.Ra'I will call outH7121
אֶל\־'el-toH413
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
וְיִתֵּ֥ןve.yi.Tenso he may giveH5414
קֹל֖וֹתko.Lotthunder clapsH6963
וּמָטָ֑רu.ma.Tarand rainH4306
וּדְע֣וּu.de.'Uand knowH3045
וּרְא֗וּu.re.'Uand seeH7200
כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588
רָעַתְכֶ֤םra.'at.Khemevil yourH7451
רַבָּה֙ra.Bah[is] greatH7227
אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.SherwhichH834
עֲשִׂיתֶם֙'a.si.Temyou have doneH6213
בְּעֵינֵ֣יbe.'ei.Neiin [the] eyes ofH5869
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
לִשְׁא֥וֹלlish.'olby askingH7592
לָכֶ֖םla.Khemfor <the> yourselves
מֶֽלֶךְ\׃\ \סMe.lekha kingH4428

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 12:17

  • 1 Samuel 8:7

    And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

  • 1 Samuel 7:9-10

    And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

  • Proverbs 26:1

    As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

  • James 5:16-18

    Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

  • Psalms 99:6

    Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.

  • Joshua 10:12

    Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

  • Jeremiah 15:1

    Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Is it.In northern latitudes, thunder and rain are far from being un-common during harvest. But rain is hardly ever known in Palestine during that season, which commences about the end of June, or beginning of July. This fact is abundantly confirmed by modern travellers, and is demonstrative to every unprejudiced reader of the Holy Scriptures, that the thunder and rain, which at Samuel's invocation, was sent at this season of the year, was a miraculous interposition of the power of God; for we read in ver. 16, it was a "great thing which the Lord will do." Thus were the Israelites warned of their sin in having asked a king, and of the omnipotence of that God, whose gracious promises they virtually neglected by this act.
Pr 26:1
I will call.
7:9,10; Jos 10:12; Ps 99:6; Jer 15:1; Jas 5:16-18
your wickedness.
8:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 12:16

    Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.

  • 1 Samuel 12:17

    Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.

  • 1 Samuel 12:18

    So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

Read all of 1 Samuel 12

1 Samuel 12:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿No es ahora la siega de los trigos? Yo clamaré á Jehová, y él dará truenos y aguas; para que conozcáis y veáis que es grande vuestra maldad que habéis hecho en los ojos de Jehová, pidiéndoos rey.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		N’est-ce pas aujourd’hui la moisson des froments? Je crierai à l’ Éternel, et il enverra des tonnerres et de la pluie; et vous saurez et vous verrez que le mal que vous avez fait est grand aux yeux de l’ Éternel, d’avoir demandé un roi pour vous.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ist nicht jetzt die Weizenernte? Ich will zu Jehova rufen, und er wird Donner und Regen geben; und ihr sollt erkennen und sehen, daß das Böse, das ihr getan habt, groß ist in den Augen Jehovas, einen König für euch zu begehren.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Numquid non messis tritici est hodie? invocabo Dominum, et dabit voces et pluvias: et scietis, et videbitis, quia grande malum feceritis vobis in conspectu Domini, petentes super vos regem.