1 Samuel 12:17

Is 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.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Samuel addresses the assembled Israelites during the wheat harvest, declaring that he will summon the LORD to send thunder and rain as proof of their sin in demanding a human king.

The words — הֲ/ל֤וֹא (ha./Lo') operates as a rhetorical negation meaning "is it not," while קְצִיר\־ (ke.tzir-) specifies the wheat harvest season, anchoring the impending sign in a time of expected dry weather.

The thread — The people's demand for a king repeats their earlier rejection of divine rule in 1 Samuel 8:7, while the harvest rain sign mirrors the impossible "rain at harvest" cited in Proverbs 26:1 to mark divine intervention.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to recognize that replacing God's direct governance with monarchy is a direct offense against His authority, demanding immediate acknowledgment of guilt rather than political justification.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.
1 Samuel 7:9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.
Proverbs 26:1 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
Joshua 10:12 On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
Psalms 99:6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered.
Jeremiah 15:1 Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!