I Samuel 12:18
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So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
This miracle therefore inspired the people with a salutary terror. "All the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel," and entreated the prophet, "Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we die not, because we have added to all our sins the evil thing, to ask us a king."
Open source ↗We left the general assembly of the states together, in the close of the foregoing chapter; in this chapter we have Samuel's speech to them, when he resigned the government into the hands of Saul, in which, I. He clears himself from all suspicion or imputation of mismanagement, while the administration was in his hands (Sa1 12:1-5). II. He reminds them of the great things God had done for them and for their fathers (Sa1 12:6-13). III. He sets before them good and evil, the blessing and the curse (Sa1 12:14, Sa1 12:15). IV. He awakens them to regard what he said to them, by calling to God for thunder (Sa1 12:16-19). V. He encourages them with hopes that all should be well (Sa1 12:20-25). This is his farewell sermon to that august assembly and Saul's coronation sermon.
Open source ↗12:18 terrified: Cp. Exod 19:16.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.