Tafsiran 1 Samuel 12:10: Tze'enah Ure'enah

“They cried to the Lord, and they said, we have sinned” [12:10]. You shouted to God and said. We have served foreign gods. We ask you to redeem us. The Holy One sent a man named Gideon, Samson the hero, Jephtah and Samuel. They protected you from the evil nations.

Our sages learn from here that every communal leader or rabbi who is in a community should be honored and esteemed. One should not say that the rabbi in the community, communal leader or judge is insignificant and not as good as the rabbi who was here long ago, or similarly about a communal leader. When the Holy One raises someone over a community, he is worthy of it. One is as good as another, as is written in the haftorah. He counted Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, who were very pious and were placed over Israel. In comparison to these important prophets, Gideon, Samson, and Jephtah were also placed over Israel. Even though they were unequal to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, yet Scripture counts them together, to teach us that we should not consider any rabbi, judge or communal leader unimportant. Whoever is placed in a position is good for it.³Yalkut Shimoni, I Samuel, Remez, 114.

Our sages learn from here that the prophets prophesy with their mouths and do not know what they are saying. Here, he counts Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. The truth is that Samuel said this himself. He should have said, Moses, Aaron and also me. Samuel said Samuel with his mouth. He did not know what he was saying, but the Holy One put the words in his mouth that he should speak. Even though Samuel was a lord over all the prophets, yet he did not know what he was saying.⁴Radak, I Samuel, 12:11.