Here I am: this declaration is normally used in response to a call from another person, as in 1 Sam 3. But in contexts like this it indicates the person’s availability and unwillingness to hide from the consequences of his own actions (compare 2 Sam 15.26).
These words of Samuel in verse 3 are recalled in Sirach 46.19, one of the oldest deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. In the form of rhetorical questions, Samuel declares that he has not broken the law against taking someone else’s animals (see the law in Exo 20.17), and that he has been a just judge, as the law of Deut 16.18-20 demands. In some languages this series of questions may be better translated as strong negative statements: “I have never taken an ox from anyone….”
His anointed: that is, the king (see the comments on 2.10). Samuel is making his statement in the presence of Yahweh but also in the presence of the newly appointed civil authority, the king.
On the words ox and ass, see the comments at 8.16.
Defrauded … oppressed: these two verbs occur together also in Deut 28.33; Amos 4.1; and Hos 5.11, where Revised Standard Version renders them with the verbs “to oppress” and “to crush.” Revised English Bible translates with the general verbs “wronged” and “oppressed.” New American Bible and New International Version say “cheated” and “oppressed.” Others give a more specific meaning in this context: “Whom have I defrauded or whom have I robbed?” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), though the Hebrew verbs are rather general.
Taken a bribe: while graft and bribery are very common throughout the world, languages have quite different and sometimes unusual ways of referring to the act of giving money or other gifts to influence judges or other government officials. The Hebrew word for bribe has as its root the verb meaning “to hide, conceal, or cover up.”
To blind my eyes with it: this Hebrew expression means “to cause me to look away from the wrong that the person has done,” in violation of the law of Exo 23.8 and Deut 16.19. Compare the English idiom “to turn a blind eye” (Revised English Bible). New Jerusalem Bible says “Have I taken a consideration from anyone for looking the other way?”
Some interpreters change the text on the basis of the Septuagint and the reading in Sirach 46.19 to read as follows: “From whose hand have I accepted a bribe or a pair of sandals?” (so Osty-Trinquet and Anchor Bible). Those who follow this interpretation argue that Samuel is referring to an ancient practice in which someone could turn over property by giving his or her shoe to the person who received rights to the property (compare Ruth 4.7-8). If this reading is accepted, the sense is that Samuel had never violated the law by using technical means to avoid doing what the Law demands. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project does not discuss this textual problem. The Masoretic Text should be followed here, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done.
Testify against me: the second occurrence of these words is lacking in the Masoretic Text, but the words are found in the Septuagint, which is followed by Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project does not discuss this textual problem. The Masoretic Text should be followed. But it may be possible to repeat the words based on their earlier occurrence. This would be done for translation reasons and not because of textual considerations.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .