Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.”
- KJV And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
- BSB When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
- NASB So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”
- NLT When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Saul greets Samuel claiming he has fully obeyed the LORD's command. The false claim shows Saul's self-deception about his disobedience.
Overview
Saul's confident assertion that he has performed God's commandment reveals either willful deception or a conscience so dulled it cannot recognize its own sin. His words are immediately contradicted by the sounds of the spared animals. This exposes the spiritual danger of religious self-justification that refuses to face the truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Judg 17:2He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Yahweh bless my son!”
- Ruth 3:10He said, “You are blessed by Yahweh, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, because you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich.
- Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- 1 Sam 15:9But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, and of the fat calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
- Gen 3:12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- Gen 14:19He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:
- Luke 17:10Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’”
- Prov 30:13There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
- 1 Sam 15:11“It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
- Prov 31:31Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!
- 1 Sam 13:10It came to pass that as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
- Prov 27:2Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 15:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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