“Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.
Parallel translations
- WEB Samuel said, “Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?”
- KJV And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
- BSB But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”
- NKJV But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
- NASB But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the bellowing of the oxen which I hear?”
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
Samuel pointedly asks about the bleating sheep and lowing cattle that betray Saul's claim. The evidence of disobedience speaks louder than Saul's words.
Overview
Samuel's question is a masterful rebuke: the very sounds of the spared livestock refute Saul's profession of full obedience. It dramatizes how sin, however justified in words, leaves audible evidence. The scene teaches that God's representatives must confront disobedience plainly rather than accept hollow claims.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 50:16–21But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- Jer 2:34–37Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Mal 3:13–15“Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
- Jer 2:18–19Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
- Luke 19:22“He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow.
- Ps 36:2For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.
- Jer 2:22–23For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
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 15:14 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.