And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
- KJV And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
- BSB And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
- NASB And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel mourned for Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
- NLT Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.
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 never sees Saul again but mourns for him, and the LORD grieves over making him king. It closes the chapter on the sorrow that attends Saul's rejection.
Overview
Samuel's lifelong mourning shows real love for Saul even amid righteous judgment, and God's grief reaffirms that he takes no delight in the fall of a sinner. The note that the LORD 'grieved' echoes verse 11 and frames the whole episode as a tragedy of squandered privilege. It prepares for chapter 16, where God moves from mourning the old king to providing a new one.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Sam 19:24He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
- 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.
- 1 Sam 16:1Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.”
- Jer 9:1–2Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Gen 6:6Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
- Ps 119:136Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law. TZADI
- Rom 9:2–3that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
- Ps 119:158I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.
- Phil 3:18For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ,
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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 15:35 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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