And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.”
- KJV And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
- BSB Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.”
- NASB So Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
- NLT But Saul took an oath in the name of the Lord and promised, “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you for doing this.”
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 swears by the LORD that no punishment will come to her. He invokes God's name to sanction a God-forbidden act.
Overview
To reassure the woman, Saul takes an oath in the name of Yahweh, the very God whose law he is breaking. The blasphemous irony is stark: he pledges by the LORD to protect an act the LORD condemns. This jarring contradiction reveals how deeply Saul's conscience has become divided and darkened.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Sam 14:11Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.”
- Mark 6:23He swore to her, “Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
- 1 Sam 14:39For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
- Matt 26:72Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.”
- 1 Sam 19:6Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, “As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.”
- Gen 3:5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
- Deut 18:10–12There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
- Exod 20:7“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
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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 28:10 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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