Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
Parallel translations
- WEB Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since Yahweh has departed from you and has become your adversary?
- BSB “Why do you consult me,” asked Samuel, “since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?
- NKJV Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy?
- NASB Samuel said, “But why ask me, since the Lord has abandoned you and has become your enemy?
- NLT But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy?
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 asks why Saul consults him when the LORD has departed and become his enemy. The prophet confirms that God now opposes the king.
Overview
Samuel turns Saul's plea back on him: why seek the prophet when the LORD Himself has withdrawn and turned adversary? The blunt words declare that Saul's relationship with God is broken by his own rebellion. The verse soberly teaches that persistent sin can place a person under God's active opposition.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Kgs 6:27And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
- Lam 2:5The LORD was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
- Ps 68:1–3Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
- Rev 18:20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
- Rev 18:24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
- Judg 5:31So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
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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 28:16 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.