He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
Parallel translations
- WEB When Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.
- KJV And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
- NKJV And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
- NASB So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him, either in dreams, or by the Urim, or by the prophets.
- NLT He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets.
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 inquires of the LORD, but God gives no answer by dreams, Urim, or prophets. Heaven's silence reflects Saul's persistent disobedience.
Overview
Saul seeks guidance through the legitimate channels of dreams, the priestly Urim, and prophets, yet receives no reply. God's silence is the sober fruit of Saul's hardened rebellion, for he had spurned the LORD's word repeatedly. The closed heavens warn that persistent sin can leave a person without divine direction in the hour of need.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Num 12:6He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- 1 Sam 14:37So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
- Lam 2:9Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
- Num 27:21He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”
- Ezek 20:1–3In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
- Jer 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- Deut 33:8Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
- John 9:31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.
- Exod 28:30And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.
- Jas 4:3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Ps 74:9There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Matt 1:20But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
- Prov 1:1–33These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,
- Exod 28:20and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.
- Gen 28:12–15And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
- Gen 46:2–4And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.
- Prov 27:1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
- Job 33:14–16For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices.
- 1 Chr 10:13–14So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
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 28:6 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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