1-Samuel - 28:16



16 Samuel said, "Why then do you ask of me, since Yahweh has departed from you and has become your adversary?

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Samuel 28:16.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary?
And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival:
And Samuel said, Why then dost thou inquire of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
And Samuel saith, 'And why dost thou ask me, and Jehovah hath turned aside from thee, and is thine enemy?
Then said Samuel, Why then do you ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from you, and is become your enemy?
And Samuel said, Why do you put your questions to me, seeing that God has gone away from you and is on the side of him who is against you?
And Samuel said, "Why do you question me, though the Lord has withdrawn from you, and has crossed over to your rival?

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Wherefore then dost thou ask of me - Was ever I wont to give answers that were not dictated by the Lord? It is his counsel alone that I communicate.

Then said Samuel, wherefore then dost thou, ask of me,.... Whom thou knowest to have been a prophet of the Lord, and therefore can say nothing more or less than what comes from him, and is according to his will, if anything at all; the "devil" representing Samuel, whom Saul had called for, and reasons in such language as might be thought to be his own, though sometimes he betrays himself:
seeing the Lord is departed from thee; as Saul himself owned: to which he adds:
and is become thine enemy; to make his case appear still more desperate; for his whole view is to lead him to despair, which shows what sort of spirit he was: though some understand this as spoken of David, and read the words, and "he is with thine enemy" (i); is on his side, and favours his cause; so the Targum,"and he is for the help of a man, whose enmity thou sharest in;''or who is at enmity with thee, meaning David; but now the true Samuel would never have said this, or suggested it, that David was an enemy to Saul, for he was not.
(i) "et est cum inimico tuo", Pagninus, Vatablus; so V. L.

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