1 Samuel 15:31
in 1 Samuel 15So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah.
KJV
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Samuel turned again after Saul--not to worship along with him; but first, that the people might have no ground, on pretense of Saul's rejection, to withdraw their allegiance from him; and secondly, to compensate for Saul's error, by executing God's judgment upon Agag.
This site's exposition
Please honor me now before the elders of my people
on 1 Samuel 15:30-31
Saul's second confession repeats "I have sinned" but asks again for honor "before the elders of my people and before Israel" rather than for mercy. Samuel goes back with him and Saul worships, which the commentators read as Samuel preserving the people's confidence in their king without approving the request.
This site's exposition
So Samuel went back with Saul
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown give a second reason for the return: Samuel stayed to carry out the sentence on Agag that Saul had left undone. The verse gives the worship to Saul alone. Samuel's own act follows in the next two verses.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
35. For on account of the evil that lay hidden within, he deserved to hear: "The Lord has cast you off from being king." But so that under the pretext of good he might draw others to the truth of that same good, Samuel wished to follow Saul, and saw him worship the Lord. Sometimes even the evils of kings and the great ones of the earth must be tolerated, lest being provoked they slip into worse things. For the children of Israel often worshiped the gods of the nations.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), upon further thoughts, and probably by divine direction, either to prevent a mutiny among the people or perhaps not to do honour to Saul (for, though Saul worshipped the Lord,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Turned - First, that the people might not upon pretense of this sentence of rejection, withdraw their obedience to their sovereign; whereby they would both have sinned against God, and have been as sheep without a shepherd. Secondly, that he might rectify Saul's error, and execute God's judgment upon Agag.
So Samuel turned again after Saul,....
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֥שָׁב | vaiyashov | and he turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵ֖ל | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שָׁא֑וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ | vaiyishtachu | and he bowed down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| שָׁא֖וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| לַֽיהוָֽה׃ ס | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיָּ֥שָׁבand he turned back
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
שְׁמוּאֵ֖לSamuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
אַחֲרֵ֣יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
שָׁא֑וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּand he bowed down
vaiyishtachuH7812 →172 times
שָׁא֖וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
לַֽיהוָֽה׃ סto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonJudges to monarchySamuelAsked of God by Hannah and lent to the LORD at Shiloh; the last judge and first of the prophets after Moses, who anointed both Sau…
- PersonUnited monarchySaulIsrael's first king, head and shoulders above the people; began in humility, ended in rejection — sparing what God devoted, consul…
This page draws on Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.