1 Samuel 15:16
in 1 Samuel 15“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
KJV
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Samuel now acquiesces in the wisdom and justice of the sentence which 1Sa 15:11 he had so strenuously resisted at first. What before was known only to the Searcher of hearts, had now been displayed to Samuel by Saul himself.
This site's exposition
Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night
on 1 Samuel 15:16-19
Samuel's rebuke returns Saul to the beginning, "Although you were once small in your own eyes," the smallness Saul claimed at his anointing. The command is restated in full, "devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites," closing off any reading that the order was partial. Verse 19 names the offense without softening it, since Saul rushed "upon the plunder" and did "evil in the sight of the LORD."
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
But Samuel said to Saul: Leave me, and I will tell you, etc. Above, we read that Saul on the day was anointed king; on the day that he should be anointed, and now at night he is shown to be rejected. This is not …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
16. What does it mean when he says: "Let me alone, and I will tell you," unless that while deceitful men persist in verbosity, they do not grant their examining superiors an opportunity to speak? As if to say: While you do not cease from verbosity, you do not permit me to say the things you ought to hear. By this word the intention of the flatterer can also be mocked; for while he believes he is pleasing through the blandishment of praise, he supposes that those whom he praises are, as it were, held fast by those same praises.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), otherwise he would have been far from passing so severe a censure upon him. Those who complain that their ministers are too harsh with them should remember that, while they keep to the word of God, they are but messengers, and must say as they are bidden, and therefore be willing, as Saul himself here was, that they should say on. Samuel delivers his message faithfully.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then Samuel said unto Saul, stay,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord--Saul was either blinded by a partial and delusive self-love, or he was, in his declaration to Samuel, acting the part of a bold and artful hypocrite. He professed to have fulfilled the divine command, and that the blame of any defects in the execution lay with the people.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
You are the head of the tribes of Yisroel. Targum Yonoson renders, 'the tribe of Binyomin crossed the [Reed] Sea ahead of all the people, as it is said, 'Binyomin, the youngest, rules them.' 18 Tehillim:28.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵל֙ | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שָׁא֔וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| הֶ֚רֶף | heref | be quiet | H7503 → | |
| וְאַגִּ֣ידָה | veagidah | so let me tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְּךָ֔ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| אֵת֩ | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֧ר | diber | he said | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלַ֖י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַלָּ֑יְלָה | halayelah | this night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomeru | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| דַּבֵּֽר׃ ס | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁמוּאֵל֙Samuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שָׁא֔וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
הֶ֚רֶףbe quiet
herefH7503 →
וְאַגִּ֣ידָהso let me tell
veagidahH5046 →370 times
לְּךָ֔to <the> you
lekha
אֵת֩<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר[that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֧רhe said
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלַ֖יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הַלָּ֑יְלָהthis night
halayelahH3915 →233 times
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
דַּבֵּֽר׃ סspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 9:27As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I will reveal…
it leads to
- John 15:14–15
You are My friends if you do what I command you.
- 2 Kings 9:5–6
and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied.
- 1 Samuel 20:38–39
Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
- John 15:14–15
Through
1 Samuel 12:7Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Isaiah 5:3–4
“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
- Acts 17:3
explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.
- Micah 6:1–5
Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
- Ezekiel 18:25–30
Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
- Isaiah 1:18
Where this verse is studied
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.