1 Samuel 28:16
in 1 Samuel 28“Why do you consult me,” asked Samuel, “since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary?
KJV
Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
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This verse in 1 Samuel 28
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWherefore 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.
This site's exposition
Why hast thou disquieted me
on 1 Samuel 28:15-16
The text names the speaker without qualification: And Samuel said to Saul. Two readings have stood in the church since the fathers. Keil and Delitzsch and Adam Clarke read it as a true appearance permitted by God rather than produced by the woman's craft, pointing to her own terror as proof her art had not caused what she saw. Matthew Henry calls the figure an evil spirit in Samuel's mantle offering Saul cold comfort meant to drive him toward despair, and Tertullian argues the same power that let a demon impersonate a dead man for the followers of Simon was granted once here and nowhere else in Scripture.
This site's exposition
the LORD has turned away from you
Samuel's question turns Saul's complaint in verse 15 back on him. Adam Clarke paraphrases it: the prophet had only ever passed on the LORD's counsel, so he has nothing to give a man the LORD has left. Matthew Henry adds that Saul could expect no friend in Samuel with God as his enemy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), tells him, not only that God had departed from him, but that he had become his enemy, and therefore he must expect no comfortable answer from him: " Wherefore dost thou ask me? How can I be thy friend when God is thy enemy, or thy counsellor when he has left thee?" 2. He upbraids him with the anointing of David to the kingdom,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then said Samuel, wherefore then dost thou, ask of me,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
But why do you ask me. Since you have inquired of the living prophets.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Have you disturbed me. You have frightened me. 14 The Midrash explains that Shmuel feared that his day of judgment had come. See above verse—Radak
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. 5 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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| וְלָ֖מָּה | velamah | and <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תִּשְׁאָלֵ֑נִי | tishaleni | do you ask me | H7592 → | 171 times |
| וַיהוָ֛ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| סָ֥ר | sar | he has turned aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מֵעָלֶ֖יךָ | mealeikha | from with <the> you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַיְהִ֥י | vayhi | and he has become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָרֶֽךָ׃ | ʾarekha | enemy your | H6145 → |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לSamuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
וְלָ֖מָּהand <to> why?
velamahH4100 →752 times
תִּשְׁאָלֵ֑נִיdo you ask me
tishaleniH7592 →171 times
וַיהוָ֛הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
סָ֥רhe has turned aside
sarH5493 →299 times
מֵעָלֶ֖יךָfrom with <the> you
mealeikhaH5921 →5755 times
וַיְהִ֥יand he has become
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
עָרֶֽךָ׃enemy your
ʾarekhaH6145 →
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
Revelation 18:24And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.
it leads to
- Revelation 17:6
I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- Revelation 16:6
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- Jeremiah 51:49
“Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
- Acts 7:52
Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
- Revelation 17:6
Through
Revelation 18:20Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
it leads to
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Revelation 19:1–3
After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
- Luke 18:7–8
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Revelation 6:10
Through
Lamentations 2:5The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:2
Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her…
- Lamentations 2:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, De Anima.