1 Samuel 28:17
in 1 Samuel 28He has done exactly what He spoke through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah hath done unto thee, as he spake by me: and Jehovah hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.
KJV
And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:
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This verse in 1 Samuel 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIs a little demon capable of prophesying concerning the entire people of God that the Lord is about to deliver Israel?…Can also a little demon know this, that after a king has been appointed with the anointing oil of a prophet, that tomorrow Saul and his sons with him will forfeit their lives?… But I cannot give to a little demon such a great power that he can prophesy concerning Saul and the people of God and he can prophesy concerning David that he will become king.
This site's exposition
given it to thy neighbour
on 1 Samuel 28:17-19
The rending of the kingdom repeats what Samuel had told Saul face to face at 15:28, spoken now a second time from beyond the grave. Verse 18 names the ground that chapter had already stated: Saul did not carry out the Lord's sentence on Amalek, the war Exodus 17 swore from generation to generation and Deuteronomy 25 commanded finished. Samuel's own word at 15:23 had set rebellion beside the sin of witchcraft, and Saul closes his reign proving the comparison true by consulting one. Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me is carried out within a day at chapter 31, and Matthew Henry reads with me only as the common state of the dead, separate from the body, stopping short of naming what company Saul keeps there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Also, some can be sent to the living from the dead, just as in the opposite direction divine Scripture testifies that Paul was snatched from the living into paradise. Samuel the prophet, although dead, predicted future events to King Saul, who was alive, although some think that it was not Samuel himself who was able to be called forth by some magic, but that some spirit so allied with evil works had feigned a likeness to him—yet the book of Ecclesiasticus, which Jesus the son of Sirach is said to have written, but because of some similarity of style is thought to be the work of Solomon, contains in praise of the fathers the fact that Samuel prophesied even though dead. If there is objection to this book on the ground that it is not in the canon of ancient Hebrew Scripture, what are we going to say of Moses, who in Deuteronomy is certainly recorded as dead and again in the Gospel of Matthew is reported to have appeared to the living along with Elijah who did not die.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet, to make him believe that he was Samuel, the apparition affirmed that it was God who spoke by him. The devil knows how to speak with an air of religion, and can teach false apostles to transform themselves into the apostles of Christ and imitate their language.
And the Lord hath done to him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The Lord hath done to him - I believe these words are spoken of Saul; and as they are spoken to him, it seems evident that him should be thee. The Vulgate has tibi, the Septuagint σοι, to Thee: and this is the reading of five of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., as well as of both the Bibles printed at Venice in 1518, where we read לך lecha, to Thee, instead of לו lo, to Him. As he spake by me - Here was no illusion; none but Samuel could say this.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To him - Better, “for Himself,” as in the margin.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But why do you ask me. Since you have inquired of the living prophets.
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֤עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֣ר | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בְּיָדִ֑י | beyadi | by hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַיִּקְרַ֨ע | vaiyikra' | and he has torn | H7167 → | 63 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּמְלָכָה֙ | hamamlakhah | the kingdom | H4467 → | 117 times |
| מִיָּדֶ֔ךָ | miyadekha | from hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַֽיִּתְּנָ֖הּ | vaiyitenah | and he has given it | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְרֵעֲךָ֥ | lereakha | to neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| לְדָוִֽד׃ | ledavid | to David | H1732 → | 999 times |
וַיַּ֤עַשׂand he has done
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
ל֔וֹto <the> him
lo
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֣רhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
בְּיָדִ֑יby hand my
beyadiH3027 →1618 times
וַיִּקְרַ֨עand he has torn
vaiyikra'H7167 →63 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּמְלָכָה֙the kingdom
hamamlakhahH4467 →117 times
מִיָּדֶ֔ךָfrom hand your
miyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
וַֽיִּתְּנָ֖הּand he has given it
vaiyitenahH5414 →2011 times
לְרֵעֲךָ֥to neighbor your
lereakhaH7453 →188 times
לְדָוִֽד׃to David
ledavidH1732 →999 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
Proverbs 16:4The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Romans 9:22
What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
- 2 Peter 2:9
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Isaiah 43:7
everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
- 1 Peter 2:8
and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Isaiah 43:21
Through
1 Samuel 16:13So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:6
Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.
- Hebrews 1:9
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
- John 3:34
For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
- 1 Samuel 10:6
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Care of the Dead 15.18; 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 Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON 1 KINGS 5.5, 5.8.