1 Samuel 15:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 15:11
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
to rise (in various applications · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
commandments
דְּבָרַ֖יde.va.Rai
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
grieved
וַיִּ֙חַר֙vai.Yi.char
H2734
to glow or grow warm · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel
לִשְׁמוּאֵ֔לlish.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
cried
וַיִּזְעַ֥קvai.yiz.'Ak
H2199
to shriek (from anguish or danger) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
night
הַלָּֽיְלָהha.La.ye.lah
H3915
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
1 Samuel 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now…
2 Samuel 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destro…
Psalms 119:136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox an…
1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good,…
1 Samuel 15:35-16:1 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made…
Psalms 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 15:10-23
Saul is here called to account by Samuel concerning the execution of his commission against the Amalekites; and remarkable instances we are here furnished with of the strictness of the justice of God and the treachery and deceitfulness of the heart of man. We are here told,
I. What passed between God and Samuel, in secret, upon this occasion, Sa1 15:10, Sa1 15:11. 1. God determines Saul's rejection, and acquaints Samuel with it: It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king. Repentance in God is not, as it is in us, a change of his mind, but a change of his method or dispensation. He does not alter his will, but wills an alteration. The change was in Saul: He has turned back from follow…
GOD REJECTS HIS FOR DISOBEDIENCE. (Sa1 15:10-11)
Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul--Repentance is attributed in Scripture to Him when bad men give Him cause to alter His course and method of procedure, and to treat them as if He did "repent" of kindness shown. To the heart of a man like Samuel, who was above all envious considerations, and really attached to the king, so painful an announcement moved all his pity and led him to pass a sleepless night of earnest intercession.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 15:11
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul - That is, I placed him on the throne; I intended, if he had been obedient, to have established his kingdom. He has been disobedient; I change my purpose, and the kingdom shall not be established in his family. This is what is meant by God's repenting - changing a purpose according to conditions already laid down or mentally determined.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 15:11
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king,.... Which is not to be understood of any change of mind, counsel, purpose, or decree in God, which is not consistent with his unchangeable nature; but of a change of dispensation, and outward dealings, and is spoken after the manner of men, who, when they repent of anything, change the course of their conduct and behaviour; and so the Lord does without any change of his mind and will, which alters not; and though he changes the outward dispensations of his providence, yet he never changes and alters in the matters and methods of his grace; though he repented he made Saul king, he never repents of his making his saints kings and priests for…
The Church Fathers
And Samuel was grieved, etc. These are not to be explained allegorically but rather are to be drawn to the imitation of virtue: so that for the errors of brothers, which they themselves cannot yet understand in themselves, we should not only be grieved in spirit but also cry out to the Lord for them with all intention; and furthermore, whenever the place and time allow, we should take care to recall them to the recognition and correction of their faults.
From these things is shown what I said before: that God's "repentance" is the name for the transference of God's dispensation from one course of action to another. The passage shows that even a prophet and a righteous man, when he prays on behalf of others, is not otherwise heard unless that other person demonstrates repentance by his deed. For in this way the petition of the righteous man is effective when it is worked out through the one who has sinned. Therefore, in order that the matter may be brought to completion, both must run together: both the prayer of the righteous man and the deed of the one who repents.
Again, there are some things which are praiseworthy in people but cannot be present in God, such as shame, which is a prominent trapping of the state of sin, as is the fear of God. For not only in the Old Testament books is it praised, but the apostle also says, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God," none of which is to be found in God. Therefore, just as certain praiseworthy human qualities are not rightly predicated of God, so also are certain contemptible human qualities properly said to be in God, not as they are found in people but only in a very different manner and for different reasons. For shortly after the Lord had said to Samuel, "I repent that I have made Saul king," Samuel himself said of God to Saul: "He is not like a man, that he should repent." This clearly demonstrates that even though God said "I repent," it is not to be taken according to the human sense, as we have already argued at length.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agag — Flame, the usual title of the Amalekite kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian. (1.) A king of the Amalekites referred to by Balaam (Num. 24:7). He lived at the time of the Exodus. (2.) Another king…
Garrison — (1.) Heb. matstsab, a station; a place where one stands (1 Sam. 14:12); a military or fortified post (1 Sam. 13:23; 14:1, 4, 6, etc.). (2.) Heb. netsib, a prefect, superintendent; hence a military…
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Agency · IN EXECUTING — IN EXECUTING
Amalekites · General references — General references
Amalekites, The · Saul: Condemned for not utterly destroying — Saul: Condemned for not utterly destroying
The word of the Lord came to Samuel: "It repenteth me that I have made Saul king, for he hath turned away from me, and not set up (carried out) my word." (On the repentance of God, see the remarks on Gen 6:6.) That this does not express any changeableness in the divine nature, but simply the sorrow of the divine love at the rebellion of sinners, is evident enough from Sa1 15:29. יי מאחרי שׁוּב, to turn round from following God, in order to go his own ways. This was Saul's real sin. He would no longer be the follower and servant of the Lord, but would be absolute ruler in Israel. Pride arising from the consciousness of his own strength, led him astray to break the command of God. What more Go…
Saul and his men directly disobeyed the Lord’s command to “completely destroy” the Amalekites (15:3). Though the entire army participated in the disobedience of God’s command, Saul alone was responsible as their leader.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 15:11
I have reconsidered. A thought has risen in my heart concerning Shaul's kingship, whom I have appointed king.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
