1 Samuel 12:21

1 Samuel 12:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.

Context of 1 Samuel 12:21

19Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we will not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil—to ask for a king for ourselves.” 20Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have [indeed] done all this evil; yet do not turn away from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn away, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or rescue, because they are futile. 22The Lord will not abandon His people for His great name’s sake, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

1 Samuel 12:21 word by word

וְלֹ֖א תָּס֑וּרוּ כִּ֣י׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י הַתֹּ֗הוּ אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹֽא־יוֹעִ֛ילוּ וְלֹ֥א יַצִּ֖ילוּ כִּי־תֹ֥הוּ הֵֽמָּה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And turn ye not asideסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: turn asideH5493
• afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• vainתֹּ֫הוּtôhû · formlessnessH8414
• which cannot profitיָעַלya‛al · to gainH3276
• nor deliverנָצַלnâtsal · to rescueH5337

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 12:21

• Deuteronomy 32:21They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
• Jeremiah 2:5Thus says the Lord, “What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me, That they have wandered far from Me And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty?
• Jeremiah 10:8But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!
• Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the idols of the nations who can send rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait and hope [confidently] in You, For You are the one who has made all these things [the heavens and the rain].
• Jeremiah 16:19[Then said Jeremiah] “O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold, And my Refuge in the day of distress and need, The nations will come to You From the ends of the earth and say, ‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies and illusion, [Worthless] things in which there is no benefit!’
• Jonah 2:8Those who regard and follow worthless idols Turn away from their [living source of] mercy and lovingkindness.
• Habakkuk 2:18“What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it? It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies. For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god] When he makes speechless idols.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world [it has no real existence], and that there is no God but one.
• Psalms 115:4The idols [of the nations] are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands.
• Isaiah 41:23Tell us the things that are to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, you should do something good or do evil, that we may be afraid and fear [you] together [as we observe the miracle].
• Isaiah 44:9All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.
• Isaiah 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.
• Isaiah 46:7They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it; They set it in its place and there it remains standing. It cannot move from its place. Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer; It cannot save him from his distress.
• Jeremiah 10:15They are worthless and devoid of promise, a work of delusion and mockery; In their time of [trial and] punishment they will perish [without hope].

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 12:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21After vain things - That is, idols; which he calls here התהו hattohu, the same expression found Genesis 1:2. The earth was תהו tohu ; it was waste, empty, and formless: so idols; they are confusion, and things of naught, for an idol is nothing in the world, it is not the representative of any intelligent being.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-25Verses 16-25 At Samuel's word, God sent thunder and rain, at a season of the year when, in that country, the like was not seen. This was to convince them they had done wickedly in asking a king; not only by its coming at an unusual time, in wheat harvest, and on a clear day, but by the prophet's giving notice of it before. He showed their folly in desiring a king to save them, rather than God, or Samuel; promising themselves more from an arm of flesh…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21worthless … they are empty: Israel was slow to understand this lesson (for example, Isaiah 40:18–26; 44:9–20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2517-25. Is it not wheat harvest to-day?--That season in Palestine occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom or never rains, and the sky is serene and cloudless. There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any prognostics of its approach, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 12:21

• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Reason
• Samuel, Books of
• Judges, Period of
• Samuel, Books of

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings