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

19They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.” 20“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty. 22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own. 23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you 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

• Do notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• turn asideסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: turn asideH5493
• turn asideכִּיkîy · forH3588
• afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• worthlessתֹּ֫הוּtôhû · formlessnessH8414
• things thatאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• profitיָעַלya‛al · to gainH3276
• or deliverנָצַלnâtsal · to rescueH5337
• theyהֵ֫מָּהhêm hêmmâh · they(masc.)H1992

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 12:21

• Deuteronomy 32:21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
• Jeremiah 2:5This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.
• Jeremiah 10:8But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
• Jeremiah 14:22Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
• Jeremiah 16:19O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
• Jonah 2:8Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
• Habakkuk 2:18What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
• Isaiah 41:23Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.
• Isaiah 44:9All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
• Isaiah 45:20Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
• Isaiah 46:7They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.
• Jeremiah 10:15They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

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