God’s Word Translation
1 Samuel 15:11
11“I regret that I made Saul king. He turned away from me and did not carry out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he prayed to the Lord all night.
1 Samuel 15:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments." And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
Context of 1 Samuel 15:11
9Saul and the army spared Agag and the best sheep and cows, the fattened animals, the lambs, and all the best ⌞property⌟. The army refused to claim them for God by destroying them. But everything that was worthless and weak the army did claim for God and destroy. 10Then the Lord spoke to Samuel: “I regret that I made Saul king. He turned away from me and did not carry out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he prayed to the Lord all night. 12Early in the morning he got up to meet Saul. Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument in his honor. Then he left there and went to Gilgal.” 13Samuel came to Saul, who said, “The Lord bless you. I carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
Read all of 1 Samuel 151 Samuel 15:11 word by word
נִחַ֗מְתִּי כִּֽי־הִמְלַ֤כְתִּי אֶת־שָׁאוּל֙ לְמֶ֔לֶךְ כִּֽי־שָׁב֙ מֵאַֽחֲרַ֔י וְאֶת־דְּבָרַ֖י לֹ֣א הֵקִ֑ים וַיִּ֙חַר֙ לִשְׁמוּאֵ֔ל וַיִּזְעַ֥ק אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה כָּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- It repentethנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: relentH5162
- me that I have set upמָלַךְmâlak · to reignH4427
- Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
- kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- for he is turned backשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
- from followingאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- me, and hath not performedקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
- my commandmentsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- And it grievedחָרָהchârâh · to be incensedH2734
- Samuelשְׁמוּאֵלshemû'êl · SamuelH8050
- and he criedזָעַקzâ‛aq · to cry outH2199
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- all nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
Cross-references for 1 Samuel 15:11
- 1 Samuel 15:35Samuel didn’t see Saul again before he died, though Samuel mourned over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king of Israel.
- Genesis 6:6The Lord was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and he was heartbroken.
- 2 Samuel 24:16But when the Messenger stretched out his arm to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about the disaster. “Enough!” he said to the Messenger who was destroying the people. “Put down your weapon.” The Messenger of the Lord was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- Psalms 110:4The Lord has taken an oath and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the way Melchizedek was a priest.”
- Jeremiah 18:7“At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.
- Amos 7:3The Lord changed his plans about this. “This won’t happen,” the Lord said.
- Jonah 3:10God saw what they did. He saw that they turned from their wicked ways. So God reconsidered his threat to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.
- Jonah 4:2So he prayed to the Lord, “Lord, isn’t this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country? That’s why I tried to run to Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, patient, and always ready to forgive and to reconsider your threats of destruction.
- Joshua 22:16“All of the Lord’s congregation is asking, ‘What is this faithless act you have committed against the God of Israel?’ Today you have turned away from following the Lord by building an altar for yourselves. Today you have rebelled against the Lord!
- 1 Kings 9:6But if you and your descendants dare to turn away from me and do not keep my commands and laws that I gave to you, and follow and serve other gods and worship them,
- Psalms 36:3The words from his mouth are ⌞nothing but⌟ trouble and deception. He has stopped doing what is wise and good.
- Psalms 78:41Again and again they tested God, and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.
- Psalms 125:5But when people become crooked, the Lord will lead them away with troublemakers. Let there be peace in Israel!
- Zephaniah 1:6I will remove those who have turned away from following the Lord and those who no longer seek the Lord or ask him for help.”
- Matthew 24:13But the person who endures to the end will be saved.
- 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and attack Amalek. Claim everything they have for God by destroying it. Don’t spare them, but kill men and women, infants and children, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 15:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11It 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11It grieved Samuel - “Samuel was angry, or displeased,” as Jonah was Jonah 4:1, and for a similar reason. Samuel was displeased that the king whom he had anointed should be set aside. It seemed a slur on his prophetic office. He cried unto the Lord - With the wild scream or shriek of supplication. (See 1 Samuel 7:8-9; 1 Samuel 12:18.) The phrase and the action mark Samuel‘s fervent, earnest character.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-23Verses 10-23 Repentance in God is not a change of mind, as it is in us, but a change of method. The change was in Saul; "He is turned back from following me." Hereby he made God his enemy. Samuel spent a whole night in pleading for Saul. The rejection of sinners is the grief of believers: God delights not in their death, nor should we. Saul boasts to Samuel of his obedience. Thus sinners think, by justifying themselves, to escape being judged of the Lord…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35After Saul disobeyed God by not completely destroying the Amalekites, God rejected him more strongly than before (see 1 Samuel 13:8–14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1110-11. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Samuel 15:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 15
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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