Bible Strands
1 Samuel 15:14
But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Samuel confronts Saul immediately after Saul declares he has fully executed the Lord’s command to destroy the Amalekites. Samuel’s question directly addresses the audible livestock sounds that contradict Saul’s claim of complete obedience.
The words — The Hebrew קֹל (kol, “sound”) and מֶה (meh, “what”) frame Samuel’s immediate challenge to the physical evidence he perceives. These terms isolate the discrepancy between Saul’s report and the actual situation on the ground.
The thread — The clash between claimed obedience and hidden reality appears in Psalms 50:16, where God questions the wicked’s right to recite statutes while living contrary to them. Jeremiah 2:18 similarly questions Israel’s pursuit of foreign political alliances rather than divine instruction.
Why it lands — The text records Samuel pointing out a tangible contradiction before drawing any theological conclusion. It requires readers to verify their spoken claims against their observable actions before claiming divine approval.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
Cross-references
- Psalms 36:2 For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
- Psalms 50:16 To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
- Jeremiah 2:18 Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
- Jeremiah 2:22 Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
- Jeremiah 2:34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Malachi 3:13 “Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- Luke 19:22 His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.