Bible Strands
1 Samuel 16:1
Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Samuel at a moment of leadership transition after formally rejecting Saul as king over Israel. God commands Samuel to cease his mourning, fill a horn with oil, and travel to Jesse in Bethlehem to select a new ruler.
The words — מִתְאַבֵּ֣ל (mit.'a.Bel) literally means "mourning," describing Samuel’s active grief for the fallen king. עַד\־ (ad-) translates as "until," structuring God’s rhetorical question about the duration of that grief.
The thread — The verse directly follows the divine rejection of Saul detailed in 1 Samuel 15:23 and aligns with Samuel’s continued mourning noted in 1 Samuel 15:35. The commissioning pattern mirrors the prophetic summons in 2 Kings 9:1, where a prophet is sent to execute a royal transition.
Why it lands — The text records God’s command to replace prolonged lament with immediate action toward a new divine appointment. It requires the reader to distinguish between faithful remembrance and stubborn resistance to a completed divine decision.
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 the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth–lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
- 2 Kings 9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
- 1 Samuel 15:35 And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
- Psalms 78:68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
- 1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- 1 Samuel 15:26 “I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”
- 1 Samuel 16:15 Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.
- Romans 15:12 And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”
- 1 Samuel 9:16 “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
- 1 Samuel 13:13 “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.