1 Samuel 15:23

King James Version

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord , he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,he has rejected you as king.

Hebrew Names Version
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and terafim. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

Lexham English Bible
For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!"

English Standard Version
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he has also rejected you from being king."

New Century Version
Disobedience is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Pride is as bad as the sin of worshiping idols. You have rejected the Lord 's command. Now he rejects you as king."

New English Translation
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he has rejected you as king."

Amplified Bible
"For rebellion is as [serious as] the sin of divination (fortune-telling), And disobedience is as [serious as] false religion and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you as king."

New American Standard Bible
"For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."

Geneva Bible (1587)
For rebellion is as the sinne of withcraft, and transgression is wickednesse and idolatrie. Because thou hast cast away the worde of the Lord, therefore hee hath cast away thee from being King.

Legacy Standard Bible
For rebellion is as the sin of divination,And insubordination is as wickedness and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh,He has also rejected you from being king."

Contemporary English Version
Rebelling against God or disobeying him because you are proud is just as bad as worshiping idols or asking them for advice. You refused to do what God told you, so God has decided that you can't be king."

Complete Jewish Bible
"For rebellion is like the sin of sorcery, stubbornness like the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Adonai , he too has rejected you as king."

Darby Translation
For rebellion is [as] the sin of divination, And selfwill is [as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He hath also rejected thee from being king.

Easy-to-Read Version
Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Being stubborn and doing what you want is like the sin of worshiping idols. You refused to obey the Lord 's command, so he now refuses to accept you as king."

George Lamsa Translation
For divination is a rebellion, and divination is a grievous iniquity. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

Good News Translation
Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord 's command, he has rejected you as king."

Literal Translation
For the sin of divination is rebellion; insolence is both iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, so He has rejected you from being king.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For disobedience is as ye synne of witchcrafte, and rebellion is as the blasphemy of Idolatrye. In so moch now as thou hast refused the worde of the LORDE, he hath refused the also, that thou shuldest not be kynge.

American Standard Version
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Bible in Basic English
For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For rebellion is as the sinne of witchcraft, and stubbernnesse is as the wickednes of idolatrie: Because thou hast cast away the worde of the Lorde, therefore he hath cast away thee also from being king.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king.'

King James Version (1611)
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubburnnesse is as iniquitie and idolatrie: because thou hast reiected the word of the Lord, he hath also reiected thee from being king.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For sin is as divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject thee from being king over Israel.

English Revised Version
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Berean Standard Bible
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."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for it is as the synne of mawmetrie to `fiyte ayens Goddis heest, and it is as the wickidnesse of ydolatrie to nyle `ascente to Goddis heest. Therfor for that, that thou castidist awey the word of the Lord, the Lord castide thee awei, that thou be not kyng.

Young's Literal Translation
for a sin of divination [is] rebellion, and iniquity and teraphim [is] stubbornness; because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He also doth reject thee from [being] king.'

Update Bible Version
For rebellion is as the sin of fortune-telling, and stubbornness is as idolatry and talismans. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.

Webster's Bible Translation
For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.

World English Bible
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.

New King James Version
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."

New Living Translation
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord , he has rejected you as king."

New Life Bible
To go against what you are told is like the sin of witchcraft. Not to obey is like the sin of worshiping false gods. You have turned away from the Word of the Lord. So He has turned away from you being king."

New Revised Standard
For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he has also rejected you from being king."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, as the sin of divination, is, rebelliousness, - and, as transgression with household gods, is, stubbornness, - Because thou hast rejected the word of Yahweh, therefore hath he rejected thee from being king.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch, therefore, as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king.

Revised Standard Version
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, ¹¹ 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. ¹² And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. ¹³ And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord : I have performed the commandment of the Lord . ¹⁴ And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? ¹⁵ And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. ¹⁶ Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. ¹⁷ And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? ¹⁸ And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. ¹⁹ Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord , but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord ?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

rebellion: 1 Samuel 12:14, 1 Samuel 12:15, Numbers 14:9, Deuteronomy 9:7, Deuteronomy 9:24, Joshua 22:16-19, Job 34:37, Psalms 107:11, Jeremiah 28:16, Jeremiah 29:32, Ezekiel 2:5-8

witchcraft: Heb. divination, Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 18:11, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 19:3, Revelation 22:15

stubbornness: 2 Corinthians 6:16, Galatians 5:20, Revelation 21:8

thou hast rejected: 1 Samuel 2:30, 1 Samuel 13:14, 1 Samuel 16:1, 2 Kings 17:15-20, 1 Chronicles 28:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:17 - Because Leviticus 19:26 - use Deuteronomy 17:20 - right hand Joshua 22:15 - General Joshua 22:22 - if it be Judges 2:19 - stubborn 1 Samuel 15:26 - for thou 1 Samuel 28:18 - obeyedst 2 Samuel 7:15 - as I took 2 Samuel 12:9 - despised 1 Kings 20:36 - General 2 Kings 17:20 - rejected 1 Chronicles 10:13 - even against 2 Chronicles 6:5 - neither chose 2 Chronicles 33:6 - he observed Psalms 75:7 - he putteth Psalms 106:34 - concerning Psalms 119:119 - puttest away Proverbs 19:3 - foolishness Isaiah 5:24 - cast away Jeremiah 6:19 - nor to Jeremiah 16:12 - imagination Lamentations 1:18 - for I Ezekiel 21:21 - to use Daniel 4:31 - The kingdom Hosea 13:11 - General Malachi 2:12 - and him Acts 13:22 - when

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,.... Or divination e, in whatsoever way it was exercised; for there were various sorts of it among the Heathens, and all condemned by the law of God, Deuteronomy 18:10. Now rebellion against God, or disobeying his commands, though in things otherwise, were they not forbidden by him, lawful to be done, is as heinous a sin as to be guilty of witchcraft, or any kind of divination forbidden by the law of God, and deserves as sore a punishment:

and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry: for a man, when he has committed a sin, to persist in it obstinately, or to vindicate himself in it, and insist on his innocence, which was Saul's case, is as hateful to God as any iniquity whatever; yea, as bad as idolatry, or making use of the teraphim, as is the word here; of which see Hosea 3:4 than which nothing is more abominable to the Lord:

because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord; disregarded his command, treated it with contempt and abhorrence:

he hath rejected thee from being king; not actually, for he continued to exercise kingly power and authority to his death, and was treated as a king by his subjects, and even by David, though anointed by the Lord; but the sentence of rejection was pronounced upon him, and the bestowal of the government on his posterity was cut off.

e חטאת קסם "peccatum divinationis", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "ariolandi", V. L. "magiae", Munster, Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The meaning is “Rebellion is as bad as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as bad as worshipping false gods (iniquity), and teraphim (idolatry).”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 15:23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. — This is no translation of those difficult words, כי חטאת קסם מרי ואון ותרפים הפצר ki chattath kesem meri veaven utheraphim haphtsar. It appears to me that the three nouns which occur first in the text refer each to the three last in order. Thus, חטאת chattath, TRANSGRESSION, refers to און aven, INIQUITY, which is the principle whence transgression springs. קסם kesem, DIVINATION, refers to תרפים teraphim, consecrated images or telesms, vulgarly talismans, used in incantations. And מרי meri, REBELLION, refers evidently to הפצר haphstar, STUBBORNNESS, whence rebellion springs. The meaning therefore of this difficult place may be the following: As transgression comes from iniquity, divination from teraphim, and rebellion from stubbornness, so, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. All the versions are different.