1 Samuel 15:23

Contextual Overview

¹⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: ¹⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹⁰Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, ¹⁰ Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ¹⁰ Then came the word of the Lord vnto Samuel, saying: ¹⁰ Then Samuel received this message from the Lord : ¹⁰ And the Word of Jehovah was to Samuel, saying, ¹⁰ The word of the LORD came to Samuel: ¹⁰ Then came the word of Yahweh to Samuel, saying, ¹⁰ Then came the word of the Lord vnto Samuel, saying;

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.