1 Samuel 15:11 (ASV)

Passage

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 Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

1 Samuel 15:10 Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying,

1 Samuel 15:11 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 Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night.

1 Samuel 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.

1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "repenteth", "saul", "king", "turned", "back", "following", "hath", and "performed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "repenteth" and "saul", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Then came the word of Jehovah unto..." into verse 12's "And Samuel rose early to meet Saul...", so "repenteth" and "saul" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "repenteth" and "saul" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.