1 Samuel 15:16 (ASV)

Passage

Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

1 Samuel 15:15 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 Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel;

1 Samuel 15:18 and Jehovah sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "said", "saul", "stay", "tell", "thee", "jehovah", and "hath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "samuel" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And Saul said They have brought them..." into verse 17's "And Samuel said Though thou wast little...", so "samuel" and "said" 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 "samuel" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.