1 Samuel 15:28 (ASV)

Passage

And Samuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul] laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent.

1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.

1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.

1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "said", "jehovah", "hath", "rent", "kingdom", "israel", and "thee". 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 27's "And as Samuel turned about to go..." into verse 29's "And also the Strength of Israel will...", 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.