1 Samuel 15:16 (DBY)

Passage

And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, that I may tell thee what Jehovah has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

Nearby Context

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

1 Samuel 15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

1 Samuel 15:16 And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, that I may tell thee what Jehovah has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, Was it not when thou wast little in thine eyes that thou [becamest] the head of the tribes of Israel, and Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel?

1 Samuel 15:18 And Jehovah sent thee on a way 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", and "jehovah". 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 Was it not when...", 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.