1 Samuel 15:28 (DRB)

Passage

And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hath rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15:27 And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.

1 Samuel 15:29 But the triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a man that he should repent.

1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "said", "lord", "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 Samuel turned about to go away..." into verse 29's "But the triumpher in Israel will not...", 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.