1 Samuel 15:33 (DRB)

Passage

And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:32 And Samuel said: Bring hither to me Agag, the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner?

1 Samuel 15:33 And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.

1 Samuel 15:34 And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.

1 Samuel 15:35 And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "said", "sword", "hath", "women", "childless", "shall", and "mother". 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 32's "And Samuel said Bring hither to me..." into verse 34's "And Samuel departed to Ramatha but Saul...", 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.