1 Samuel 16:2 (GNV)

Passage

And Samuel sayde, Howe can I goe? for if Saul shall heare it, he will kill me. Then the Lord answered, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to doe sacrifice to the Lord.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 16:1 The Lord then saide vnto Samuel, Howe long wilt thou mourne for Saul, seeing I haue cast him away from reigning ouer Israel? fill thine horne with oyle and come, I will sende thee to Ishai the Bethlehemite: for I haue prouided mee a King among his sonnes.

1 Samuel 16:2 And Samuel sayde, Howe can I goe? for if Saul shall heare it, he will kill me. Then the Lord answered, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to doe sacrifice to the Lord.

1 Samuel 16:3 And call Ishai to the sacrifice, and I will shewe thee what thou shalt doe, and thou shalt anoynt vnto me him whom I name vnto thee.

1 Samuel 16:4 So Samuel did that the Lord bade him, and came to Beth-lehem, and the Elders of the towne were astonied at his comming, and sayd, Commest thou peaceablie?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "sayde", "howe", "saul", "shall", "heare", "kill", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "samuel" and "sayde", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "The Lord then saide vnto Samuel Howe..." into verse 3's "And call Ishai to the sacrifice and...", so "samuel" and "sayde" 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 "sayde" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.