1 Samuel 15:28 (WEB)

Passage

Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected Yahweh’s word, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

1 Samuel 15:27 As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.

1 Samuel 15:28 Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

1 Samuel 15:29 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 please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samuel", "said", "yahweh", "torn", "kingdom", "israel", "today", and "given". 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 "As Samuel turned around to go away..." into verse 29's "Also the Strength of 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.