1 Samuel 15:11 (YLT)

Passage

`I have repented that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he hath turned back from after Me, and My words he hath not performed;' and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he crieth unto Jehovah all the night.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:9 and Saul hath pity--also the people--on Agag, and on the best of the flock, and of the herd, and of the seconds, and on the lambs, and on all that <FI>is<Fi> good, and have not been willing to devote them; and all the work, despised and wasted--it they devoted.

1 Samuel 15:10 And the word of Jehovah is unto Samuel, saying,

1 Samuel 15:11 `I have repented that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he hath turned back from after Me, and My words he hath not performed;' and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he crieth unto Jehovah all the night.

1 Samuel 15:12 And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, `Saul hath come in to Carmel, and lo, he is setting up to himself a monument, and goeth round, and passeth over, and goeth down to Gilgal.'

1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel cometh in unto Saul, and Saul saith to him, `Blessed <FI>art<Fi> thou of Jehovah; I have performed the word of Jehovah.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "repented", "caused", "saul", "reign", "king", "hath", "turned", and "back". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "repented" and "caused", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And the word of Jehovah is unto..." into verse 12's "And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul...", so "repented" and "caused" 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 "repented" and "caused" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.