Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ εἶπε Σαοὺλ, ἡμάρτηκα, ἀλλὰ δόξασόν με δὴ ἐνώπιον πρεσβυτέρων Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐνώπιον λαοῦ μου, καὶ ἀνάστρεψον μετʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ προσκυνήσω Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου. (Kai eipe Saʼoul, haʸmartaʸka, alla doxason me daʸ enōpion presbuterōn Israaʸl kai enōpion laou mou, kai anastrepson metʼ emou, kai proskunaʸsō Kuriōi tōi Theōi sou. )
BrTrAnd Saul said, I have sinned; yet honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of Israel, and before my people; and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God.
ULTAnd he said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. And return with me, so I may worship Yahweh your God.”
USTThen Saul pleaded again. He said, “I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israelite people and in front of all the other Israelite people by coming back to them with me in order that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
BSB § “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
OEBThen Saul said, ‘I have sinned, yet honour me now at least before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turn back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.’
WEBBEThen he said, “I have sinned; yet please honour me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.”
NETSaul again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the Lord your God.”
LSVAnd he says, “I have sinned; now please honor me before [the] elderly of my people and before Israel, and return with me; and I have bowed myself to your God YHWH.”
FBV“Yes, I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel—come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.”
T4TThen Saul pleaded again. He said, “I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israeli people and in front of all the other Israeli people by coming back to them with me in order that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
LEBThen he[fn] said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so that I can worship[fn] Yahweh your God.”
BBEThen he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God.
JPSThen he said: 'I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.'
ASVThen he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God.
DRAThen 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.
YLTAnd he saith, 'I have sinned; now, honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me; and I have bowed myself to Jehovah thy God.'
DrbyAnd he said, I have sinned; honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy [fn]God.
RVThen he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
WbstrThen he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
KJB-1769Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. (Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee/you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy/your God. )
KJB-1611Then he said, I haue sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the Elders of my people, and before Israel, and turne againe with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
BshpsHe sayde, I haue sinned: But nowe honour me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turne againe with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. (He said, I have sinned: But now honour me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy/your God.)
GnvaThen he saide, I haue sinned: but honour mee, I pray thee, before the Elders of my people, and before Israel, and turne againe with mee, that I may worship the Lord thy God. (Then he said, I have sinned: but honour me, I pray thee/you, before the Elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy/your God. )
CvdlHe sayde: I haue synned, yet honoure me now before the Elders of my people and before Israel, and turne backe with me, that I maye worshippe the LORDE thy God. (He said: I have sinned, yet honoure me now before the Elders of my people and before Israel, and turn back with me, that I may worshippe the LORD thy/your God.)
WyclAnd Saul seide, Y synnede; but now onoure thou me bifor the eldere men of my puple, and bifor Israel, and turne thou ayen with me, that Y worschipe thi Lord God. (And Saul said, I sinned; but now honour thou/you me before the elder men of my people, and before Israel, and turn thou/you again with me, that I worship thy/your Lord God.)
LuthEr aber sprach: Ich habe gesündiget; aber ehre mich doch jetzt vor den Ältesten meines Volks und vor Israel; und kehre mit mir um, daß ich den HErr’s, deinen GOtt, anbete. (He but spoke: I have gesündiget; but ehre me though/but jetzt before/in_front_of the elders my peoples and before/in_front_of Israel; and kehre with to_me um, that I the LORD’s, deinen God, anbete.)
ClVgAt ille ait: Peccavi: sed nunc honora me coram senioribus populi mei et coram Israël, et revertere mecum, ut adorem Dominum Deum tuum. (At ille he_said: Peccavi: but now honora me before seniors of_the_people my/mine and before Israel, and revertere mecum, as adorem Dominum God tuum. )
Thirty-four times in the Old Testament, God is said to “change his mind” or “be sorry” (Hebrew nakham). What could this mean? Did he relent, or did he have pity? Was he sorry, or did he grieve?
One thing is clear: God never repents of sin or moral failure, because he is perfect (see 1 Sam 15:29; Num 23:19). He may “change his mind” regarding calamity or judgment that he initiated—that is, he may decide to stop it—in response to prayers of repentance (Jer 18:7-10; Joel 2:14; Jon 3:9-10), a human intercessor (Exod 32:11-14; Amos 7:2-6), or with no apparent human mediation (Judg 2:18; 2 Sam 24:16). On a few occasions, God is “sorry” about something he has already done, such as choosing Saul to be king (1 Sam 15:11, 35; cp. Gen 6:6). Yet God is not admitting past mistakes; he is expressing anguish over lives gone awry.
Theologians debate the degree to which God, who is all-wise and all-powerful, can “change his mind.” In the Bible, any language that refers to a change in God’s mind reflects a human perspective on God’s activity. Any change in God, therefore, is a change as humans experience him—a reflection of his unchanging love, mercy, faithfulness, and holy will. It does not suggest a change in God’s power, omniscience, foreknowledge, wisdom, or holiness.
(Occurrence 0) But please honor me now before the elders
(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_said sinned now honor,me now before elders people,my and,before Yisrael and,return with,me and,worship to/for=YHWH God,your )
Saul may have been more interested in being honored by the people than in actually worshipping God.
(Occurrence 0) before the elders of my people and before Israel
(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_said sinned now honor,me now before elders people,my and,before Yisrael and,return with,me and,worship to/for=YHWH God,your )
Here “Israel” refers to the people of Israel. Alternate translation: “before the people of Israel and the elders who lead them”
(Occurrence 0) Turn again with me
(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_said sinned now honor,me now before elders people,my and,before Yisrael and,return with,me and,worship to/for=YHWH God,your )
Alternate translation: “Come back with me” or “Return with me”
Saul’s war against the Amalekites exemplifies many of the key traits–good and bad–of Saul’s leadership over Israel. Immediately before the story is recounted, the author notes that during Saul’s entire reign he fought valiantly against Israel’s enemies on every side (1 Samuel 14:47-52), and he amassed an army of skilled soldiers. Thus, Saul fulfilled one of the primary reasons the people demanded that Samuel appoint a king over them (1 Samuel 8). Then the author notes that the Lord, through Samuel, directed Saul to attack the Amalekites and utterly destroy them and their belongings as punishment for their cruel attack on the Israelites after they left Egypt to travel to Mount Sinai (Exodus 17; Deuteronomy 25:17-19). So Saul mustered a large number of troops at a place called Telaim and traveled to an otherwise unknown “city of the Amalekites” and lay in lay in wait for them in a valley. Saul also warned the Kenites, the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law Hobab (also called Jethro), to move away from the Amalekites so they would not be killed in the coming battle. It appears that the Kenites had remained on good terms with the Israelites since the time of Hobab/Jethro and accompanied them as they entered the Promised Land, eventually settling among the Amalekites in the Negev near Arad (Judges 1:16). Saul defeated the Amalekites, pursuing them “from Havilah as far as Shur,” according the the Hebrew text. The region of Havilah, however, was several hundred miles from the Negev, making it unlikely to be the place to which Saul pursued them, and this is underscored by the Septuagint’s substitution of “Elath” for “Havilah”. It is possible that the author was using this phrase as a hyperbolic merism to indicate that Saul pursued the Amalekites throughout the entire land in which they lived (see also Genesis 25:18 regarding the Ishmaelites). But since elsewhere in Scripture the Amalekites are said to live in the Negev and in southern Canaan (Genesis 14:7; Numbers 13:29; 14:45; Judges 1:16), another possibility is that the “Havilah” reading is a textual corruption. The Septuagint translators may have preserved the original reading of “Elath,” or they may have been making their best guess as to the intended location. Simply based on the similarity of spelling and the geography of the region (as shown on this map), it is possible that the original reading was “Hachilah,” a hill where David would later have some close encounters with Saul during his time in the wilderness (1 Samuel 23:19; 26:1). In any case, Saul and his men thoroughly defeated the Amalekites, but they failed to completely destroy them (see 1 Samuel 30) and their belongings. Instead they took King Agag alive and kept the best of the spoils. After this Saul traveled to Carmel and set up a monument for himself, and then he continued on to Gilgal. When Samuel arrived in Gilgal, however, he was angry with Saul for failing to devote all of the Amalekites and their goods to destruction, and he told Saul that the Lord regretted having made him king. Samuel then killed King Agag himself at Gilgal and returned to his home in Ramah. Saul returned to his home in Gibeah, but Samuel never spoke with Saul again.
