1 Samuel 16:15

1 Samuel 16:15

And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

a. ASV: Now the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.

b. YLT: And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him;

c. Amplified Bible Classic: Saul’s servants said to him, Behold, an evil spirit from God torments you.

d. Septuagint: And Saul’s servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from the Lord torments thee.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now! A spirit of melancholy from God torments you.

1. “And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.”

a. [And] Saul’s [Strong: 7586 Shâʼûwl, shaw-ool'; passive participle of H7592; asked; Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites:—Saul, Shaul.] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H7586 in the following manner: Saul (399x), Shaul (7x).]

b. servants [Strong: 5650 ʻebed, eh'-bed; from H5647; a servant:—× bondage, bondman, (bond-) servant, (man-) servant.] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H5650 in the following manner: servant (744x), manservant (23x), bondman (21x), bondage (10x), bondservant (1x), on all sides (1x).]

c. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, ×expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H559 in the following manner: said (4,874x), speak (179x), answer (99x), command (30x), tell (29x), call (7x), promised (6x), miscellaneous (84x).]

d. unto [him [Strong: 413  'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

e. Behold [Strong: 2009 hinneh hin-nay' prolongation for 2005; lo!:--behold, lo, see.]

f. now [Strong: 4994 na' naw a primitive particle of incitement and entreaty, which may usually be rendered: "I pray," "now," or "then"; added mostly to verbs (in the Imperative or Future), or to interjections, occasionally to an adverb or conjunction:--I beseech (pray) thee (you), go to, now, oh.]

g. [an] evil [Strong: 7451 raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), +exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.)] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H7451 in the following manner: evil (442x), wickedness (59x), wicked (25x), mischief (21x), hurt (20x), bad (13x), trouble (10x), sore (9x), affliction (6x), ill (5x), adversity (4x), ill favoured (3x), harm (3x), naught (3x), noisome (2x), grievous (2x), sad (2x), miscellaneous (34x).]

h. spirit [Strong: 7307 rûwach, roo'-akh; from H7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions):—air, anger, blast, breath, × cool, courage, mind, ×quarter, × side, spirit(-ual), tempest, × vain, (whirl-) wind(-y).] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H7307 in the following manner: Spirit or spirit (232x), wind (92x), breath (27x), side (6x), mind (5x), blast (4x), vain (2x), air (1x), anger (1x), cool (1x), courage (1x), miscellaneous (6x).]

i. [from] God [Strong: 430  ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H430 in the following manner: God (2,346x), god (244x), judge (5x), GOD (1x), goddess (2x), great (2x), mighty (2x), angels (1x), exceeding (1x), God-ward (with H4136) (1x), godly (1x).]

j. Troubleth [thee] [Strong: 1204  bâʻath, baw-ath'; a primitive root; to fear:—affright, be (make) afraid, terrify, trouble.] [BLB: The KJV translates Strong's H1204 in the following manner: afraid (10x), terrify (3x), affrighted (1x), trouble (2x).]

1). Dake: Evil spirits come from God only in the sense of being permitted by Him to trouble those who are backslidden and persist in sin and rebellion (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Kings 22:21-24; 2 Chronicles 18:20-23). The idea is that God does not protect such a person from spirits as He otherwise would if he yielded to Him instead, and obeyed Him. God gave Saul over to an evil spirit as punishment for his sins and self-will. Naturally, when the Holy Spirit left him he was open to an evil spirit of torment from Satan.

2). This same process is in effect today in the New Covenant. If a person persists in sinning against God and they knowingly walk in evil behavior and refuse to repent, they are given over to their behavior and to its consequences because they are determined to walk in it and refuse to obey God (Romans 1:18-32).