1st Samuel Chapter 15 verse 23 Holy Bible

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.--Witchcraft, more literally soothsaying or divination, was a sin constantly held up to reprobation in the Old Testament. It was the greatest of all the dangers to which Israel was exposed, and was in fact a tampering with the idol-worship of the surrounding nations. Impurity, and an utter lack of all the loftier principles of morality which the one true God and His chosen servants would impress on the peoples of the East, characterised the various systems of idol-worship then current in Syria and the adjacent countries. And Samuel here, in this solemn inspired saying, briefly gives the grounds of the Lord's rejection of His Anointed: "Rebellion," or conscious disobedience to the express commands of the Eternal, in the case of Saul, God's chosen king, was nothing else than the deadly sin of idol-worship, for it set aside the true Master of Israel, and virtually acknowledged another. The next sentence still more emphatically expresses the same thought: "Stubbornness," or "intractableness," is in the eyes of the pure God the same thing as worshipping idols and teraphim. The Hebrew word aven, rendered iniquity, literally signifies "nothingness;" it is a word used in the late prophets for an idol (Hosea 10:8; Isaiah 66:3). The word in the original translated in the English Version "idolatry," is teraphim. Teraphim were apparently small household gods or idols, venerated as the arbiters of good and evil fortune. In Roman life we find similar idols under the name of "Lares." Teraphim is derived from an unused root, taraph, signifying "to live comfortably;" Arabic, tarafa: compare the Sanscrit trip, and the Greek ???????. These idols appear to have been small human figures of various sizes. The image in 1Samuel 19:13 was probably nearly life-size. These teraphim were made generally of silver or of wood. It has been suggested that the teraphim which Rachel stole were images of her ancestors. (See Note on Genesis 31:19, and Mr. Whitelaw's comment on ib. in the Pulpit Commentary.)Parallel Commentaries ...HebrewForכִּ֤י (kî)ConjunctionStrong's 3588: A relative conjunctionrebellionמֶ֔רִי (me·rî)Noun - masculine singularStrong's 4805: Bitterness, rebellion, bitter, rebelliousis like the sinחַטַּאת־ (ḥaṭ·ṭaṯ-)Noun - feminine singular constructStrong's 2403: An offence, its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, expiation, an offenderof divination,קֶ֙סֶם֙ (qe·sem)Noun - masculine singularStrong's 7081: A lot, divination, oracleand arroganceהַפְצַ֑ר (hap̄·ṣar)Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absoluteStrong's 6484: To peck at, stun, dullis like the wickednessוְאָ֥וֶן (wə·’ā·wen)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singularStrong's 205: Strictly nothingness, trouble, vanity, wickedness, an idolof idolatry.וּתְרָפִ֖ים (ū·ṯə·rā·p̄îm)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 8655: (a kind of idol) perhaps household idolBecauseיַ֗עַן (ya·‘an)AdverbStrong's 3282: Heed, purpose, to indicate the reason, causeyou have rejectedמָאַ֙סְתָּ֙ (mā·’as·tā)Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singularStrong's 3988: To spurn, to disappearthe wordדְּבַ֣ר (də·ḇar)Noun - masculine singular constructStrong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a causeof the LORD,יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)Noun - proper - masculine singularStrong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of IsraelHe has rejected youוַיִּמְאָסְךָ֖ (way·yim·’ā·sə·ḵā)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singularStrong's 3988: To spurn, to disappearas king.”מִמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (mim·me·leḵ)Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singularStrong's 4428: A kingJump to PreviousArrogance Arts Divination Evil Idolatry Iniquity Orders Pride Rebellion Rejected Secret Sin Stubbornness Teraphim Use Witchcraft Word Worship