1 Samuel 28:16

Hebrew Bible

15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me anymore—not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.” 16 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied! The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!

LXX 1 Samuel 28:16

Septuagint

15 And Samuel said, Why hast thou troubled me, that I should come up? And Saul said, I am greatly distressed, and the Philistines war against me, and God has departed from me, and no longer hearkens to me either by the hand of prophets or by dreams: and now I have called thee to tell me what I shall do. 16 And Samuel said, Why askest thou me, whereas the Lord has departed from thee, and taken part with thy neighbour? 17 And the Lord has done to thee, as the Lord spoke by me; and the Lord will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David,

 Notes and References

"... In 1 Samuel 28:16, Samuel states the reasoning for Saul’s catastrophic fate. The Masoretic text reads “God became your enemy”. In the Septuagint, we read “God is with your neighbour.” Perhaps this phrasing is not the result of translation but of inner-Hebrew correction; someone wrote ךער םע instead of ךרע. The graphical closeness does not imply automatically the lacking of consciousness. In any case, the translator of the Septuagint is not the only one who avoids the notion that God should be an enemy of human beings. Also, the Targumist reformulates this passage: “the Memra of the Lord is at the aid of the man whose enemy you are”. Josephus omits this passage ..."

Meiser, Martin The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (p. 76) Mohr Siebeck, 2022

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