1 Samuel 16 · Verse 14

1 Samuel 16:14

But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
1 Samuel 16:14, King James Version

1 Samuel 16:14 in other translations

BSBAfter the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.
WEBNow the LORD’s Spirit departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
ASVNow the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.
YLTAnd the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him;
DARBYAnd the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.
BBENow the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him.
WebsterBut the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

What does 1 Samuel 16:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 16:14-18
14-18. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him--His own gloomy reflections, the consciousness that he had not acted up to the character of an Israelitish king, the loss of his throne, and the extinction of his royal house, made him jealous, irritable, vindictive, and subject to fits of morbid melancholy.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul - He was thrown into such a state of mind by the judgments of God, as to be deprived of any regal qualities which he before possessed. God seems to have taken what gifts he had, and given them to David; and then the evil spirit came upon Saul; for what God fills not, the devil will. An evil spirit from the Lord - The evil spirit was either immediately sent from the Lord, or permitted to come. Whether this was a diabolic possession, or a mere mental malady, the learned are not agreed; it seems to have partaken of both. That Saul had fallen into a deep melancholy, there is little doubt; that the devil might work more effectually on such a state of mind, there can be but little question. There is an old proverb, Satan delights to fish in troubled waters; and Saul's situation of mind gave him many advantages. The theory of Dr. Scheuchzer, in his Physica Sacra, on the malady of Saul, is allowed to be very ingenious. It is in substance as follows: Health consists in a moderate tension of the fibres, which permits all the fluids to have an entire freedom of circulation, and to the spirits, that of diffusing themselves through all the limbs; on the contrary, disease consists in tensions of the fibres morbidly weak or morbidly strong. This latter seems to have been the case of Saul; and as the undulations of the air which convey sound communicate themselves to and through the most solid bodies, it is easy to suppose that by the modulations of music all the fibres of his body, which were under the influence of the morbidly increased tension, might be so relaxed as to be brought back into their natural state, and thus permit the re-establishment of a free and gentle circulation of the fluids, and consequently of the animal spirits, and thus induce calmness and tranquillity of mind. I believe this theory to be correct, and I should find no difficulty to amplify and to illustrate the subject. Even a skillful playing upon the harp was one means to bring a disordered state of the nervous and fibrous system into a capacity of affording such uninterrupted tranquillity to the mind as to render it capable of receiving the prophetic influence; see the case of Elisha, 2Kgs 3:14, 2Kgs 3:15. It has been said: - "Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast." This has been literally proved: a musician was brought to play on his instrument while they were feeding a savage lion in the tower of London; the beast immediately left his food, came towards the grating of his den, and began to move in such a way as to show himself affected by the music. The musician ceased, and the lion returned to his food; he recommenced, and the lion left off his prey, and was so affected as to seem by his motions to dance with delight. This was repeatedly tried, and the effects were still the same.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 16:14-23
Saul is made a terror to himself. The Spirit of the Lord departed from him. If God and his grace do not rule us, sin and Satan will have possession of us. The devil, by the Divine permission, troubled and terrified Saul, by the corrupt humours of his body, and passions of his mind. He grew fretful, peevish, and discontented, and at times a madman. It is a pity that music, which may be serviceable to the good temper of the mind, should ever be abused, to support vanity and luxury, and made an occasion of drawing the heart from God and serious things. That is driving away the good Spirit, not the evil spirit. Music, diversions, company, or business, have for a time often been employed to quiet the wounded conscience; but nothing can effect a real cure but the blood of Christ, applied in faith, and the sanctifying Spirit sealing the pardon, by his holy comforts. All other plans to dispel religious melancholy are sure to add to distress, either in this world or the next.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

1 Samuel 16:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְר֧וּחַve.Ru.achand [the] spirit ofH7307
יְהוָ֛הYah.wehYahwehH3068
סָ֖רָהSa.rahit departedH5493
מֵעִ֣םme.'Imfrom withH5973
שָׁא֑וּלsha.'UlSaulH7586
וּבִֽעֲתַ֥תּוּu.vi.'a.Ta.tuand it terrified himH1204
רֽוּחַ\־Ru.ach-a spiritH7307
רָעָ֖הra.'AhevilH7451
מֵאֵ֥תme.'Etfrom withH854
יְהוָֽה\׃Yah.wehYahwehH3068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 16:14

  • Psalms 51:11

    Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

  • 1 Samuel 18:12

    And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.

  • Judges 9:23

    Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

  • 1 Samuel 28:15

    And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

  • 1 Samuel 18:10

    And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.

  • Judges 16:20

    And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

  • Acts 19:15-16

    And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

  • 1 Kings 22:22

    And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

  • Hosea 9:12

    Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!

  • 1 Samuel 11:6

    And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.

  • 1 Samuel 19:9-10

    And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

  • Judges 16:29

    And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the Spirit.
11:6; 18:12; 28:15; Jud 16:29; Ps 51:11; Ho 9:12
evil spirit.The evil spirit was either sent immediately from the Lord, or permitted to come; but whether this was a diabolic possession, or a mere mental malady, is not agreed: it seems to have partaken of both. That Saul had fallen into a deep melancholy, there is little doubt; and that an evil spirit might work more effectually on such a state of mind, there can be little question. His malady appears to have been of a mixed kind, natural and diabolical: there is too much of apparent nature in it to permit us to believe it was all spiritual; and there is too much of apparently supernatural influence, to suffer us to believe it was all natural.
18:10; 19:9,10; Jud 9:23; 1Ki 22:22; Ac 19:15,16
troubled. or, terrified.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 16:13

    Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

  • 1 Samuel 16:14

    But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

  • 1 Samuel 16:15

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

Read all of 1 Samuel 16

1 Samuel 16:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y el espíritu de Jehová se apartó de Saúl, y atormentábale el espíritu malo de parte de Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et l’Esprit de l’ Éternel se retira d’avec Saül, et un mauvais esprit envoyé par l’ Éternel le troublait.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Aber der Geist Jehovas wich von Saul, und ein böser Geist von Jehova ängstigte ihn.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Spiritus autem Domini recessit a Saul, et exagitabat eum spiritus nequam a Domino.