1 Samuel 16 · Verse 23

1 Samuel 16:23

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16:23, King James Version

1 Samuel 16:23 in other translations

BSBAnd whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play, and Saul would become well, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
WEBWhen the spirit from God was on Saul, David took the harp and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
ASVAnd it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
YLTAnd it hath come to pass, in the spirit of sadness from God being on Saul, that David hath taken the harp, and played with his hand, and Saul hath refreshment and gladness, and the spirit of sadness hath turned aside from off him.
DARBYAnd it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
BBEAnd whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.
WebsterAnd it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

What does 1 Samuel 16:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well--The ancients believed that music had a mysterious influence in healing mental disorders.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 The evil spirit from God - The word evil is not in the common Hebrew text, but it is in the Vulgate, Septuagint, Targum, Syriac, and Arabic, and in eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., which present the text thus: רוח אלהים רעה ruach Elohim raah, spiritus Domini malus, the evil spirit of God. The Septuagint leave out Θεου, of God, and have πνευμα πονηρον, the evil spirit. The Targum says, The evil spirit from before the Lord; and the Arabic has it. The evil spirit by the permission of God; this is at least the sense. And the evil spirit departed from him - The Targum says, And the evil spirit descended up from off him. This considers the malady of Saul to be more than a natural disease. There are several difficulties in this chapter; those of the chronology are pretty well cleared, in the opinion of some, by the observations of Bishop Warburton; but there is still something more to be done to make this point entirely satisfactory. Saul's evil spirit, and the influence of music upon it, are not easily accounted for. I have considered his malady to be 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 apparent supernatural influence to suffer us to believe that it was all natural.

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…

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 16:14-23 →

1 Samuel 16:23 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.

וְהָיָ֗הve.ha.Yahand it wasH1961
בִּֽהְי֤וֹתbih.Yotwhen wasH1961
רֽוּחַ\־Ru.ach-a spirit ofH7307
אֱלֹהִים֙'E.lo.HimGodH430
אֶל\־'el-toH413
שָׁא֔וּלsha.'UlSaulH7586
וְלָקַ֥חve.la.Kachand he tookH3947
דָּוִ֛דda.VidDavidH1732
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַכִּנּ֖וֹרha.ki.Northe harpH3658
וְנִגֵּ֣ןve.ni.Genand he playedH5059
בְּיָד֑וֹbe.ya.Dowith hand hisH3027
וְרָוַ֤חve.ra.Vachand it was reliefH7304
לְשָׁאוּל֙le.sha.'Ulto SaulH7586
וְט֣וֹבve.Tovand goodH2896
ל֔וֹlo[belonged] to <the> him
וְסָ֥רָהve.Sa.rahand it departedH5493
מֵעָלָ֖יוme.'a.Lavfrom on <the> himH5921
ר֥וּחַRu.ach[the] spirit ofH7307
הָרָעָֽה\׃\ \פha.ra.'Ah<the> evilH7451

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

Cross references for 1 Samuel 16:23

  • 1 Samuel 16:14-16

    But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

  • 1 Samuel 18:10-11

    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. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the evil spirit.
14,16
Saul.
18:10,11; Mt 12:43-45; Lu 11:24-26

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

Context

  • 1 Samuel 16:22

    And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

  • 1 Samuel 16:23

    And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Read all of 1 Samuel 16

1 Samuel 16:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y cuando el espíritu malo de parte de Dios era sobre Saúl, David tomaba el arpa, y tañía con su mano; y Saúl tenía refrigerio, y estaba mejor, y el espíritu malo se apartaba de él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il arrivait que, quand l’esprit envoyé de Dieu était sur Saül, David prenait la harpe et en jouait de sa main; et Saül était soulagé et se trouvait bien, et le mauvais esprit se retirait de dessus lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es geschah, wenn der Geist von Gott über Saul kam, so nahm David die Laute und spielte mit seiner Hand; und Saul fand Erleichterung, und es wurde ihm wohl, und der böse Geist wich von ihm.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Igitur quandocumque spiritus Domini malus arripiebat Saul, David tollebat citharam, et percutiebat manu sua, et refocillabatur Saul, et levius habebat: recedebat enim ab eo spiritus malus.