Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

1 Samuel 18:12

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Apostasy;   David;   Holy Spirit;   Jealousy;   Malice;   Prudence;   Reprobacy;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Disease;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Easton Bible Dictionary - David;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Saul;   Holman Bible Dictionary - David;   Samuel, Books of;   Saul;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Merab;   Samuel, Books of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Genesis, the Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Sha'ul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Sha'ul.
King James Version
And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.
Lexham English Bible
Now Saul was threatened by the presence of David because Yahweh was with him, but had departed from Saul.
English Standard Version
Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
New Century Version
The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David.
New English Translation
So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
Amplified Bible
Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.
New American Standard Bible
Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had left Saul.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Saul was afrayd of Dauid, because the Lord was with him, & was departed from Saul.
Legacy Standard Bible
And Saul was afraid of David, for Yahweh was with him but had turned away from Saul.
Contemporary English Version
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was helping David and was no longer helping him.
Complete Jewish Bible
Sha'ul became afraid of David, because Adonai was with him and had left Sha'ul.
Darby Translation
And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and had departed from Saul.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord had left Saul and was now with David, so Saul was afraid of David.
George Lamsa Translation
And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and had departed from Saul.
Good News Translation
Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but had abandoned him.
Literal Translation
And Saul feared David, because Jehovah was with him, and had departed from Saul.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Saul was afrayed of Dauid: for the LORDE was with him, and was departed from Saul.
American Standard Version
And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and was departed from Saul.
Bible in Basic English
And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Saul was afrayde of Dauid, because the Lorde was with him, & was departed from Saul.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.
King James Version (1611)
And Saul was afraid of Dauid, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Saul was alarmed on account of David.
English Revised Version
And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.
Berean Standard Bible
So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Saul dredde Dauid, for the Lord was with hym, and hadde go awei fro him silf.
Young's Literal Translation
And Saul is afraid of the presence of David, for Jehovah hath been with him, and from Saul He hath turned aside;
Update Bible Version
And Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and had departed from Saul.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and had departed from Saul.
World English Bible
Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and was departed from Saul.
New King James Version
Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.
New Living Translation
Saul was then afraid of David, for the Lord was with David and had turned away from Saul.
New Life Bible
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had left Saul.
New Revised Standard
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Saul feared because of David, - for Yahweh was with him, whereas, from Saul, he had departed.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul himself.
Revised Standard Version
Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.
THE MESSAGE
Now Saul feared David. It was clear that God was with David and had left Saul. So, Saul got David out of his sight by making him an officer in the army. David was in combat frequently. Everything David did turned out well. Yes, God was with him. As Saul saw David becoming more successful, he himself grew more fearful. He could see the handwriting on the wall. But everyone else in Israel and Judah loved David. They loved watching him in action.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.

Contextual Overview

12Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul. 13Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops 14and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him. 15When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops. 17Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife. 20Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 21“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

afraid: 1 Samuel 18:15, 1 Samuel 18:20, 1 Samuel 18:29, 1 Samuel 16:4, Psalms 48:3-6, Psalms 53:5, Mark 6:20, Luke 8:37, Acts 24:25

the Lord: 1 Samuel 16:13, 1 Samuel 16:18, 1 Samuel 22:13, Acts 7:9

departed: 1 Samuel 16:14, 1 Samuel 28:15, Psalms 51:11, Hosea 9:12, Matthew 25:41

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:10 - and they shall Judges 16:20 - the Lord Acts 5:17 - indignation

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”
Genesis 18:6
So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.”
Genesis 18:7
Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.
Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Genesis 18:12
So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
Genesis 18:13
But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’
Genesis 18:18
Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.
Genesis 18:20
Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.
Psalms 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter then,and our tongues with shouts of joy.Then they said among the nations,“The Lord has done great things for them.”
Ephesians 5:33
To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him,.... Protecting and preserving him, prospering and succeeding him, giving him victory over his enemies, and favour among the people; the Targum is,

"the Word of the Lord was for his help.''

Procopius Gazaeus interprets it of the Holy Ghost, whose grace was vouchsafed unto him: he might be afraid in his melancholy fits, that as he had attempted to take away the life of David, that David would contrive and seek an opportunity, and take away his life, and seize the kingdom which God had given him, and his being with him strengthened these fears:

and was departed from Saul; so that he was destitute of courage, and greatness of mind, and of wisdom and prudence, and became mean and abject, and exposed himself to the contempt of his subjects.


 
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