1 Samuel 16:15

15 And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles thee.

1 Samuel 16:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 16:15

And Saul's servants said unto him
His courtiers, who observing him to act in a frantic manner, to be dull and melancholy, timorous, and irresolute, unsteady, divided, and distressed; or his physicians, who were called in to assist him, and remove his disorder from him:

behold, now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee:
the disorder was not from any natural cause, or any bodily disease, and therefore out of the reach of physicians to do any service, but was from an evil spirit suffered of God to harass and disturb him.

1 Samuel 16:15 In-Context

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

14 And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.

15 And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles thee.

16 Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a 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.

17 And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'of:' so vers. 16,23; chs. 18.10; 19.9.