What Does 1 Samuel 15:24 Mean in the King James?
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
“Obeyed” is literally “heard”: the voice Saul fears becomes the voice he follows.
THE MEANING
When fear of people gets loud, their voices can become the ones you heed, even when they conflict with what you recognize as the LORD’s command. The verse lets you name the pressure without letting it rename responsibility: “I have sinned” remains the speaker’s own admission.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that pressure from other people makes your choice for you, so obedience to their voice is not yours to own. The verse holds fear as the pressure while retaining the speaker’s admission: “I have sinned.”
THE ROOT
וָאֶשְׁמַע
va'eshma
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
To hear, listen, heed, or respond.
The Hebrew says “I heard their voice,” using קוֹל (qol, voice or sound), where English “obeyed” compresses hearing and response. The same root begins שְׁמַע (shema, “Hear!”) in Deuteronomy 6:4, holding listening and response together.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear! Listen!
שְׁמַע
This imperative in Deuteronomy 6:4 comes from the same root, showing hearing as attentive response.
shemuah: Report, tidings.
שְׁמוּעָה
A report is what has been heard and received; the root connects a voice with what is taken in.
יָרֵאתִי
yareti
GROWS FROM
ירא
yare
To fear or dread; when directed toward God, to hold in awe.
“feared” in this verse is yareti. The verse names the object of fear plainly: the people. The same root can express fear or awe, and here that distinction turns on whom the fear is directed toward.
ALSO GROWS
yir’ah: Fear, awe.
יִרְאָה
The word shares this root; the verse’s stated object, the people, gives the fear its particular force.
mora: Dread, terror.
מוֹרָא
This related word carries the root’s more fearful shade, illuminating the pressure Saul names.
חָטָאתִי
chatati
GROWS FROM
חטא
chata
To miss, err, or fall short.
“I have sinned” carries the root image of missing, while remaining a direct admission of responsibility. The image adds depth to the confession without softening what Saul says he did.
ALSO GROWS
chet: Missing, offense.
חֵטְא
The related noun preserves the image of missing within the act Saul admits.
chatat: Sin; in sacrificial contexts, an offering for the missing.
חַטָּאת
The same root also names an offering associated with the missing, keeping the root’s image present across related words.
THE PATTERN
Fear of people can turn their voice into the authority a person follows.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:THE THREAD
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:“Hear” is שְׁמַע (shema, “hear!”), from שמע (shama, to hear or heed), the same root behind Saul’s “obeyed.” The connection makes the choice of voice visible: Saul gives the people’s voice the attentive response this verse directs toward the LORD.
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