What Does 1 Samuel 15:29 Mean in the King James?
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
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
The word translated “repent” can hold grief and relenting together, so divine grief does not make the declared word unreliable.
THE MEANING
God is not a human ruler whose word bends under fear, advantage, or deception; the Strength of Israel remains steady in what is declared here. For you now, the verse distinguishes grief from unreliability: the Hebrew word translated “repent” can name regret or relenting, but here the announced consequence is not withdrawn. That steadiness is not numbness; it is a word that cannot be turned into a lie.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a declared consequence is merely a human threat that can be bargained away, or that God’s grief makes his word unreliable.
THE ROOT
יִנָּחֵם
yinnāḥēm
GROWS FROM
נחם
n-ḥ-m
To be moved inwardly: to grieve or regret, to relent, or to comfort.
English makes “repent” sound like one simple change of mind, but נָחַם carries a wider movement through grief, regret, relenting, and comfort. Here, the word marks a refusal to withdraw this declared consequence; it does not erase the possibility of grief.
ALSO GROWS
niḥam: Regretted, was grieved, or relented
נִחַם
This form shows the inward movement that “repent” names in the verse.
neḥāmāh: Comfort or consolation
נֶחָמָה
The same root can describe what meets someone in grief, linking sorrow with the possibility of comfort.
menaḥēm: Comforter
מְנַחֵם
This branch shows the root’s movement toward another person who is grieving.
נֵצַח יִשְׂרָאֵל
nēṣaḥ yiśrāʾēl
GROWS FROM
נצח
n-ṣ-ḥ
Endurance, perpetuity, or enduring eminence; the title can be heard as Israel’s enduring one.
“Strength” here carries a sense of what endures, not only a display of force. That enduring quality clarifies the verse’s claim: Israel’s strength is steady in the face of deceit and pressure to reverse what has been declared.
ALSO GROWS
nēṣaḥ: Endurance, perpetuity, or enduring eminence
נֵצַח
This sense gives “Strength of Israel” the depth of Israel’s enduring one.
menaṣṣēaḥ: Leader or conductor, as in a Psalm heading
מְנַצֵּחַ
The related form carries the sense of directing or leading, adding authority to the title’s enduring strength.
יְשַׁקֵּר
yeshaqqēr
GROWS FROM
שקר
sh-q-r
To deal falsely or deceive.
“lie” in this verse is yeshaqqēr. The Hebrew joins falsehood with the act of dealing falsely: the claim is not just that God avoids a mistaken statement, but that God does not deceive. Alongside “will not repent,” it frames the announced consequence as trustworthy rather than manipulative.
ALSO GROWS
šeqer: Falsehood or a lie
שֶׁקֶר
The noun names the falsehood ruled out by the verse.
shāqar: To lie or deal falsely
שָׁקַר
The verb names deceptive action, showing that the refusal reaches beyond words to conduct.
THE PATTERN
God’s declared word is not made deceptive or unstable when the human situation shifts.
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:THE THREAD
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.The same root נָחַם appears in “repenteth” here and “repent” in verse 29, carrying the sense of grief or regret as well as relenting. The two lines let the reader see that grief over what has happened does not itself mean the declared consequence is withdrawn.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us