Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” New Living Translation Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.” English Standard Version Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” Berean Standard Bible Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” King James Bible 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. New King James Version Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.” New American Standard Bible May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.” NASB 1995 “Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” NASB 1977 “Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” Legacy Standard Bible Let our lord now speak to your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” Amplified Bible Let our lord now command your servants who are here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the harp; and when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” Christian Standard Bible Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.” Holman Christian Standard Bible Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God troubles you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.” American Standard Version Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the 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. Aramaic Bible in Plain English We will seek a man who knows to play on the harp, and when the evil spirit is upon you, he will play with his hands, and it shall be good for you” Brenton Septuagint Translation Let now thy servants speak before thee, and let them seek for our lord a man skilled to play on the harp; and it shall come to pass when an evil spirit comes upon thee and he shall play on his harp, that thou shalt be well, and he shall refresh thee. Contemporary English Version "Your Majesty, let us go and look for someone who is good at playing the harp. He can play for you whenever the evil spirit from God bothers you, and you'll feel better." Douay-Rheims Bible Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are before thee will seek out a man skilful in playing on the harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayest bear it more easily. English Revised Version Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man who is a cunning player on the 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. GOD'S WORD® Translation Your Majesty, why don't you command us to look for a man who can play the lyre well? When the evil spirit from God comes to you, he'll strum a tune, and you'll feel better." Good News Translation So give us the order, sir, and we will look for a man who knows how to play the harp. Then when the evil spirit comes on you, the man can play his harp, and you will be all right again." International Standard Version Let our lord order his servants who attend you to look for a man who is skilled in playing the lyre. And then when an evil spirit from God comes on you, he will play and you will be better." JPS Tanakh 1917 Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp; and it shall be, when the evil spirit from God cometh upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.' Literal Standard Version now let our lord command your servants before you [that] they seek a skillful man playing on a harp, and it has come to pass, in the spirit of sadness [from] God being on you, that he has played with his hand and [it is] well with you.” Majority Standard Bible Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” New American Bible If your lordship will order it, we, your servants here attending to you, will look for a man skilled in playing the harp. When the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he will play and you will feel better.” NET Bible Let our lord instruct his servants who are here before you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then whenever the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he can play the lyre and you will feel better." New Revised Standard Version Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skillful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better.” New Heart English Bible Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. It shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well, and it will give you relief." Webster's Bible Translation Let our lord now command thy servants, who are before thee, to seek a man who is a skillful player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he will play with his hand, and thou wilt be well. World English Bible Let our lord now command your servants who are in front of you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. Then when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will play with his hand, and you will be well.” Young's Literal Translation let our lord command, we pray thee, thy servants before thee, they seek a skilful man, playing on a harp, and it hath come to pass, in the spirit of sadness from God being upon thee, that he hath played with his hand, and it is well with thee.' Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context David Serves Saul…15Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” 17And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.”… Cross References 1 Samuel 16:14 After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him. 1 Samuel 16:15 Saul's servants said to him, "Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. 1 Samuel 16:17 And Saul commanded his servants, "Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me." 1 Samuel 18:10 The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, 1 Samuel 19:9 But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, 2 Kings 3:15 But now, bring me a harpist." And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha Treasury of Scripture Let our lord now command your servants, which are before you, 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 on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well. before thee 1 Samuel 16:21,22 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer… Genesis 41:46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 1 Kings 10:8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. play 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 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: 2 Kings 3:15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. Jump to Previous Command Cunning Evil Hand Harp Play Player Seek Servants Skilful Skillful SpiritJump to Next Command Cunning Evil Hand Harp Play Player Seek Servants Skilful Skillful Spirit1 Samuel 16 1. Samuel sent by God, under pretense of a sacrifice, comes to Bethlehem6. His human judgment is reproved 11. He anoints David 15. Saul sends for David to quiet his evil spirit (16) And it shall come to pass . . . thou shalt be well.--It has been a well-known fact in all ages that music exerts a powerful influence on the mind. We have several instances in ancient Greek literature, where this influence is recommended to soothe the passions or to heal mental disease. Pythagoras, whenever he would steep his mind in Divine power, was in the habit before he slept of having a harp played to him; 'sculapius, the physician, would often restore such sick souls with music. (See reference from Censorinus, De die natali, quoted by Keil.) "Priests would call On Heaven for aid: but then his brow would lower With treble gloom. Peace! Heaven is good to all. To all, he sighed, but one--God hears no prayers for Saul At length one spake of music."--HANKINSON. Verses 16-18. - A cunning player on an harp. Literally, one skilful in striking the chords on the harp. In Saul's case music would have a soothing influence, and turn the current of his thoughts. His officers suggest, therefore, that search should be made for an expert musician, and Saul consents; whereupon one of the servants recommended the son of Jesse. The word used here is not the same as that found in vers. 15, 16, 17. There we have Saul's officers; here it is na'arim, "young men." Thus it was a youth of David's own age, who had probably been with him at Naioth in Ramah, that described him to Saul. The description is full and interesting, but it has its difficulties. David is not only skilful in music, of which art he would have had ample scope to manifest his powers in the service of the sanctuary at Ramah, but he is also a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, or, rather, intelligent in speech (see margin), as well as handsome and successful. Nevertheless, in 1 Samuel 17:33-36 David appears as a youth about to make his first essay in fighting; and though the two exploits mentioned there, of killing the lion and the bear, might justify his friend in calling him a mighty valiant man, literally, "a hero of valour," they do not justify the words a man of war. It is strange, moreover, that Saul should be so entirely ignorant of David's person and lineage as he is represented in the narrative in ch. 17, if thus David was court musician, though reference is made there to this visit of David to Saul in ver. 15. Possibly, however, David and this youth may have served together in repelling some marauding expedition of the Philistines, and though David may not have actually done much, - nothing, at all events, so well worth repeating to Saul as the combats with the wild beasts, - yet he may have achieved enough to convince his friend that he had in him the qualities of a man of war, i.e. of a good soldier. For the rest, we must conclude that this first visit of David was a very short one, and that after playing before Saul and being approved of, he then returned home, ready to come again whenever summoned, but that Saul's malady did not immediately return, and so a sufficient interval elapsed for Saul not to recognise him when he saw him under altered circumstances. Saul's question, "Whose son is this stripling?" (1 Samuel 17:56) seems to imply that he had a sort of confused idea about him, without being able exactly to recall who he was. The ultimate consequences of this introduction to Saul, as well as its immediate effect, are all narrated here after the usual manner of Old Testament history (see 1 Samuel 7:13).Parallel Commentaries ... Hebrew Let our lordאֲדֹנֵ֙נוּ֙ (’ă·ḏō·nê·nū) Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common plural Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller command יֹאמַר־ (yō·mar-) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 559: To utter, say your servants עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ (‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā) Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular Strong's 5650: Slave, servant here לְפָנֶ֔יךָ (lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā) Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | second person masculine singular Strong's 6440: The face to seek out יְבַקְשׁ֕וּ (yə·ḇaq·šū) Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after someone אִ֕ישׁ (’îš) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person who can skillfully יֹדֵ֖עַ (yō·ḏê·a‘) Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular Strong's 3045: To know play מְנַגֵּ֣ן (mə·nag·gên) Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine singular Strong's 5059: To touch or play a stringed instrument the harp. בַּכִּנּ֑וֹר (bak·kin·nō·wr) Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 3658: A harp Whenever בִּֽהְי֨וֹת (bih·yō·wṯ) Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be the spirit רֽוּחַ־ (rū·aḥ-) Noun - common singular construct Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit of distress רָעָ֔ה (rā·‘āh) Adjective - feminine singular Strong's 7451: Bad, evil from God אֱלֹהִים֙ (’ĕ·lō·hîm) Noun - masculine plural Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative is upon you, עָלֶ֤יךָ (‘ā·le·ḵā) Preposition | second person masculine singular Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against he is to play it, וְנִגֵּ֥ן (wə·nig·gên) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 5059: To touch or play a stringed instrument and you לָֽךְ׃ (lāḵ) Preposition | second person feminine singular Strong's Hebrew [will be] well.” וְט֥וֹב (wə·ṭō·wḇ) Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular Strong's 2895: To be pleasing or good Links 1 Samuel 16:16 NIV1 Samuel 16:16 NLT 1 Samuel 16:16 ESV 1 Samuel 16:16 NASB 1 Samuel 16:16 KJV 1 Samuel 16:16 BibleApps.com 1 Samuel 16:16 Biblia Paralela 1 Samuel 16:16 Chinese Bible 1 Samuel 16:16 French Bible 1 Samuel 16:16 Catholic Bible OT History: 1 Samuel 16:16 Let our lord now command your servants (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa) |
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