1 Samuel 15:34

SAMUEL DOES NOT VISIT SAUL ANYMORE

"Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; but Samuel grieved over Saul, and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel."

"And Samuel did not see Saul again till the day of his death" (1 Samuel 15:35). As this is translated, it contradicts the statement in 1 Samuel 19:24 that, "Saul stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in Ramah."

However, this should be translated, "Samuel came no more to see Saul" (KJV), which is obviously correct. Of course, it is a favorite device of critics to favor any translation that allows them to allege "a contradiction," as did H. P. Smith, who rendered the passage, "Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death." and then alleged that, "The contradiction of 1 Samuel 19:24 is obvious."[24]

It is a weakness of the RSV that, based upon what they understood as a Hebrew idiom, they allowed the incorrect rendition to stand as a flat contradiction of 1 Samuel 19:24.

This writer accepts the KJV as correct. Presumably they knew as much about Hebrew idioms as any of the present-day scholars.

For those who are "hooked on the RSV," the only other possible explanation is that of R. P. Smith:

The words have a higher meaning than merely seeing or meeting with one another. They involve the cessation of that relation in which Samuel and Saul had previously stood.[25]

"The Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel" (1 Samuel 15:35). (See our comment on the Lord's repentance under 1 Samuel 15:10, above.)