1 Samuel 2:24

2:24 This ought not to be, ¹  my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good.

1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One ²  of Israel does not go back on his word ³  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ⁴ 

1 Samuel 28:6

28:6 So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him – not by dreams nor by Urim ⁵  nor by the prophets.

1 Samuel 28:18

28:18 Since you did not obey the Lord ⁶  and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today.

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¹ tn Heb “no.”

² tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

³ tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

⁴ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

⁵ sn See the note at 1 Sam 14:41.

⁶ tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord.”