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1 Samuel 15:17
ESV And Samuel said, "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
NIV Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
NASB So Samuel said, 'Is it not true, though you were insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.
CSB Samuel continued, "Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel
NLT And Samuel told him, 'Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel.
KJV And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
NKJV So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?

What does 1 Samuel 15:17 mean?

How many leaders have suggested they could not make the right choice because those under their authority refused to cooperate? How often is the truth, instead, that the leader failed to exert their authority appropriately? Saul has done exactly that, blaming his disobedience (1 Samuel 15:3, 9) on the people with him (1 Samuel 15:15).

Samuel acknowledges that Saul has thought of himself as insignificant. After all, Saul's statement to Samuel at their first meeting was one of humility: "Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?" (1 Samuel 9:21).

Samuel tells the king, though, that his low opinion of his own worth provides no excuse for not using his authority as the head of all tribes of Israel to obey God's command. The Lord, who holds the ultimate authority, is the one who made Saul king over Israel. Saul's lack of confidence does not excuse him from using the confidence God placed in him to carry out God's will for Israel.
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