I Samuel 12:21 · Bible study
1 Samuel 12:21 Commentary: Idols as Tohu
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Samuel warns Israel not to turn after vain things (tohu) that cannot profit or deliver.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Samuel warns Israel not to turn from God to idols, described as tohu (formlessness/emptiness), echoing Genesis 1:2.
- Key words: תֹהוּ (tohu, H8414), confusion, unreality; סוּר (sur, H5493), to turn aside; יָעַל (ya'al, H3276), to profit; נָצַל (natsal, H5337), to rescue.
- Main debate: Whether to supply an implied verb after “for” (KJV: “for then should ye go”) or read it as a simple prohibition (Cambridge: omitting the implied verb).
- Theological theme: Idolatry as a return to chaos, turning from the Creator to that which is empty and powerless.
- Best use: A sermon or lesson on identifying modern idols and the futility of anything that competes with total loyalty to God.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Don’t turn away to go after vain things which can’t profit or deliver, for they are vain.
KJV King James Version 1769
And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
and turn ye not aside; for then would ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and ye do not turn aside after the vain things which do not profit nor deliver, for they are vain,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
and turn ye not aside; for [it would be] after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
No os apartéis en pos de las vanidades, que no aprovechan ni libran, porque son vanidades.
Não vos desvieis a fim de seguir as vaidades que não aproveitam nem livram, porque são vaidades.
Ne vous en détournez pas; sinon, vous iriez après des choses de néant, qui n’apportent ni profit ni délivrance, parce que ce sont des choses de néant.
und folgt nicht dem Eitlen nach; denn es nützt nicht und kann nicht erretten, weil es ein eitel Ding ist.
En wijkt niet af; want gij zoudt de ijdelheden na volgen, die niet bevorderlijk zijn, noch verlossen, want zij zijn ijdelheden.
non ve ne ritraete, perché andreste dietro a cose vane, che non posson giovare ne liberare, perché son cose vane.
A nie udawajcie się za próżnościami, które wam nic nie pomogą, ani was wybawią, gdyż próżnościami są.
и не обращайтесь вслед ничтожных богов, которые не принесут пользы и не избавят; ибо они — ничто;
若 偏離耶和華去 順從 那 不能 救 人的虛 神是 無 益的。
And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Samuel 12:21
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that vain things in this verse refer to idols. The Hebrew word translated vain is tohu (תֹהוּ), emptiness, formlessness, confusion. Adam Clarke notes that Samuel uses exactly the same word found in Genesis 1:2 for the unformed earth. As Clarke says, “an idol is nothing in the world, it is not the representative of any intelligent being.” The Cambridge Bible adds that this term is applied to false gods in Isaiah 41:29 and to idol-makers in Isaiah 44:9. Gill and Keil & Delitzsch likewise identify the objects as idols, called vain because they can neither bestow good nor deliver from evil. The consensus is clear: Samuel is warning Israel against abandoning the Lord for manufactured gods that are, in the apostle Paul’s words, “nothing in the world” (1 Corinthians 8:4).
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Traditional/Masoretic reading (implied verb): The KJV, ASV, and Darby supply an implied verb ('should ye go') after 'for,' seeing the verse as a conditional warning with consequence. Supported by the Hebrew particle ki introducing a reason.
- Simple prohibition (no implied verb): The Cambridge Bible and some modern translations (WEB, BSB) read the verse as a continuous prohibition: 'do not turn aside after vain things.' This avoids the need to supply a missing verb and matches the pattern of the ancient versions.
What is clear: The warning against turning from God to empty, powerless things that cannot save stands across all interpretations.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of tohu in this verse | All commentators identify 'tohu' with false gods or idols, characterizing them as empty and worthless. | Some (Clarke) explicitly connect tohu to Genesis 1:2's 'formless and void,' implying a cosmic reversion to chaos. Others (Cambridge, Gill) treat it more generally as 'emptiness' without stressing the creation echo. |
| Grammatical structure of the first clause | The verse begins with a prohibition: 'turn not aside.' | After the word 'for' (ki), the KJV and ASV supply an implied verb ('should ye go'). Cambridge argues that this verb is absent in ancient versions and that the sense is better without it, reading: 'And ye shall not turn aside after vain things.' The Masoretic text supports the implied verb. |
| Scope of 'vain things' | The immediate reference is to the idols of surrounding nations, physical objects of worship. | Some traditions (Reformed, Wesleyan) apply the principle more broadly: anything that replaces God in the heart, money, reputation, power, is a 'vain thing.' Others keep the focus on religious idolatry as the primary meaning. |
| Whether the verse offers comfort alongside warning | The verse itself is a warning, but it is embedded in a section of reassurance (verses 20, 22). Christians agree that the overall message of Samuel is 'do not be afraid, but do not turn to worthless things.' | Different denominations emphasize different sides: Catholic and Orthodox readings often stress covenantal faithfulness; Evangelical readings sometimes focus on personal repentance; liturgical traditions see it as part of the call to regular self-examination. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse comes toward the end of Samuel’s final public address to Israel after they have demanded and received a king. The air is thick with fear. Moments earlier, at Samuel’s cry, Yahweh sent thunder and rain during the wheat harvest (1 Samuel 12:17, 18), a sign the people could not misinterpret. Israel had sinned by asking for a king, and now they begged Samuel to intercede.
Samuel’s response balances mercy with warning. He tells them not to be afraid, yet he does not minimize their sin. Instead he calls them to a decisive loyalty: serve Yahweh with all your heart, and do not turn aside after idols (verses 20, 21). The context makes clear that the temptation to chase other gods was not an abstract possibility. Throughout the period of the judges, Israel had repeatedly abandoned Yahweh for the Baals and Ashtaroth. Samuel himself had seen the cycle.
The word tohu therefore carries extraordinary weight. By applying the same term that describes the primeval chaos (Genesis 1:2) to idols, Samuel declares that turning from God is not just a moral failure but a return to disorder, a re-embrace of the empty and formless. The people of the covenant would have known the creation story. They would have heard the echo: as the earth was once tohu wa-bohu, so idols are tohu. Idolatry leads back to pre-creation chaos, stripping life of meaning and stability.
Samuel’s warning also echoes earlier Scripture. Deuteronomy 32:21 calls Israel’s idols “vanities” (same root). Isaiah 44:9 declares that those who make carved images are themselves tohu, empty. The prophetic tradition consistently links idolatry with futility. Here, at the hinge between the judges and the monarchy, Samuel presses the point home: the God who brought order from chaos will not share his glory with nothing.
Textual Notes
The main textual issue concerns the clause beginning with “for” (כִּי) in verse 21. The Masoretic Text reads literally “and do not turn aside, for after vain things…” The KJV and ASV supply an implied verb, “for then should ye go after vain things”, as allowed by the Hebrew syntax. The ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Targum) do not include an explicit verb, and the Cambridge Bible notes that “the sense gains by its omission.” No other significant variants are recorded in the consulted sources. The difference does not change the core meaning but affects whether the verse is read as two clauses (prohibition + consequence) or a single prohibition.
Reception History
Throughout church history, this verse has been used to warn against the seduction of false worship. Early church fathers, particularly in their apologetic writings against paganism, cited verses like these to argue that idols are not merely inferior gods but utter nonentities. In the medieval period, the verse was read as part of the catechetical tradition calling believers to turn from vanities to the living God. The Reformers (Luther, Calvin) and later commentators such as Matthew Henry and John Gill employed this text to challenge both overt idolatry and the subtler idolatries of the heart, reliance on self, wealth, or human institutions. The word tohu has sometimes been used in homiletics to connect idolatry to existential emptiness. Across traditions, the verse has served as a concise summary of the first commandment’s positive call: you shall have no other gods before me, because there is no other god to have.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Do not turn aside from following Yahweh. Samuel frames the choice as a turning, a decisive motion of the heart. The verb sur (H5493) means to depart, to remove oneself. To turn from God is to set a trajectory away from life.
- Idols are tohu, emptiness and chaos. Using the language of Genesis 1:2, Samuel strips away all illusion of power from false gods. They are formless, profitless, powerless. They cannot deliver because they are nothing.
- Only Yahweh saves. The same God who thundered at wheat harvest and who created the world from chaos is the one who will not forsake his people. The warning leads to hope: serve him, and he will stay.
Five-point outline
- Recognize your sin, but do not be paralyzed. The people confess their wickedness; Samuel says “Fear not.”
- Understand what you are turning from. Following Yahweh is not an abstract religion, it is the path of order, life, and deliverance.
- See idols for what they are. Tohu, pointless, worthless, dangerous. Not neutral decorations but chaos dressed as help.
- Serve God with all your heart. Wholehearted loyalty is the only appropriate response to the God who created you and called you.
- Remember what he has done. The final call in verse 24: consider the great things. Memory fuels faithfulness.
Illustration hooks
- When we spend hours curating a social media presence, but our real-life relationships are threadbare, that is chasing tohu. The platform promises connection but cannot deliver meaning.
- A person pours their entire financial future into a risky investment they believe will save them from insecurity. Markets crash, and they are left empty. The “profit” was tohu from the start.
- Political promises, left or right, that offer a perfect society but never arrive. People invest hope year after year, only to find they have turned aside after a mirage.
Questions your congregation is asking
- What counts as an idol in my life if I don’t bow to statues?
- How do I know when I have “turned aside” after something vain? Is there a test?
- Samuel says idols cannot deliver. But what about situations where my idol (money, success) actually seems to deliver? How do I reconcile that?
Leading a Discussion
In this passage, Samuel confronts Israel with the gravity of their sin and the futility of turning away from God to empty substitutes. The word tohu, the same term for the pre-creation chaos, is the key. Idolatry is not just a bad choice; it is a return to formlessness. As you talk together, let the weight of that word shape your conversation.
Discussion questions
- Read 1 Samuel 12:19, 22 aloud. What emotions do you hear in the people’s request and in Samuel’s response?
- Samuel uses the word tohu, translated “vain” or “worthless”, for idols. How does the connection to Genesis 1:2 change how you think about false gods?
- What does it mean that idols “cannot profit nor deliver”? In what ways have you seen this to be true in your own life or in the lives of others?
- Verse 20 says, “yet don’t turn away from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart.” How is this both a warning and an invitation?
- Some commentators note that the word tohu in Isaiah 41:29 also describes idol-makers as “wind and confusion.” Why do you think the Bible uses such strong, creation-level language for idolatry?
- What are some “vain things” people in your community are tempted to turn aside after? How can you pray for each other in those specific areas?
- Samuel ends the chapter (v.24) by telling the people to consider what great things God has done. How does remembrance of God’s acts protect against chasing emptiness?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 11:16 | Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; |
| Deuteronomy 32:21 | They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. |
| Psalms 115:4 | Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. |
| Psalms 115:8 | Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them. |
| Isaiah 41:23 | Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. |
| Isaiah 41:24 | Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination. |
| Isaiah 41:29 | Behold, all of their deeds are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion. |
| Isaiah 44:9 | Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws attention to the Greek word behind "vain things," which is the same word used in Genesis for the earth's original formless, empty state. For him, this connection reveals that idols are not merely false but are utter confusion and nothingness, representing no real being at all.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that the conjunction for in the original Hebrew requires an implied verb to complete the sentence, but no ancient version includes it. The sense is clearer without it, reading: And you shall not turn aside after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver. Vain things refers to false gods and idols, from a Hebrew word meaning emptiness.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The warning is against turning back to vain things that offer no real profit or deliverance. Such things are mere emptiness, completely unable to help or rescue. The commentator stresses the futility of looking back to what cannot save.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that idols are not merely unhelpful but completely empty, less than vanity itself. They cannot give good things or rescue from trouble. His point is absolute: an idol is nothing in the world, utterly powerless and profitless, which is why turning aside from God to pursue them is futile.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch notes that Samuel carefully balances comfort with a sharp warning: God will not forsake His people, but this must not lead to false security. Turning from the Lord is the same as chasing worthless idols that cannot save. The Hebrew construction makes this equation explicit, showing that serving God and rejecting idols are inseparable.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that this scene is not Samuel's parting address or resignation. Instead, Samuel transitions from sole judge to prophetic mediator, promising continued intercession and teaching. The monarchy is placed under God's kingship, and Samuel remains a standing judge over king and people, not withdrawing from public life.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry points out that the very moment the people were rejo
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that the people kept turning away to idols, doing so even after this warning. He defines idols as vain things, mere nothings with no power, no influence, and no benefit to anyone.