An Evil Spirit From God?

[Woody]

I was reading 1 Samuel 16 last night, and this verse posed some interesting questions:

But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

What exactly does it mean by an "evil" spirit? What makes a spirit evil? And how can an evil spirit come from God?

I'm curious what your answers to these questions are...

[TigerShadow]

I think it's referring to the fact that God has authority over all things, including evil things, even though those evil things do not find their origins with Him. It's sort of like how in the Book of Job, God allowed Satan to plague Job with various tragedies and afflictions, but He did not order Satan to do so. It seems to me like that's saying that God allowed an evil spirit to plague Saul as punishment for Saul's defiance.

[Blitz]

Also it could have meant God periodically removed his joy.

[DredgeAmazing]

"Even the demons know there is one God, and shudder."