TRV
Translation
King James Version
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Complete Jewish Bible
Now go and attack 'Amalek, and completely destroy everything they have. Don't spare them, but kill men and women, children and babies, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"
Berean Standard Bible
Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
American Standard Version
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
World English Bible Messianic
Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Geneva Bible (1599)
Nowe therefore goe, and sinite Amalek, and destroy ye all that perteyneth vnto them, and haue no compassion on them, but slay both man and woman, both infant and suckling, both oxe, and sheepe, both camell, and asse.
Young's Literal Translation
Now, go, and thou hast smitten Amalek, and devoted all that it hath, and thou hast no pity on it, and hast put to death from man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, from camel unto ass.'
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In the KJVVerse 7,564 of 31,102
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Commentary on 1 Samuel 15 verses 1–9
1 ¶ Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
Here, I. Samuel, in God's name, solemnly requires Saul to be obedient to the command of God, and plainly intimates that he was now about to put him upon a trial, in one particular instance, whether he would be obedient or no, Sa1 15:1. And the making of this so expressly the trial of his obedience did very much aggravate his disobedience. 1. He reminds him of what God had done for him: "The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be a king. God gave thee thy power, and therefore he expects thou shouldst use thy power for him. He put honour upon thee, and now thou must study how to do him honour. He made thee king over Israel, and now thou must plead Israel's cause and avenge their quarrels. Thou art advanced to command Israel, but know that thou art a subject to the God of Israel and must be commanded by him." Men's preferment, instead of releasing them from their obedience to God, obliges them so much the more to it. Samuel had himself been employed to anoint Saul, and therefore was the fitter to be send with these orders to him. 2. He tells him, in general, that, in consideration of this, whatever God commanded him to do he was bound to do it: Now therefore hearken to the voice of the Lord. Note, God's favours to us lay strong obligations upon us to be obedient to him. This we must render, Psa 116:12.
II. He appoints him a particular piece of service, in which he must now show his obedience to God more than in any thing he had done yet. Samuel premises God's authority to the command: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the Lord of all hosts, of Israel's hosts. He also gives him a reason for the command, that the severity he must use might not seem hard: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, Sa1 15:2. God had an ancient quarrel with the Amalekites, for the injuries they did to his people Israel when he brought them out of Egypt. We have the story, Exo 17:8, etc., and the crime is aggravated, Deu 25:18. He basely smote the hindmost of them, and feared not God. God then swore that he would have war with Amalek from generation to generation, and that in process of time he would utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek; this is the work that Saul is now appointed to do (Sa1 15:3): "Go and smite Amalek. Israel is now strong, and the measure of the iniquity of Amalek is now full; now go and make a full riddance of that devoted nation." He is expressly commanded to kill and slay all before him, man and woman, infant and suckling, and not spare them out of pity; also ox and sheep, camel and ass, and not spare them out of covetousness. Note, 1. Injuries done to God's Israel will certainly be reckoned for sooner or later, especially the opposition given them when they are coming out of Egypt. 2. God often bears long with those that are marked for ruin. The sentence passed is not executed speedily. 3. Though he bear long, he will not bear always. The year of recompence for the controversy of Israel will come at last. Though divine justice strikes slowly it strikes surely. 4. The longer judgment is delayed many times the more severe it is when it comes. 5. God chooses out instruments to do his work that are fittest for it. This was bloody work, and therefore Saul who was a rough and severe man must do it.
III. Saul hereupon musters his forces, and makes a descent upon the country of Amalek. It was an immense army that he brought into the field (Sa1 15:4): 200,000 footmen. When he came to engage the Philistines, and the success was hazardous, he had but 600 attending him, Sa1 13:15. But now that he was to attack the Amalekites by express order from heaven, in which he was sure of victory, he had thousands at his call. But, whatever it was at other times, it was not now for the honour of Judah that their forces were numbered by themselves, for their quota was scandalously short (whatever was the reason), but a twentieth part of the whole, for they were by 10,000, when the other ten tribes (for I except Levi) brought into the field 200,000. The day of Judah's honour drew near, but had not yet come. Saul numbered them in Telaim, which signifies lambs. He numbered then like lambs (so the vulgar Latin), numbered them by the paschal lambs (so the Chaldee), allowing ten to a lamb, a way of numbering used by the Jews in the later times of their nation. Saul drew all his forces to the city of Amalek, that city that was their metropolis (Sa1 15:5), that he might provoke them to give him battle.
IV. He gave friendly advice to the Kenites to separate themselves from the Amalekites among whom they dwelt, while this execution was in doing, Sa1 15:6. Herein he did prudently and piously, and, it is probable, according to the direction Samuel gave him. The Kenites were of the family and kindred of Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, a people that dwelt in tents, which made it easy for them, upon every occasion, to remove to other lands not appropriated. Many of them, at this time, dwelt among the Amalekites, where, though they dwelt in tents, they were fortified by nature, for they put their nest in a rock, being hardy people that could live any where, and affected fastnesses, Num 24:21. Balaam had foretold that they should be wasted, Num 24:22. However, Saul must not waste them. But, 1. He acknowledges the kindness of their ancestors to Israel, when they came out of Egypt. Jethro and his family had been very helpful and serviceable to them in their passage through the wilderness, had been to them instead of eyes, and this is remembered to their posterity many ages after. Thus a good man leaves the divine blessing for an inheritance to his children's children; those that come after us may be reaping the benefit of our good works when we are in our graves. God is not unrighteous to forget the kindnesses shown to his people; but they shall be remembered another day, at furthest in the great day, and recompensed in the resurrection of the just. I was hungry, and you gave me meat. God's remembering the kindness of the Kenites' ancestors in favour to them, at the same time when he was punishing the injuries done by the ancestors of the Amalekites, helped to clear the righteousness of God in that dispensation. If he entail favours, why may he not entail frowns? He espouses his people's cause, so as to bless those that bless them; and therefore so as to curse those that curse them, Num 24:9; Gen 12:3. They cannot themselves requite the kindnesses nor avenge the injuries done them, but God will do both. 2. He desires them to remove their tents from among the Amalekites: Go, depart, get you down from among them. When destroying judgments are abroad God will take care to separate between the precious and the vile, and to hide the meek of the earth in the day of his anger. It is dangerous being found in the company of God's enemies, and it is our duty and interest to come out from among them, lest we share in their sins and plagues, Rev 18:4. The Jews have a saying, Woe to the wicked man and woe to his neighbour.
V. Saul prevailed against the Amalekites, for it was rather an execution of condemned malefactors than a war with contending enemies. The issue could not be dubious when the cause was just and the call so clear: He smote them (Sa1 15:7), utterly destroyed them, Sa1 15:8. Now they paid dearly for the sin of their ancestors. God sometimes lays up iniquity for the children. They were idolaters, and were guilty of many other sins, for which they deserved to fall under the wrath of God; yet, when God would reckon with them, he fastened upon the sin of their ancestors in abusing his Israel as the ground of his quarrel. Lord, How unsearchable are thy judgments, yet how incontestable is thy righteousness!
VI. Yet he did his work by halves, Sa1 15:9. 1. He spared Agag, because he was a king like himself, and perhaps in hope to get a great ransom for him. 2. He spared the best of the cattle, and destroyed only the refuse, that was good for little. Many of the people, we may suppose, made their escape, and took their effects with them into other countries, and therefore we read of Amalekites after this; but that could not be helped. It was Saul's fault that he did not destroy such as came to his hands and were in his power. That which was now destroyed was in effect sacrificed to the justice of God, as the God to whom vengeance belongeth; and for Saul to think the torn and the sick, the lame and the lean, good enough for that, while he reserved for his own fields and his own table the firstlings and the fat, was really to honour himself more than God.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–9. Public domain.
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BedeAD 735
Commentary on Samuel
Do not spare them, but kill, etc. From man to woman, from the perfected work of sin to carnal thought, namely the filthy mother and nurse of wicked offspring. The infant and the suckling, the very beginnings and purpose of nefarious action, which a recent evil thought desires to nourish even worse; understand, the ox, the sheep, the camel, and the donkey, symbolize dullness of folly, laziness of sloth, the baseness of pride, and the wantonness of luxury.
Richard ChallonerAD 1781
Child: The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
First Samuel 15:3 delivers a critical divine mandate from God, conveyed through the prophet Samuel to King Saul. This command instructs Saul to execute God's long-decreed judgment against the Amalekites, demanding their complete and utter destruction, including all their possessions and living creatures. This comprehensive directive represents an act of herem warfare, signifying their absolute devotion to God for destruction due to their persistent wickedness and historical enmity toward Israel. The command serves as a pivotal test of Saul's obedience and fitness for kingship, highlighting the absolute nature of God's sovereign will and righteous judgment.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several powerful Literary Devices to convey the gravity and absolute totality of the divine command. Enumeration is prominently used in the latter part of the verse ("man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass"). This meticulous listing of every category of life to be destroyed serves to emphasize the comprehensive and absolute nature of the herem judgment, leaving no room for misinterpretation or partial compliance. The strong, direct Command Form ("Now go and smite," "utterly destroy," "spare them not," "slay") conveys the divine authority and the non-negotiable nature of the instruction, highlighting the imperative of immediate and complete obedience. The repetition of the idea of "total destruction" through phrases like "utterly destroy" and "spare them not" creates a powerful sense of Emphasis, underscoring the severity, finality, and uncompromising nature of God's judgment against the Amalekites.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This challenging passage reveals profound truths about God's holiness, justice, and sovereignty. While undeniably difficult for modern readers, it must be understood within the Old Testament context of God's specific judgments against nations whose wickedness had reached a full measure, posing a direct and persistent threat to the purity and survival of His covenant people, Israel, through whom the Messiah would ultimately come. This was not a general command for indiscriminate violence but a unique, divinely ordained act of herem warfare, fulfilling a long-standing oath against a people characterized by relentless evil and a foundational attack on God's chosen nation. It demonstrates God's righteous wrath against sin and His unwavering commitment to protect His redemptive plan, even through severe means, ensuring that evil does not utterly corrupt the world or derail His purposes.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
First Samuel 15:3 is undeniably one of the most difficult passages in the Bible, confronting readers with the stark reality of divine judgment and the severity of God's holiness. For contemporary believers, it compels us to grapple with the multifaceted nature of God, who is both boundless love and consuming fire. It reminds us that sin, particularly persistent, generational wickedness that actively opposes God's purposes, carries severe and comprehensive consequences. While we live under the New Covenant, where God's ultimate judgment is revealed in Christ's atoning work and His future return, this passage profoundly teaches us about the absolute necessity of total obedience to God's revealed will, even when it is challenging, counter-cultural, or beyond our full human comprehension. Saul's failure to fully obey serves as a timeless warning against partial obedience, self-serving compromises, and prioritizing human reasoning or perceived piety over God's clear commands. It calls us to examine our own lives: where are we tempted to compromise God's word for convenience, comfort, or a desire for human approval? True faith trusts God's wisdom and justice, even when His ways are difficult to reconcile with our immediate sensibilities.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did God command the killing of infants and animals?
Answer: This is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the command for modern readers. The inclusion of infants, women, and animals in the herem (devotion to destruction) command signifies the totality and finality of the divine judgment against the Amalekites. From a theological perspective, it ensured the complete eradication of a people group whose wickedness had reached an irredeemable level and who posed a persistent, existential threat to God's covenant people, Israel. The Amalekites were not just individuals but a collective entity defined by their deep-seated enmity towards God and His purposes, as evidenced by their unprovoked attack on the vulnerable Israelites during the Exodus (Exodus 17:8-16) and their continued opposition. In ancient Near Eastern warfare, the complete destruction of a defeated enemy, including their offspring and resources, was sometimes practiced to prevent future resurgence and to signify a definitive end to their lineage and threat. While morally abhorrent by modern standards, it was understood within that cultural context as a total act of divine justice, ensuring that the root of evil was completely removed and that no remnant could perpetuate their destructive influence or defile God's people. This was a unique, specific judgment, not a universal principle for warfare, and it served to protect the purity of the lineage through which the Messiah would ultimately come.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While 1 Samuel 15:3 describes a severe act of divine judgment in the Old Testament, its Christ-centered fulfillment is found not in replicating such physical violence, but in understanding God's unwavering commitment to justice and the ultimate, definitive eradication of sin and evil through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The herem judgment against Amalek foreshadows the ultimate and decisive judgment against all sin and evil that is accomplished and will be fully realized in Christ. Jesus, the true King, perfectly fulfilled God's will, demonstrating ultimate obedience where Saul failed, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Furthermore, Christ's work on the cross is the ultimate act of "utter destruction" of sin's power and the devil's works (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8). While the Old Testament judgment involved physical destruction, the New Testament emphasizes spiritual warfare and the ultimate triumph over spiritual enemies through Christ's victory. Believers are now called to "put to death" the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Romans 8:13) and to "destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5), reflecting a spiritual application of the principle of utterly destroying that which opposes God's holy character within their own lives. Ultimately, the future return of Christ will bring the final and complete judgment against all evil, ushering in a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells (Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-4), fulfilling the ultimate divine intention to utterly remove all that is contrary to His holy and righteous character.