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1 Samuel 15

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Saul Commanded to Utterly Destroy Amalek 1–9

1
And Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of Jehovah. ​
2
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of 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 summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. ​
5
And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
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And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed 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 as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt.
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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 everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. ​

God Rejects Saul for Disobedience 10–16

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Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying, ​
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It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night. ​
12
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. ​
13
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah. ​
14
And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15
And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. ​
16
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice 17–23

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And Samuel said, Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel; ​
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and Jehovah sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
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Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah? ​
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And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
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But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.
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And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. ​
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For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king. ​

Saul's Partial Confession and Appeal 24–31

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And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. ​
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Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah.
26
And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. ​
27
And as Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. ​
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And Samuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.
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And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. ​
30
Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God. ​
31
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah.

Samuel Executes Agag; Final Separation 32–35

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Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. ​
33
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal. ​
34
Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 15

Verse 1

hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD — Samuel opens with his own commission: 'The LORD sent me to anoint thee', recalling the anointing of 1 Sam 10:1. The word qol, voice, runs through the chapter. Saul is told to hearken to the LORD's voice here, is asked why he did not 'obey the voice of the LORD' (v.19), and says he 'obeyed their voice' (v.24).

Verse 2

I remember that which Amalek did — 'Remember' is paqad, to attend to or take account of, the verb translated 'numbered' in v.4. The deed is recorded in Deut 25:17–19: Amalek 'smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee… and he feared not God', with the command to 'blot out the remembrance of Amalek'. The LORD had promised the same to Moses (Ex 17:14).

Verse 3

utterly destroy — Charam, to devote to destruction. A devoted thing is 'most holy unto the LORD' (Lev 27:28), as Jericho was 'accursed… to the LORD' (Josh 6:17). The command lists man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 'Spare them not' uses chamal, the verb for 'spared' in v.9.

Verse 4

ten thousand men of Judah — The people are counted at Telaim in two parts, 'two hundred thousand footmen' and 'ten thousand men of Judah', as at Bezek the men of Judah were numbered apart from 'the children of Israel' (1 Sam 11:8). 'Numbered' is paqad, the verb of the LORD's 'I remember' in v.2.

Verse 6

ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel — 'Kindness' is chesed. The Kenites went up with Judah as the line of 'Moses' father in law' (Judg 1:16), and Heber the Kenite is 'of the children of Hobab' (Judg 4:11). Moses had asked Hobab to come with Israel, 'we will do thee good' (Num 10:29), and the Kenites leave the Amalekites at Saul's word.

Verse 8

Agag the king of the Amalekites — The name is older than this chapter: Balaam said of Israel's king that 'his king shall be higher than Agag' (Num 24:7). Saul takes him 'alive' (chay). The people he 'utterly destroyed' with the verb charam of v.3, so the command is kept in part and broken in part.

Verse 9

vile and refuse — Saul and the people 'spared' (chamal, the verb of v.3) Agag and 'the best' of the flock and herd, and 'would not utterly destroy' them. What they did destroy was 'vile' (nimbzeh, despised) and 'refuse' (masas, to melt away or waste). The same verb charam is used for what was destroyed and for what was not.

Verse 10

Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel — The LORD had 'revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD' (1 Sam 3:21). In v.1 Samuel told Saul to hearken to the voice of the words of the LORD; now the word comes to Samuel concerning Saul.

Verse 11

It repenteth me — Nacham is the verb of Gen 6:6, 'it repented the LORD that he had made man'. It is used again in v.29, 'he is not a man, that he should repent', and in v.35. The word in v.11 speaks of the LORD's sorrow over what Saul did, since God is not a man who changes his purposes (Num 23:19). 'Hath not performed' is quwm, the word in v.13.

Verse 12

he set him up a place — 'Place' is yad, literally a hand, the word used for a standing pillar in 'Absalom's place' (2 Sam 18:18). Carmel was a town in Judah (Josh 15:55). Samuel is told that Saul has already 'gone down to Gilgal'.

Verse 13

I have performed the commandment of the LORD — 'Performed' is quwm, the verb the LORD used of Saul in v.11: 'hath not performed my commandments'. Saul begins with a blessing, 'Blessed be thou of the LORD', and then states the opposite of what the LORD had told Samuel.

Verse 15

to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God — Saul now says 'the people spared the best', where v.9 had 'Saul and the people'. He says 'thy God', as he does again in vv.21 and 30. The rest, he says, 'we have utterly destroyed', using the verb charam from v.3.

Verse 17

little in thine own sight — Saul had called himself a Benjamite, 'of the smallest of the tribes of Israel' (1 Sam 9:21). 'Little' and 'smallest' are one word, qaton, which is also 'the youngest' of David (1 Sam 16:11). Samuel recalls that the LORD made him 'head of the tribes' and 'anointed thee king'.

Verse 19

didst fly upon the spoil — Ayit, to swoop down, as a bird of prey. It is the verb used of the people at 1 Sam 14:32, who 'flew upon the spoil' and ate with the blood. Samuel sets 'obey the voice of the LORD' against this swooping and calls it doing 'evil in the sight of the LORD'.

Verse 22

to obey is better than sacrifice — The same order appears in Hos 6:6, 'I desired mercy, and not sacrifice', and in Jer 7:22–23, where the LORD says that what he commanded was, 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God'. 'Obey' is shama, the 'hearken' of v.1, and the question is whether the LORD delights in offerings 'as in obeying the voice of the LORD'.

Verse 23

rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft — 'Witchcraft' is qesem, divination, which the law forbids (Deut 18:10), and 'idolatry' is teraphim, household images. 'Rejected' (maas) was the word of the LORD to Samuel about Israel's request, 'they have rejected me' (1 Sam 8:7). Saul later seeks 'a woman that hath a familiar spirit' (1 Sam 28:7).

Verse 24

I feared the people, and obeyed their voice — Saul says 'I have sinned' and names the commandment 'of the LORD, and thy words'. 'Obeyed their voice' uses qol again, setting the people's voice against the LORD's (vv.1, 19, 22). 'Transgressed' is abar, to pass over, and 'commandment' is literally the 'mouth' (peh) of the LORD.

Verse 26

I will not return with thee — Samuel repeats the sentence of v.23 in the same words: Saul has 'rejected the word of the LORD', and the LORD has 'rejected thee from being king over Israel'. The refusal is not the last word of the scene, since in v.31 'Samuel turned again after Saul', and Saul worships the LORD.

Verse 27

the skirt of his mantle, and it rent — The mantle (meil) is the outer robe, such as the 'little coat' Samuel's mother made him each year (1 Sam 2:19). In the next verse the same verb is used: 'The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee.' Ahijah later tears a new garment in twelve pieces as a sign for Jeroboam (1 Kgs 11:30–31).

Verse 29

the Strength of Israel — Netsach, a word usually rendered 'for ever' or 'continually'; the KJV prints this title only here. The verse echoes Balaam's word, 'God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent' (Num 23:19). The verb is nacham, used of the LORD in vv.11 and 35.

Verse 30

honour me now — Kabad, to give weight to. Saul asks for honour before the elders and Israel, and then for Samuel to 'turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God'. The LORD had said of Eli's house, 'them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed' (1 Sam 2:30).

Verse 32

Agag came unto him delicately — Maadan is a delicacy or pleasure, and is the word for the 'royal dainties' of Gen 49:20. Agag, the king the people had spared, is brought to Samuel and says, 'Surely the bitterness of death is past.' Samuel does what the command of v.3 required.

Verse 33

As thy sword hath made women childless — The sentence matches the sin: Amalek 'smote the hindmost' of Israel (Deut 25:18). 'Hewed… in pieces' is shasaph, a verb found only here. It is done 'before the LORD in Gilgal', the place of Saul's renewal (1 Sam 11:15) and of his earlier failure (1 Sam 13:8–13).

Verse 35

Samuel mourned for Saul — 'Mourned' is abal, the verb in the LORD's question, 'How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?' (1 Sam 16:1). Samuel 'came no more to see Saul until the day of his death'; his own death is recorded in 1 Sam 25:1. The LORD 'repented' (nacham) that he had made Saul king, as in v.11.