1 Samuel 15:13

13 When Samuel reached Saul, Saul greeted him, "The LORD bless you! I have done what the LORD said."

1 Samuel 15:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:13

And Samuel came to Saul
At Gilgal:

and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord;
signifying that he had abundant reason to bless the Lord on his account, not only that he had anointed him king, but had sent him on such an errand, in which he had succeeded so well, and it was a pleasure to him that he might report it to him:

I have performed the commandment of the Lord;
either he was really ignorant that he had done amiss; and thought that his sparing Agag, when he had destroyed all the rest, and reserving some of the best of the cattle for sacrifice, could not be interpreted a breach of the orders given him; or if he was conscious he had broken the commandment of the Lord, this he said to prevent Samuel's reproof of him, and to sooth him with flattering words.

1 Samuel 15:13 In-Context

11 "I regret making Saul king because he has turned away from following me and hasn't done what I said." Samuel was upset at this, and he prayed to the LORD all night long.

12 Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, and was told, "Saul went to Carmel, where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then he left and went down to Gilgal."

13 When Samuel reached Saul, Saul greeted him, "The LORD bless you! I have done what the LORD said."

14 "Then what," Samuel asked, "is this bleating of sheep in my ears and mooing of cattle I hear?"

15 "They were taken from the Amalekites," Saul said, "because the troops spared the best sheep and cattle in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. The rest was placed under the ban."

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX adds he was offering entirely burned sacrifices to the LORD, the best of the plunder that he had taken from Amalek. As Samuel approached Saul.