1 Samuel 15:17

17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel,

1 Samuel 15:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:17

And Samuel said, when thou [wast] little in thine own sight,
&c.] Humble and lowly, and had a mean opinion of himself, his family and tribe, and judged himself unworthy of the kingdom; see ( 1 Samuel 9:21 ) suggesting, that now he was proud and haughty, and would have his own will and way:

wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel;
not of his own tribe only, which was the least, but of all the tribes, and so they were all subject to him, and at his command:

and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel;
all which is observed, partly to point out unto him the high honour he was raised unto, from a low estate, which laid him under obligation to serve the Lord, and obey him; and partly as an answer to him, excusing himself, and laying the blame upon the people; whereas seeing he was made king over them, his business was to rule and govern them, guide and direct them in the right way, and restrain them from that which was evil; and since he was anointed by the Lord, and not by the people, he ought to have obeyed him, and not regarded the pleasure of them.

1 Samuel 15:17 In-Context

15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely."

16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said.

17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel,

18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all.

19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?"