1 Samuel 15:19

19 "Why didn't you obey the Lord? Why did you grab what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?"

1 Samuel 15:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:19

Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord
Who had made him king, and sent him on this errand, and gave him such plain directions, and such strong orders to make an entire consumption of Amalek:

but didst fly upon the spoil;
like a bird of prey, such as an eagle or vulture, not to devote it to the Lord, by an entire destruction of it, but to seize it for his own use, as being greedily desirous and covetous of it:

and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
by disobeying his commands, from whose sight nothing can be hid.

1 Samuel 15:19 In-Context

17 Samuel said, "There was a time when you didn't think you were important. But you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. The LORD anointed you to be king over Israel.

18 He sent you to do something for him. He said, 'Go and set the Amalekites apart. Set those sinful people apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.'

19 "Why didn't you obey the Lord? Why did you grab what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?"

20 "But I did obey the Lord," Saul said. "I went to do what he sent me to do. I totally destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king.

21 "The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."