1 Samuel 15:4-14

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 the Amalekites, and set an ambush in the valley.
6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, and go 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. And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah as thou comest to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and oxen, and beasts of the second bearing, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not devote them to destruction; but everything that was mean and weak, that they destroyed utterly.
10 And the word of Jehovah came to Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned away from following me, and hath not fulfilled my words. And Samuel was much grieved; and he cried to 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 has turned about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed art thou of Jehovah: I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah.
14 And Samuel said, What [means] then this bleating of sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?

1 Samuel 15:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 15

In this chapter are recorded the order Saul had from the Lord to destroy Amalek utterly, 1Sa 15:1-3 the preparation he made to put it in execution, and the success thereof, 1Sa 15:4-9 the offence the Lord took at his not obeying his order thoroughly, with which Samuel was made acquainted, and which grieved him, 1Sa 15:10,11, upon which he went out to meet Saul, and reprove him; and a long discourse upon the subject passed between them, the issue of which was, that by an irrevocable decree he was rejected from being king, 1Sa 15:12-31 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Samuel's hewing in pieces Agag king of Amalek, and of his final departure from Saul, 1Sa 15:32-35.

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Or 'torrent.' See Note, Deut. 2.14.
  • [b]. Or 'fatted beasts.'
  • [c]. Fat lambs fed on rich pasture.
  • [d]. In Judah. See Josh. 15.55.
  • [e]. Lit. 'hand.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.