1 Samuel 15

1 And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me, that I should anoint thee into king on his people Israel (The Lord hath sent me to anoint thee king upon his people Israel); now therefore hear thou the voice of the Lord.

2 The Lord of hosts saith these things, I have brought to mind whatever things Amalek hath done to Israel; how Amalek against-stood Israel in the way, when Israel went up from Egypt. (The Lord of hosts saith these things, I have remembered all the things that the Amalekites did to Israel; how they opposed Israel on the way, when Israel came up from Egypt.)

3 Now therefore go thou, and slay Amalek, and destroy thou all his things; spare thou not him, nor covet thou anything of his things; but slay thou from man unto woman, and little child, and sucking, ox, and sheep, and camel, and ass. (And so now go thou, and kill the Amalekites, and destroy thou all of their things; spare thou not any of them, nor covet thou any of their things; but kill thou every man and woman, and little child, and suckling, yea, every ox, and sheep, and camel, and donkey.)

4 And so Saul commanded the people to be gathered together, and he numbered them as lambs, two hundred thousand of footmen, and ten thousand of men of Judah. (And so Saul commanded the people to be gathered together, and he counted, or registered, them in Telaim, and there were two hundred thousand footmen, and also ten thousand men of Judah.)

5 And when Saul came to the city of Amalek, he made ready ambushments in the (dry bed of the) strand. (And when Saul came to the Amalekite city/And when Saul came to the city of Amalek, he prepared an ambush in the dry riverbed.)

6 And Saul said to (the) Kenites, Go ye, depart ye, and go ye away from Amalek, lest peradventure I wrap thee in with them; for thou didest mercy with all the sons of Israel, when they went up from Egypt. And Kenites departed from the midst of Amalek (And so the Kenites departed from the midst of the Amalekites).

7 And Saul smote Amalek, from Havilah, till thou come to Shur, which is even against Egypt. (And Saul struck down the Amalekites, from Havilah until thou come to Shur, which is on the border with Egypt.)

8 And Saul took Agag alive, the king of Amalek; and he killed by sharpness of sword all the common people. (And Saul took Agag, the king of Amalek, alive; but they killed all the common people with the sharpness of their swords.)

9 And Saul and the people spared Agag (But Saul and his people spared Agag), and the best (of the) flocks of (the) sheep, and of (the) great beasts, and (they kept the) clothes, and (the) rams, and all things that were fair; and they would not destroy those; but whatever thing was vile, and reprovable, they destroyed that thing.

10 Forsooth the word of the Lord was made to Samuel, and said,

11 It repenteth me, that I made Saul king; for he hath forsaken me, and hath not fulfilled my words in work. And Samuel was sorry, and he cried to the Lord in all that night. (I repent, that is, I regret, that I made Saul king; for he hath deserted me, and hath not fulfilled my words in deeds. And Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.)

12 And (then) when Samuel had risen up by night to go early to Saul, it was told to Samuel, that Saul had come into Carmel, and had raised up to him a sign of victory (and had raised up a victory monument for himself there); and that he had turned again from Amalek, and had passed forth, and had gone down into Gilgal.

13 Then Samuel came to Saul, and Saul offered burnt sacrifice to the Lord of the chief things of the preys, which he had brought from Amalek. And the while Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have [ful]filled the word of the Lord. (And when Samuel came to Saul, Saul was offering a burnt sacrifice to the Lord of the chief things of the prey which he had taken from the Amalekites. And when Samuel came over to Saul, Saul said to him, Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.)

14 And Samuel said, And what is this voice of flocks (But what is this sound of the flocks), that soundeth in mine ears, and of (the) great beasts, which I hear?

15 And Saul said, They brought those from Amalek (They were taken from the Amalekites); for the people spared the best sheep and (the best) great beasts, that those should be offered to thy Lord God; and we killed the tother beasts.

16 And Samuel said to Saul, Suffer thou me (Allow me), and I shall show to thee what things the Lord hath spoken to me in this night. And Saul said to Samuel, Speak thou.

17 And Samuel said, Whether not, when thou were little in thine own eyes, thou were made head in the lineages of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee into king on Israel; (And Samuel said, Was it not, when thou were small, or insignificant, in thy own eyes, thou were made the head of all the tribes of Israel, and did not the Lord anoint thee king upon Israel?)

18 and the Lord sent thee into the way, and said, Go thou, and slay the sinners of Amalek, and thou shalt fight against them till to the slaying of them. (and the Lord sent thee on the way, and said, Go thou, and kill those sinners, the Amalekites, and thou shalt fight against them until they all be slaughtered.)

19 Why therefore heardest thou not the voice of the Lord, but thou were turned to the prey (but instead, thou took that prey), and (so) didest evil in the eyes of the Lord?

20 And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I heard the voice of the Lord, and I have gone in the way, by which the Lord sent me, and I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have killed Amalek. (And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I did listen to the Lord's voice, and I have gone on the way where he sent me, and I have brought Agag, the king of the Amalekites here, and I have killed all the other Amalekites.)

21 Forsooth the people took of the prey, sheep and oxen, the first fruits/the chief fruits of those things that be slain, that they make sacrifice to their Lord God in Gilgal. (But the people kept of the prey, sheep and oxen, the first fruits/the chief fruits of those things that should be killed, to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord their God here in Gilgal.)

22 And Samuel said, Whether the Lord will burnt sacrifices, either slain sacrifices, and not more, rather, that men obey to the voice of the Lord? (And Samuel said, Desireth the Lord burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, or rather, that people obey his voice?) Forsooth obedience to him is better than sacrifices, and to take heed to his word is more than to offer the inner fatness of rams;

23 for it is as the sin of maumetry to fight against God's behest, and it is as the wickedness of idolatry to not assent to God's behest. Therefore for that, that thou castedest away the word of the Lord, the Lord casted thee away, that thou be not king. (for it is like the sin of idolatry to fight against God's command, and it is like the wickedness of idolatry to not assent to God's command. And so because thou hast thrown away the word of the Lord, the Lord hath thrown thee away, so that thou not be king.)

24 And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have broken the word of the Lord, and thy words; and I dreaded the people, and obeyed to the voice of them; (And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and thy words; for I feared the people, and obeyed their voice;)

25 but now, I beseech thee, bear thou my sin, and turn thou again with me, (so) that I (can) worship the Lord.

26 And Samuel said to Saul, I shall not turn again with thee, for thou castedest away the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath cast away thee, that thou be not king upon Israel. (And Samuel said to Saul, I shall not return with thee, for thou hast thrown away the word of the Lord, and so the Lord hath thrown thee away, so that thou not be king upon Israel.)

27 And Samuel turned to go away; soothly Saul took the end of the mantle of Samuel, which also was rent (and Saul took hold of the end of Samuel's mantle, and it tore).

28 And Samuel said to him, The Lord hath cut the realm of Israel from thee today (The Lord hath torn away the kingdom of Israel from thee today), and he hath given it to thy neighbour, (who is) better than thou;

29 certainly the Overcomer in Israel shall not spare them that will not obey to him, and he shall not be bowed by repentance; for he is not man, that is, changeable, that he do repentance, (for he is not a man, that is, that he change his mind).

30 And Saul said, I have sinned; but now honour thou me before the elder men of my people, and before Israel, and turn thou again with me, that I worship thy Lord God (and return thou with me, so that I can worship the Lord thy God).

31 Therefore Samuel turned again, and followed Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord.

32 And Samuel said, Bring ye to me Agag, the king of Amalek. And Agag, most fat (and) trembling, was brought to him. And Agag said, Whether thus departeth bitter death? (And Samuel said, Bring ye to me Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And Agag, most fat and trembling, was brought to him. And Agag said, Hath bitter death thus departed, that is, May I live?)

33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women without free children, so thy mother shall be without free children among women. And Samuel hewed Agag into gobbets before the Lord in Gilgal.

34 And (then) Samuel went into Ramah; and Saul went up into his house in Gibeah.

35 And Samuel saw no more Saul unto the day of his death; nevertheless Samuel bewailed Saul, for it repented the Lord, that he had ordained Saul king upon Israel. (And Samuel never again saw Saul until his dying day; nevertheless Samuel bewailed Saul, and the Lord repented, that is, he regretted, that he had made Saul king upon Israel.)

1 Samuel 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Saul sent to destroy Amalek. (1-9) Saul excuses and commends himself. (10-23) Saul's imperfect humiliation. (24-31) Agag put to death, Samuel and Saul part. (32-35)

Verses 1-9 The sentence of condemnation against the Amalekites had gone forth long before, ( Exodus17:14 , Deuteronomy 25:19 ) , but they had been spared till they filled up the measure of their sins. We are sure that the righteous Lord does no injustice to any. The remembering the kindness of the ancestors of the Kenites, in favour to them, at the time God was punishing the injuries done by the ancestors of the Amalekites, tended to clear the righteousness of God in this dispensation. It is dangerous to be found in the company of God's enemies, and it is our duty and interest to come out from among them, lest we share in their sins and plagues, ( Revelation 18:4 ) . As the commandment had been express, and a test of Saul's obedience, his conduct evidently was the effect of a proud, rebellious spirit. He destroyed only the refuse, that was good for little. That which was now destroyed was sacrificed to the justice of God.

Verses 10-23 Repentance in God is not a change of mind, as it is in us, but a change of method. The change was in Saul; "He is turned back from following me." Hereby he made God his enemy. Samuel spent a whole night in pleading for Saul. The rejection of sinners is the grief of believers: God delights not in their death, nor should we. Saul boasts to Samuel of his obedience. Thus sinners think, by justifying themselves, to escape being judged of the Lord. The noise the cattle made, like the rust of the silver, ( James 5:3 ) , witnessed against him. Many boast of obedience to the command of God; but what means then their indulgence of the flesh, their love of the world, their angry and unkind spirit, and their neglect of holy duties, which witness against them? See of what evil covetousness is the root; and see what is the sinfulness of sin, and notice that in it which above any thing else makes it evil in the sight of the Lord; it is disobedience: "Thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord." Carnal, deceitful hearts, like Saul, think to excuse themselves from God's commandments by what pleases themselves. It is hard to convince the children of disobedience. But humble, sincere, and conscientious obedience to the will of God, is more pleasing and acceptable to him than all burnt-offering and sacrifices. God is more glorified and self more denied, by obedience than by sacrifice. It is much easier to bring a bullock or lamb to be burned upon the altar, than to bring every high thought into obedience to God, and to make our will subject to his will. Those are unfit and unworthy to rule over men, who are not willing that God should rule over them.

Verses 24-31 There were several signs of hypocrisy in Saul's repentance. 1. He besought Samuel only, and seemed most anxious to stand right in his opinion, and to gain his favour. 2. He excuses his fault, even when confessing it; that is never the way of a true penitent. 3. All his care was to save his credit, and preserve his interest in the people. Men are fickle and alter their minds, feeble and cannot effect their purposes; something happens they could not foresee, by which their measures are broken; but with God it is not so. The Strength of Israel will not lie.

Verses 32-35 Many think the bitterness of death is past when it is not gone by; they put that evil day far from them, which is very near. Samuel calls Agag to account for his own sins. He followed the example of his ancestors' cruelty, justly therefore is all the righteous blood shed by Amalek required. Saul seems unconcerned at the token of God's displeasure which he lay under, yet Samuel mourns day and night for him. Jerusalem was carnally secure while Christ wept over it. Do we desire to do the whole will of God? Turn to him, not in form and appearance, but with sincerity.

Chapter Summary

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.