1 Samuel 15:19

19 So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do 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 And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel

18 and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’

19 So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

20 “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.

21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”