1 Samuel 15:14

14 Samuel replied, "Then what is this sound of sheep^[a] and cattle I hear?"

1 Samuel 15:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:14

And Samuel said, what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep
in mine ears
For the orders were to destroy all living creatures belonging to the Amalekites, ( 1 Samuel 15:3 ) if therefore Saul had performed the commandment of the Lord, as he said he had, from whence were these sheep Samuel heard bleating?

and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
where do they come from? these questions he put to convict him of the falsehood he had delivered; the bleating and lowing of these creatures proved him a liar, and were witnesses of his breach of the divine command; and one would think every bleating and lowing of these must alarm his conscience, unless dreadfully stupefied.

1 Samuel 15:14 In-Context

12 Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, "Saul went to Carmel where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal."

13 When Samuel came to him, Saul said, "May the Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord's instructions."

14 Samuel replied, "Then what is this sound of sheep and cattle I hear?"

15 Saul answered, "The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we destroyed."

16 "Stop!" exclaimed Samuel. "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," he replied.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit sheep in my ears