1 Samuel 15:14

14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?"

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 the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal.

13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command."

14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?"

15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely."

16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said.