1 Samuel 15:5

5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed.

1 Samuel 15:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:5

And Saul came to a city of Amalek
With his army, perhaps the nearest city of it to the land of Israel; though some think that Amalek was the name of the city, and was the metropolis of the nation, and had its name from thence: and laid wait in the valley; which was near the city, to intercept the inhabitants when they should come out against him: or "he contended" ^F23 as some render it, he fought with them there; the Targum,

``he ordered his army,''

set them in battle array, or pitched his camp there.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (bryw) "et certavit Pagninus"; "ut contenderet cum eo", Junius & Tremellius.

1 Samuel 15:5 In-Context

3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."

4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah.

5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed.

6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left.

7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt;