1 Samuel 15:19

19 Why didn't you obey the LORD? Why have you taken their belongings and done what the LORD considers evil?"

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 Samuel said, "Even though you don't consider yourself great, you were the head of Israel's tribes. The LORD anointed you king of Israel.

18 And the LORD sent you on a mission. He said, 'Claim those sinners, the Amalekites, for me by destroying them. Wage war against them until they're wiped out.'

19 Why didn't you obey the LORD? Why have you taken their belongings and done what the LORD considers evil?"

20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul told Samuel. "I went where the LORD sent me, brought [back] King Agag of Amalek, and claimed the Amalekites for God.

21 The army took some of their belongings--the best sheep and cows were claimed for God--in order to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."