1 Samuel 15:30

30 Then he said, I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people and before Israel and turn again with me that I may worship the LORD thy God.

1 Samuel 15:30 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:30

Then he said, I have sinned
So he had said before, ( 1 Samuel 15:24 ) but his confession there was attended with an extenuation of his sin, pleading in excuse of it that it was through fear of the people, but here it is without any; and yet by what follows it appears to be not ingenuous and sincere, but hypocritical:

yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and
before Israel;
with his company; since should he be slighted openly by the Lord, and by his prophet, he would fall into contempt both with the principal men, and with the common people; wherefore he seemed more concerned for the loss of honour and reputation with the people, than for his sin against God, which is always the case of hypocrites:

and turn again with me, and worship the Lord thy God;
(See Gill on 1 Samuel 15:25).

1 Samuel 15:30 In-Context

28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee today and has given it to a neighbour of thine that is better than thou.

29 And also the Overcomer of Israel will not lie nor repent concerning this, for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30 Then he said, I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people and before Israel and turn again with me that I may worship the LORD thy God.

31 So Samuel turned again after Saul, and Saul worshipped the LORD.

32 Then Samuel said, Bring me Agag, the king of Amalek. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is near.