1 Samuel 15:30

30 Then he said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me {so that I can worship} Yahweh your 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 Then Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor {who is better than you}.

29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he [is] not a human that he should regret."

30 Then he said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me {so that I can worship} Yahweh your God."

31 So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul {worshiped} Yahweh.

32 Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag the king of Amalek out to me!" Agag came to him confidently, for Agag thought, "Surely the bitterness of death {is over}."

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, Saul
• [b]. Literally "so that I can bow down to"