1 Samuel 15:32

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}."

1 Samuel 15:32 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:32

Then said Samuel, bring you hither to me Agag the king of the
Amalekites
This he said very probably to some of Saul's officers, and in his presence, and before all the people met together for sacrifice:

and Agag came unto him delicately;
fat and plump, as the Vulgate Latin version, and yet trembling, as that and the Septuagint; well dressed, in the garb and habit of a king, and with the air and majesty of one; or with pleasure and joy, as Kimchi, choosing rather to die than to be a captive, and live in such reproach as he did; though R. Isaiah and Ben Gersom give the sense of it, that he came bound in chains, and fetters of iron, according to the use of the word in ( Job 38:31 )

and Agag said, surely the bitterness of death is past;
this he said, either as not expecting to die, that since he had been spared by Saul, the king of the nation, a fierce and warlike prince, he had nothing to fear from an ancient man and a prophet, and who now bore not the sword of justice; and especially when he came into his presence, and saw his form, which showed him to be a man of clemency and mercy, as Ben Gersom observes: or as expecting it, and so Kimchi interprets it to this sense, "the bitterness of death is come"; and is near at hand, and will be soon over; or suggesting that that which was bitter, to others grievous and terrible, was to him sweet and desirable; but the former sense seems best by what follows.

1 Samuel 15:32 In-Context

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}."
33 Samuel said, "Just as your sword bereaved women, so will your mother be bereaved among women!" Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "trembling"; literally "in chains/bonds" (HALOT 609 s.v. 2); the meaning here is uncertain (LXX has "trembling")
  • [b]. Literally "has turned aside"; other English versions follow the LXX and Peshitta and omit "has turned aside," reading "Surely the bitterness of death!"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.