Kings I 15:20

20 And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.

Kings I 15:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 15:20

So Benhadad hearkened unto King Asa, and sent the captains of
the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel
He broke off his alliance with the king of Israel; and as he had a standing army, with proper officers, he sent them directly to take the cities of Israel:

and he smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth,
with all the land of Naphtali;
places which lay on the northern part of Israel, the nearest to Syria. Ijon some place in the tribe of Naphtali, others in Asher; it seems to be on the extreme border of the land northward, as Dan also was; hence the phrase from Dan to Beersheba, i.e. from north to south. Abelbethmaachah is the same with Abelmaim, ( 2 Chronicles 16:4 ) which perhaps is the same with that Abela, placed by Jerome

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 between Damascus and Paneas, supposed to be the Enhydra of Pliny {y}. Cinneroth is the same with Gennesaret, a fruitful country in Galilee, from which is a sea or lake of that name, mentioned in the New Testament, and was in the tribe of Naphtali, the land of which was seized upon at this time.

F24 De loc. Heb. fol. 83. K.
F25 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19.

Kings I 15:20 In-Context

18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said to thee, Go, and utterly destroy: thou shalt slay the sinners against me, the Amalekites; and thou shalt war against them until thou have consumed them.

19 And why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?

20 And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.

21 But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.

22 And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.