1 Samuel 15:1-23

Saul's Disobedience

1 Then Samuel said to Saul, "¹The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.

2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek ²for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

3 'Now go and strike Amalek and ³utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but ⁴put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "

4 Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in ⁵Telaim, 200,000 * foot soldiers and 10,000 * men of Judah.

5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

6 Saul said to ⁶the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for ⁷you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 So ⁸Saul defeated the Amalekites, from ⁹Havilah as you go to ¹⁰Shur, which is east * of Egypt.

8 He captured ¹¹Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ¹²utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 But Saul and the people ¹³spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything * despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

11 "¹⁴I regret that I have made Saul king, for ¹⁵he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and ¹⁶cried out to the LORD all night.

12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to ¹⁷Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to ¹⁸Gilgal."

13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "¹⁹Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."

14 But Samuel said, "²⁰What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

15 Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ²¹the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."

16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"

17 Samuel said, "Is it not true, ²²though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel,

18 and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, '²³Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.'

19 "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, ²⁴but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"

20 Then Saul said to Samuel, "²⁵I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 "But ²⁶the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

22 Samuel said, "²⁷Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, ²⁸to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 "For rebellion is as the sin of ²⁹divination, And insubordination is as ³⁰iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, ³¹He has also rejected you from being king."

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1 Samuel 15:1-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 15

In this chapter are recorded the order Saul had from the Lord to destroy Amalek utterly, 1Sa 15:1-3 the preparation he made to put it in execution, and the success thereof, 1Sa 15:4-9 the offence the Lord took at his not obeying his order thoroughly, with which Samuel was made acquainted, and which grieved him, 1Sa 15:10,11, upon which he went out to meet Saul, and reprove him; and a long discourse upon the subject passed between them, the issue of which was, that by an irrevocable decree he was rejected from being king, 1Sa 15:12-31 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Samuel's hewing in pieces Agag king of Amalek, and of his final departure from Saul, 1Sa 15:32-35.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 31

1. 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1
2. Exodus 17:8-16; Numbers 24:20; Deuteronomy 25:17-19
3. Numbers 24:20; Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Joshua 6:17-21
4. 1 Samuel 22:19
5. Joshua 15:24
6. Numbers 24:21; Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11
7. Exodus 18:9, 10; Numbers 10:29-32
8. 1 Samuel 14:48
9. Genesis 25:18
10. Genesis 16:7; Exodus 15:22; 1 Samuel 27:8
11. Numbers 24:7; 1 Samuel 15:20; Esther 3:1
12. 1 Samuel 27:8, 9; 1 Samuel 30:1; 2 Samuel 8:12
13. 1 Sam 15:3, 15, 19
14. Genesis 6:6, 7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:35; 2 Samuel 24:16
15. Joshua 22:16; 1 Samuel 13:13; 1 Kings 9:6, 7
16. Exodus 32:11-13; Luke 6:12
17. Joshua 15:55; 1 Samuel 25:2
18. 1 Samuel 13:12, 15
19. Genesis 14:19; Judges 17:2; Ruth 3:10; 2 Samuel 2:5
20. Exodus 32:21-24
21. Genesis 3:12, 13; Exodus 32:22, 23; 1 Samuel 15:9, 21
22. 1 Samuel 9:21; 1 Samuel 10:22
23. 1 Samuel 15:3
24. 1 Samuel 14:32
25. 1 Samuel 15:13
26. Exodus 32:22, 23; 1 Samuel 15:15
27. Psalms 40:6-8; Psalms 51:16, 17; Isaiah 1:11-15; Micah 6:6-8; Hebrews 10:6-9
28. Jeremiah 7:22, 23; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7; Mark 12:33
29. Deuteronomy 18:10
30. Genesis 31:19, 34
31. 1 Samuel 13:14

Footnotes 11

[a]. Lit "sound of the words"
[b]. Or "visit"
[c]. Lit "mustered"
[d]. Lit "smote"
[e]. Lit "before"
[f]. Lit "after"
[g]. Lit "and went down"
[h]. Lit "sound"
[i]. Lit "sound"
[j]. Lit "way"
[k]. Lit "way"