1 Samuel 15:10-35

Samuel Rebukes Saul

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

11 "¹I regret that I have made Saul king, for ²he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and ³cried 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 ⁴Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to ⁵Gilgal."

13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "⁶Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."

14 But Samuel said, "⁷What 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 ⁸the 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, ⁹though 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, '¹⁰Go 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, ¹¹but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"

20 Then Saul said to Samuel, "¹²I 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 ¹³the 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, "¹⁴Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, ¹⁵to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 "For rebellion is as the sin of ¹⁶divination, And insubordination is as ¹⁷iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, ¹⁸He has also rejected you from being king."

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "¹⁹I have sinned; ²⁰I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

25 "Now therefore, ²¹please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD."

26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for ²²you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."

27 As Samuel turned to go, ²³Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

28 So Samuel said to him, "²⁴The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

29 "Also the ²⁵Glory of Israel ²⁶will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."

30 Then he said, "I have sinned; ²⁷but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, ²⁸that I may worship the LORD your God."

31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

33 But Samuel said, "²⁹As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to ³⁰Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at ³¹Gibeah of Saul.

35 ³²Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel ³³grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

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1 Samuel 15:10-35 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 33

1. Genesis 6:6, 7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:35; 2 Samuel 24:16
2. Joshua 22:16; 1 Samuel 13:13; 1 Kings 9:6, 7
3. Exodus 32:11-13; Luke 6:12
4. Joshua 15:55; 1 Samuel 25:2
5. 1 Samuel 13:12, 15
6. Genesis 14:19; Judges 17:2; Ruth 3:10; 2 Samuel 2:5
7. Exodus 32:21-24
8. Genesis 3:12, 13; Exodus 32:22, 23; 1 Samuel 15:9, 21
9. 1 Samuel 9:21; 1 Samuel 10:22
10. 1 Samuel 15:3
11. 1 Samuel 14:32
12. 1 Samuel 15:13
13. Exodus 32:22, 23; 1 Samuel 15:15
14. Psalms 40:6-8; Psalms 51:16, 17; Isaiah 1:11-15; Micah 6:6-8; Hebrews 10:6-9
15. Jeremiah 7:22, 23; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7; Mark 12:33
16. Deuteronomy 18:10
17. Genesis 31:19, 34
18. 1 Samuel 13:14
19. Numbers 22:34; 2 Samuel 12:13; Psalms 51:4
20. Proverbs 29:25; Isaiah 51:12, 13
21. Exodus 10:17
22. 1 Samuel 13:14; 1 Samuel 16:1
23. 1 Kings 11:30, 31
24. 1 Samuel 28:17, 18; 1 Kings 11:31
25. 1 Chronicles 29:11
26. Numbers 23:19; Ezekiel 24:14; Titus 1:2
27. John 5:44; John 12:43
28. Isaiah 29:13
29. Genesis 9:6; Judges 1:7; Matthew 7:2
30. 1 Samuel 7:17
31. 1 Samuel 11:4
32. 1 Samuel 19:24
33. 1 Samuel 16:1

Footnotes 9

[a]. Lit "after"
[b]. Lit "and went down"
[c]. Lit "sound"
[d]. Lit "sound"
[e]. Lit "way"
[f]. Lit "way"
[g]. Lit "mouth"
[h]. Or "Eminence"
[i]. Or "in bonds"