1 Samuel 15:9

9 But Saul and the army spared Agag. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They spared the fat calves and lambs. They spared everything that was valuable. They weren't willing to completely destroy any of those things. But they totally destroyed everything that was worthless and weak.

1 Samuel 15:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:9

And Saul and all the people spared Agag
Perhaps Saul made the motion to spare him, and the people agreed to it; it may be, out of respect to him as a king; or because of the comeliness of his person, the height of his stature, and the largeness of his body, as Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 notes; or to carry him in triumph in a public show, see ( 1 Samuel 15:12 )

and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings;
or "of the second sort", as in the margin, the second best; or rather which shed their two long teeth, as sheep at two years old did when reckoned at their full strength, and fittest for sacrifice ^F26:

and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy
them;
as they were commanded, but kept them for their own private use and advantage, and this not only the best and fattest of the flocks and herds, but of their household goods:

but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly:
such of the cattle that were poor and lean, lame or blind, or had any defect in them, and household goods that were mere rubbish and lumber; such they entirely destroyed, killed the creatures, and burnt the goods; in doing which they thought they fulfilled the will of God.

F25 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 7.) sect. 2.
F26 Bidentes, Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. ver. 39. Vid. Servium in ib.

1 Samuel 15:9 In-Context

7 Saul attacked the Amalekites. He struck them down all the way from Havilah to Shur. Shur was near the eastern border of Egypt.

8 He took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive. He and his men totally destroyed all of Agag's people with swords.

9 But Saul and the army spared Agag. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They spared the fat calves and lambs. They spared everything that was valuable. They weren't willing to completely destroy any of those things. But they totally destroyed everything that was worthless and weak.

10 Then the LORD gave Samuel a message. He said,

11 "I am very sorry I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I directed him to do." When Samuel heard that, he was troubled. He cried out to the LORD during that whole night.