1 Samuel 15:8-18

8 And Saul took Agag alive, the king of Amalek; and he killed by sharpness of sword all the common people. (And Saul took Agag, the king of Amalek, alive; but they killed all the common people with the sharpness of their swords.)
9 And Saul and the people spared Agag (But Saul and his people spared Agag), and the best (of the) flocks of (the) sheep, and of (the) great beasts, and (they kept the) clothes, and (the) rams, and all things that were fair; and they would not destroy those; but whatever thing was vile, and reprovable, they destroyed that thing.
10 Forsooth the word of the Lord was made to Samuel, and said,
11 It repenteth me, that I made Saul king; for he hath forsaken me, and hath not fulfilled my words in work. And Samuel was sorry, and he cried to the Lord in all that night. (I repent, that is, I regret, that I made Saul king; for he hath deserted me, and hath not fulfilled my words in deeds. And Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.)
12 And (then) when Samuel had risen up by night to go early to Saul, it was told to Samuel, that Saul had come into Carmel, and had raised up to him a sign of victory (and had raised up a victory monument for himself there); and that he had turned again from Amalek, and had passed forth, and had gone down into Gilgal.
13 Then Samuel came to Saul, and Saul offered burnt sacrifice to the Lord of the chief things of the preys, which he had brought from Amalek. And the while Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have [ful]filled the word of the Lord. (And when Samuel came to Saul, Saul was offering a burnt sacrifice to the Lord of the chief things of the prey which he had taken from the Amalekites. And when Samuel came over to Saul, Saul said to him, Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.)
14 And Samuel said, And what is this voice of flocks (But what is this sound of the flocks), that soundeth in mine ears, and of (the) great beasts, which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They brought those from Amalek (They were taken from the Amalekites); for the people spared the best sheep and (the best) great beasts, that those should be offered to thy Lord God; and we killed the tother beasts.
16 And Samuel said to Saul, Suffer thou me (Allow me), and I shall show to thee what things the Lord hath spoken to me in this night. And Saul said to Samuel, Speak thou.
17 And Samuel said, Whether not, when thou were little in thine own eyes, thou were made head in the lineages of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee into king on Israel; (And Samuel said, Was it not, when thou were small, or insignificant, in thy own eyes, thou were made the head of all the tribes of Israel, and did not the Lord anoint thee king upon Israel?)
18 and the Lord sent thee into the way, and said, Go thou, and slay the sinners of Amalek, and thou shalt fight against them till to the slaying of them. (and the Lord sent thee on the way, and said, Go thou, and kill those sinners, the Amalekites, and thou shalt fight against them until they all be slaughtered.)

1 Samuel 15:8-18 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.