1 Samuel15
New King James Version
1Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.
2Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
3Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.
5And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
6Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
10Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
12So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”
13Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.”
17So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?
18Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
25Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
28So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
29And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”
31So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
35And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Samuel 15.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Saul sent to destroy Amalek. (1–9). Saul excuses and commends himself. (10–23). Saul's imperfect humiliation. (24–31). Agag put to death, Samuel and Saul part. (32–35).
vv1-9
The sentence of condemnation against the Amalekites had gone forth long before, Ex 17:14; De 25:19, but they had been spared till they filled up the measure of their sins. We are sure that the righteous Lord does no injustice to any. The remembering the kindness of the ancestors of the Kenites, in favour to them, at the time God was punishing the injuries done by the ancestors of the Amalekites, tended to clear the righteousness of God in this dispensation. It is dangerous to be found in the company of God's enemies, and it is our duty and interest to come out from among them, lest we share in their sins and plagues, Re 18:4. As the commandment had been express, and a test of Saul's obedience, his conduct evidently was the effect of a proud, rebellious spirit. He destroyed only the refuse, that was good for little. That which was now destroyed was sacrificed to the justice of God.
vv10-23
Repentance in God is not a change of mind, as it is in us, but a change of method. The change was in Saul; “He is turned back from following me.” Hereby he made God his enemy. Samuel spent a whole night in pleading for Saul. The rejection of sinners is the grief of believers: God delights not in their death, nor should we. Saul boasts to Samuel of his obedience. Thus sinners think, by justifying themselves, to escape being judged of the Lord. The noise the cattle made, like the rust of the silver, Jas 5:3, witnessed against him. Many boast of obedience to the command of God; but what means then their indulgence of the flesh, their love of the world, their angry and unkind spirit, and their neglect of holy duties, which witness against them? See of what evil covetousness is the root; and see what is the sinfulness of sin, and notice that in it which above any thing else makes it evil in the sight of the Lord; it is disobedience: “Thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord.” Carnal, deceitful hearts, like Saul, think to excuse themselves from God's commandments by what pleases themselves. It is hard to convince the children of disobedience. But humble, sincere, and conscientious obedience to the will of God, is more pleasing and acceptable to him than all burnt-offering and sacrifices. God is more glorified and self more denied, by obedience than by sacrifice. It is much easier to bring a bullock or lamb to be burned upon the altar, than to bring every high thought into obedience to God, and to make our will subject to his will. Those are unfit and unworthy to rule over men, who are not willing that God should rule over them.
vv24-31
There were several signs of hypocrisy in Saul's repentance. 1. He besought Samuel only, and seemed most anxious to stand right in his opinion, and to gain his favour. 2. He excuses his fault, even when confessing it; that is never the way of a true penitent. 3. All his care was to save his credit, and preserve his interest in the people. Men are fickle and alter their minds, feeble and cannot effect their purposes; something happens they could not foresee, by which their measures are broken; but with God it is not so. The Strength of Israel will not lie.
Key Words
שְׁמוּאֵל: Shemuel, the name of three Israelites
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׁאוּל: Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites
שָׁלַח: to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)
מָשַׁח: to rub with oil, i.e. to anoint; by implication, to consecrate; also to paint
מֶלֶךְ: a king
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
עַתָּה: at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletive
Cross References
1 Samuel 15The original battle and divine curse against Amalek that Saul was ordered to execute.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The explicit Mosaic command to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The classic prophetic echo that God desires obedience and mercy over physical sacrifice.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The repetition of Saul's rejection and the promise of a better neighbor (David).
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel statement of God's unchangeable character: He is not a man, that He should lie or repent.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Historical background on the Kenites' relationship with Israel, sparing them from Amalek's fate.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Balaam's prophecy that Israel's king shall be higher than Agag, the royal Amalekite title.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The exact parallel of Ahab sparing a doomed king (Ben-hadad) and receiving a death sentence.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Another example of a self-glorifying monument ('a place/hand') set up by Absalom.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Saul's own words of being 'little' when Samuel first met him, contrasting his later pride.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Asks what God requires, emphasizing justice and walking humbly over thousands of rams.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates Saul's confession that he sinned because he feared the people and obeyed them.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The military strategy of laying in wait in the valley, echoing Joshua at Ai.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Pharaoh's superficial confession 'I have sinned' matching the hollow nature of Saul's repentance.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ahijah renting his garment as a physical sign of tearing away the kingdom.
Supported by Matthew Poole