1Thereafter, SamuEl said to Saul: ‘It was Jehovah who sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel, so now, listen to what He has to say! 2This is what Jehovah of armies says to you: Now I shall punish Amalech for what they did to Israel when they were coming from Egypt. 3So, go and cut down the Amalechites… destroy them… burn them and everything that belongs to them. Kill the men, the women, the children, the babies, the cows, the sheep, the camels, and the burros!’ 4So, Saul gave these instructions to his people, and then he counted his troops at GilGal (there were two hundred thousand, plus ten thousand from Judah). 5And thereafter, Saul marched toward the cities of the Amalechites and he camped along a creek. 6Then he gave this warning to the Kenites: ‘Get away from the Amalechites, or I’ll destroy you along with them. For, you showed mercy to the sons of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt.’ So the Kenites got away from Amalech, 7and then Saul attacked Amalech all the way from HaviLah to Shur (which is across from Egypt), 8and he captured the Amalechite king AgAg, and he had all the people killed with swords. 9However, Saul and his men [didn’t destroy] their flocks, their herds, their food, their vineyards, or any of their good things; they only destroyed the things that were worthless. 10So Jehovah said to SamuEl, ‘I have changed My mind about having Saul rule as king, because he has turned away from Me and he doesn’t listen to what I say.’ 11Well, this saddened SamuEl, and he kept calling to Jehovah all night long. 12Then, when he got up the next morning and went to meet with Israel, he was told that Saul had left for Carmel. So he raised his arm and turned his chariot, then he headed for GilGal. 13And when SamuEl reached Saul, he said to him, ‘Saul, you were blest by Jehovah and I’ve told you everything that He said to me. 14So, why is it that I can hear the sound of herds of sheep and cows?’ 15And Saul replied, ‘My men took them from the Amalechites. We only took the best of the herds, and we’re going to use them as sacrifices to your God Jehovah… we destroyed all the rest.’ 16And SamuEl said to Saul, ‘Listen and I’ll tell you what Jehovah said to me last night!’ And [Saul] said, ‘Speak!’ 17Then SamuEl said, ‘Weren’t you just a nobody before you became the chief of Israel? And wasn’t it Jehovah who anointed you to be the king of Israel? 18Then Jehovah sent you here and He told you to go and destroy the Amalechites for sinning against Him… He told you to war against them until you destroyed them all! 19Yet, you didn’t pay attention to what He said, for you took a lot of loot and you acted wickedly before Jehovah.’ 20And Saul replied, ‘Well, I did this because I was listening to the people. I [personally] followed Jehovah’s instructions; and although I took the Amalechite king captive, I killed all his people. 21It was my men who took their flocks, herds, good things, and food… but they took it in order to sacrifice it before Jehovah our God in GilGal.’ 22And SamuEl asked, ‘Does Jehovah prefer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, or does He want you to listen to what He says? Look! Obeying is better than sacrificing, and paying attention is better than the fat of rams! 23Now, this sin is an omen of the grief and misery that’s going to come upon you. Because of the contempt you’ve shown for the words of Jehovah, Jehovah is going to treat you with contempt, and you’ll no longer be the king of Israel.’ 24Then Saul said to SamuEl, ‘I have sinned by violating the instructions that you gave me from Jehovah. But I was afraid of the people, so I did whatever they asked. 25Now, please take away my sin and reinstate me [as king], and I’ll prostrate myself before your God Jehovah!’ 26But SamuEl replied, ‘I won’t reinstate you, because you’ve treated the words of Jehovah with contempt. And now Jehovah is going to treat you with contempt by removing you as king over Israel.’ 27Then, as SamuEl turned to go, Saul grabbed [the fringe] on his robe and ripped it. 28And SamuEl said to him, ‘That’s how Jehovah has torn your kingship over Israel from your hands today, and He’s going to give it to your neighbor; someone who’s better than you. 29Then Israel is going to be divided in two! The Holy One of Israel isn’t going to change His mind or be dissuaded, because He isn’t like a man who changes his mind.’ 30And again, Saul said, ‘I have sinned! Please glorify me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back to me and I’ll prostrate myself before your God Jehovah!’ 31But SamuEl just walked around Saul, and then he bowed before Jehovah. 32And he said, ‘Bring the king of Amalech to me.’ Well, when they brought him in, he was trembling. And AgAg asked, ‘Is this how I will meet my bitter end?’ 33And SamuEl replied, ‘As you have used your sword to make orphans and widows, your mother is going to be childless.’ Then SamuEl killed AgAg there in the presence of Jehovah in GilGal. 34Well, from there, SamuEl went to RamAh, and the saying was started, ‘Whatever is captured will be split.’ So, Saul returned home to his house in GibeAh, 35and SamuEl never went to see Saul again until the day he died. Yet, he mourned over Saul, for Jehovah was unhappy that He had appointed Saul as king over Israel.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 SAUL SENT TO DESTROY AMALEK. (
1Sam 15:1-6)
Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee . . .: now therefore hearken thou unto . . . the Lord--Several years had been passed in successful military operations against troublesome neighbors. During these Saul had been left to act in a great measure at his own discretion as an independent prince. Now a second test is proposed of his possessing the character of a theocratic monarch in Israel; and in announcing the duty required of him, Samuel brought before him his official station as the Lord's vicegerent, and the peculiar obligation under which he was laid to act in that capacity. He had formerly done wrong, for which a severe rebuke and threatening were administered to him (
1Sam 13:13-14). Now an opportunity was afforded him of retrieving that error by an exact obedience to the divine command.
2 Amalek--the powerful tribe which inhabited the country immediately to the eastward of the northern Cushites. Their territory extended over the whole of the eastern portion of the desert of Sinai to Rephidim--the earliest opponent (
Deut 25:18;
Exod 17:8-
Exod 17:16) --the hereditary and restless enemy of Israel (
Num 14:45;
Judg 3:13;
Judg 6:3), and who had not repented (
1Sam 14:48) of their bitter and sleepless hatred during the five hundred years that had elapsed since their doom was pronounced. Being a people of nomadic habits, they were as plundering and dangerous as the Bedouin Arabs, particularly to the southern tribes. The national interest required, and God, as KING OF ISRAEL, decreed that this public enemy should be removed. Their destruction was to be without reservation or exception.
I remember--I am reminded of what Amalek did--perhaps by the still remaining trophy or memorial erected by Moses (
Exod 17:15-
Exod 17:16).
4 Saul gathered the people together--The alacrity with which he entered on the necessary preparations for the expedition gave a fair, but delusive promise of faithfulness in its execution.
Telaim--or Telem, among the uttermost cities of the tribe of Judah towards the coast of Edom (
Josh 15:21,
Josh 15:24).
5 Saul came to a city of Amalek--probably their capital.
laid wait in the valley--following the strategic policy of Joshua at Ai (
Josh 8:4).
6 Kenites--(See on
Judg 1:16). In consequence, probably, of the unsettled state of Judah, they seem to have returned to their old desert tracts. Though now intermingled with the Amalekites, they were not implicated in the offenses of that wicked race; but for the sake of their ancestors, between whom and those of Israel there had been a league of amity, a timely warning was afforded them to remove from the scene of danger.
7 HE SPARES AGAG AND THE BEST OF THE SPOIL. (
1Sam 15:7-9)
Saul smote the Amalekites--His own view of the proper and expedient course to follow was his rule, not the command of God.
8 he took Agag . . . alive--This was the common title of the Amalekite kings. He had no scruple about the apparent cruelty of it, for he made fierce and indiscriminate havoc of the people. But he spared Agag, probably to enjoy the glory of displaying so distinguished a captive, and, in like manner, the most valuable portions of the booty, as the cattle. By this wilful and partial obedience to a positive command [
1Sam 15:3], complying with it in some parts and violating it in others, as suited his own taste and humor, Saul showed his selfish, arbitrary temper, and his love of despotic power, and his utter unfitness to perform the duties of a delegated king in Israel.
10 GOD REJECTS HIS FOR DISOBEDIENCE. (
1Sam 15:10-11)
Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul--Repentance is attributed in Scripture to Him when bad men give Him cause to alter His course and method of procedure, and to treat them as if He did "repent" of kindness shown. To the heart of a man like Samuel, who was above all envious considerations, and really attached to the king, so painful an announcement moved all his pity and led him to pass a sleepless night of earnest intercession.
12 Saul came to Carmel--in the south of Judah (
Josh 15:55;
1Sam 25:2).
he set him up a place--that is, a pillar (
2Sam 18:18); literally, a hand, indicating that whatever was the form of the monument, it was surmounted, according to the ancient fashion, by the figure of a hand, the symbol of power and energy. The erection of this vainglorious trophy was an additional act of disobedience. His pride had overborne his sense of duty in first raising this monument to his own honor, and then going to Gilgal to offer sacrifice to God.
13 Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord--Saul was either blinded by a partial and delusive self-love, or he was, in his declaration to Samuel, acting the part of a bold and artful hypocrite. He professed to have fulfilled the divine command, and that the blame of any defects in the execution lay with the people. Samuel saw the real state of the case, and in discharge of the commission he had received before setting out, proceeded to denounce his conduct as characterized by pride, rebellion, and obstinate disobedience. When Saul persisted in declaring that he had obeyed, alleging that the animals, whose bleating was heard, had been reserved for a liberal sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, his shuffling, prevaricating answer called forth a stern rebuke from the prophet. It well deserved it--for the destination of the spoil to the altar was a flimsy pretext--a gross deception, an attempt to conceal the selfishness of the original motive under the cloak of religious zeal and gratitude.
24 I have sinned . . . turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord--The erring, but proud and obstinate monarch was now humbled. He was conscience-smitten for the moment, but his confession proceeded not from sincere repentance, but from a sense of danger and desire of averting the sentence denounced against him. For the sake of public appearance, he besought Samuel not to allow their serious differences to transpire, but to join with him in a public act of worship. Under the influence of his painfully agitated feelings, he designed to offer sacrifice, partly to express his gratitude for the recent victory, and partly to implore mercy and a reversal of his doom. It was, from another angle, a politic scheme, that Samuel might be betrayed into a countenancing of his design in reserving the cattle for sacrificing. Samuel declined to accompany him.
I feared the people, and obeyed their voice--This was a different reason from the former he had assigned. It was the language of a man driven to extremities, and even had it been true, the principles expounded by Samuel showed that it could have been no extenuation of the offense. The prophet then pronounced the irreversible sentence of the rejection of Saul and his family. He was judicially cut off for his disobedience.
27 he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle--the moil, upper tunic, official robe. In an agony of mental excitement, he took hold of the prophet's dress to detain him; the rending of the mantle [
1Sam 15:27] was adroitly pointed to as a significant and mystical representation of his severance from the throne.
29 the Strength of Israel will not lie--Hebrew, "He that gives a victory to Israel," a further rebuke of his pride in rearing the Carmel trophy, and an intimation that no loss would be sustained in Israel by his rejection.
31 Samuel turned again after Saul--not to worship along with him; but first, that the people might have no ground, on pretense of Saul's rejection, to withdraw their allegiance from him; and secondly, to compensate for Saul's error, by executing God's judgment upon Agag.
32 Agag came unto him delicately--or cheerfully, since he had gained the favor and protection of the king.
33 Samuel hewed Agag--This cruel tyrant met the retribution of a righteous Providence. Never has it been unusual for great or official personages in the East to perform executions with their own hands. Samuel did it "before the Lord" in Gilgal, appointing that same mode of punishment (hitherto unknown in Israel) to be used towards him, which he had formerly used towards others.