14 And Samuel H8050 said, H559 What meaneth then this bleating H6963 of the sheep H6629 in mine ears, H241 and the lowing H6963 of the oxen H1241 which I hear? H8085
But unto the wicked H7563 God H430 saith, H559 What hast thou to do to declare H5608 my statutes, H2706 or that thou shouldest take H5375 my covenant H1285 in thy mouth? H6310 Seeing thou hatest H8130 instruction, H4148 and castest H7993 my words H1697 behind H310 thee. When thou sawest H7200 a thief, H1590 then thou consentedst H7521 with him, and hast been partaker H2506 with adulterers. H5003 Thou givest H7971 thy mouth H6310 to evil, H7451 and thy tongue H3956 frameth H6775 deceit. H4820 Thou sittest H3427 and speakest H1696 against thy brother; H251 thou H5414 slanderest H1848 thine own mother's H517 son. H1121 These things hast thou done, H6213 and I kept silence; H2790 thou thoughtest H1819 that I was altogether H1961 such an one as thyself: but I will reprove H3198 thee, and set them in order H6186 before thine eyes. H5869
And now what hast thou to do in the way H1870 of Egypt, H4714 to drink H8354 the waters H4325 of Sihor? H7883 or what hast thou to do in the way H1870 of Assyria, H804 to drink H8354 the waters H4325 of the river? H5104 Thine own wickedness H7451 shall correct H3256 thee, and thy backslidings H4878 shall reprove H3198 thee: know H3045 therefore and see H7200 that it is an evil H7451 thing and bitter, H4751 that thou hast forsaken H5800 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and that my fear H6345 is not in thee, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD H3069 of hosts. H6635
For though thou wash H3526 thee with nitre, H5427 and take thee much H7235 soap, H1287 yet thine iniquity H5771 is marked H3799 before H6440 me, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069 How canst thou say, H559 I am not polluted, H2930 I have not gone H1980 after H310 Baalim? H1168 see H7200 thy way H1870 in the valley, H1516 know H3045 what thou hast done: H6213 thou art a swift H7031 dromedary H1072 traversing H8308 her ways; H1870
Also in thy skirts H3671 is found H4672 the blood H1818 of the souls H5315 of the poor H34 innocents: H5355 I have not found H4672 it by secret search, H4290 but upon all these. Yet thou sayest, H559 Because I am innocent, H5352 surely his anger H639 shall turn H7725 from me. Behold, I will plead H8199 with thee, because thou sayest, H559 I have not sinned. H2398 Why gaddest thou about H235 so much H3966 to change H8138 thy way? H1870 thou also shalt be ashamed H954 of Egypt, H4714 as thou wast ashamed H954 of Assyria. H804 Yea, thou shalt go forth H3318 from him, and thine hands H3027 upon thine head: H7218 for the LORD H3068 hath rejected H3988 thy confidences, H4009 and thou shalt not prosper H6743 in them.
Your words H1697 have been stout H2388 against me, saith H559 the LORD. H3068 Yet ye say, H559 What have we spoken H1696 so much against thee? Ye have said, H559 It is vain H7723 to serve H5647 God: H430 and what profit H1215 is it that we have kept H8104 his ordinance, H4931 and that we have walked H1980 mournfully H6941 before H6440 the LORD H3068 of hosts? H6635 And now we call H833 the proud H2086 happy; H833 yea, they that work H6213 wickedness H7564 are set up; H1129 yea, they that tempt H974 God H430 are even delivered. H4422
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 15
Commentary on 1 Samuel 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
1Sa 15:1-6. Saul Sent to Destroy Amalek.
1. 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 (1Sa 13:13, 14). Now an opportunity was afforded him of retrieving that error by an exact obedience to the divine command.
2, 3. 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 (De 25:18; Ex 17:8-16)—the hereditary and restless enemy of Israel (Nu 14:45; Jud 3:13; 6:3), and who had not repented (1Sa 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 (Ex 17:15, 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 (Jos 15:21, 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 (Jos 8:4).
6. Kenites—(See on Jud 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.
1Sa 15:7-9. He Spares Agag and the Best of the Spoil.
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, 9. 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 [1Sa 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.
1Sa 15:10, 11. God Rejects His for Disobedience.
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 (Jos 15:55; 1Sa 25:2).
he set him up a place—that is, a pillar (2Sa 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.
13-23. 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.
24-26. 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, 28. 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 [1Sa 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.