The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called the First Book of the Kings
1 Samuel 15
Chapter XV · Vol. II, pp. 651–652
1 Saul is sent to destroy Amalek. 6 He favoureth the Kenites; 7 smiteth the Amalekites; but spareth Agag and the best of the spoil. 10 Samuel denounceth unto Saul, commending and excusing himself, God's rejection of him for his disobedience. 24 Saul's humiliation. 32 Samuel killeth Agag. 34 He and Saul part.
1 Samuel also said unto Saul, aThe LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
B.C. cir. 1062.
a ch.9.16; 10.1; 11.14,15; 13.13.
2 Thus saith the bLORD of hosts, cI remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
b ch.1.11. 2 Sa.6.2; 7.26. Ps.24.10.
c Re.18.3. Ex.17.8-16. Nu.24.20. De.25.17-19.
3 Now go and dsmite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, einfant and suckling, fox and sheep, camel and ass.1
d Ex.17.14. Nu.24.20. De.25.19. Re.18.8.
f Ge.3.17,18. Ro.8.20-22.
1 In many preceding notes the sentence of expulsion or extirpation pronounced against the nations of Canaan, as well as against Amalek, has been defended against the cavils and impious accusations of infidels. The sentence against adults was righteously pronounced for their sins of robbery, malicious waylaying with intent to kill, Ex. 17. 14, murder, manstealing, &c. &c. The sentence against the sheep, &c. &c., was intended for preventing war from becoming a trade, to gratify covetousness. But how shall we defend the sentence against the children? What need is there of any defence? Do not children die by infantile diseases in multitudes? Does Providence require any defence? Yet surely the God who employs disease in the one case, and the sword in the other, is the same? Unless, therefore, the infidel accuse Providence, he cannot accuse the Lord speaking by his prophet.—C.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in gTelaim, htwo hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
6 And Saul said unto the iKenites, Go, depart,k get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showedl kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites3 departed from among the Amalekites.
i Nu.24.21; 10.29-32. Ju.1.16; 4.11.
k Ge.19.12. Is.52.11. 2 Co.6.17. Re.18.4.
3 These were the relatives of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and the narrative affords a beautiful example of national gratitude, a rare private, still more a rare political, virtue; and, in a defective character, like that of Saul, a solitary virtue claims additional attention.—C.
7 And Saul msmote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to nShur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he otook Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed pall the people with the edge of the sword.
p With ch.27.8; 30.1.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and theq best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings,4 and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
11 It rrepenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he sis turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it tgrieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to uCarmel, and, behold, he xset him up a 5place,6 and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
u Jos.15.55. ch.25.2.
x ch.7.12. Jos.4.8,9. 2 Sa.18.18.
5 Some extemporaneous monument of his victory—probably a great stone.—C.
6 Hebrew, 'a hand.' This is its literal meaning; but it came to signify a memorial or monument, because the hand calls attention to anything.—P.
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: yI have performed the commandment of the LORD.7
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for zthe people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, ato sacrifice unto the LORD thy God;8 and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
z Ge.3.12,13. Ex.32.22,23. ver.9,21.
a Mat.2.8. Ps.12.2. Ec.5.1; 4.6.
8 This is evidently a fiction conjured up to serve as an excuse, and is thrown out as a placebo to the piety of Samuel. But he detects and denounces the sin.—C.
16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee bwhat the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
b ver.11.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast clittle in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the dsinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.9
d ver.2,3. Ge.13.13. Mat.9.10. Jn.9.24,31.
9 Heb. they consume them.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst eflee upon the spoil,1 and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
e Pr.15.27; 23.5. Hab.2.12. Je.17.11. 1 Ti.6.10.
1 War has a great tendency to generate a love of plunder, consequently to foster a spirit of aggression and conquest, whilst the natural result is the destruction of all piety and morality; wherefore God thus pointedly condemns the disobedience arising from the covetousness of Saul and his army.—C.
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have fobeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites:
f Mat.19.20. Lu.18.21; 19.22. 1 Ki.20.31-42.
21 But gthe people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
g Ge.3.10,13. Ex.32.22,23. ver.15.
22 And Samuel said, hHath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.
h Ps.50.8,9. Is.1.11,13; 66.2,3. Je.7.22,23. Pr.15.8; 21.3,27. Ec.5.1. Ho.6.6. Mat.9.13.
23 Fori rebellion is as the sin of kwitchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and 2idolatry: because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
i Jos.22.19. ch.12.15,25.
k Heb. divination, Ex.22.18,20.
2 By making the words translated 'sin' and 'iniquity' adjectives, instead of substantives (which the Hebrew idiom allows), we obtain a clearer sense. 'Contumacy is as sinful as divination, and stubbornness is as iniquitous as idolatry.' And there a climax may be marked, persevering obstinacy being worse than simple contumacy, and the worship of idols being worse than magic. Saul had perhaps already begun his extirpation of necromancers, ch. 28. 3, and this would make the reproof more pointed.—I.
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, lI have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words; because I fearedm the people, and obeyed their voice.3
A.M. cir. 2942. B.C. cir. 1062.
l Ex.9.27. Nu.22.34. Pr.28.13. Mat.27.4. ver.30.
m ver.9,15,21. Je.13.23. Pr.29.25. Ge.3.12,13. Ex.32.22,23.
3 Alas, for poor human nature! when it yields to one temptation, and attempts to deny or excuse its guilt. In ver. 20 Saul affirms he had obeyed God's voice. Denounced by Samuel, he acknowledges his transgression, but in the very act of confessing, he adds to his guilt by attempting to charge it upon the people.—C.
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, oI will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD phath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hathr rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
r ch.13.14; 28.17. 1 Ki.11.31. Ho.13.10,11.
29 And also the sStrength of Israel twill not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.4
s Or, eternity, or victory, Ps.29.11. Zec.10.12.
t Nu.23.19. 2 Ti.2.13. Tit.1.2. He.6.18.
4 In this and ver. 11 the Lord has been said 'to speak after the manner of men;' and if this expression mean that God employs human language, it is true—for what other language, if other there be, could man comprehend? But if it mean that God, in any manner or degree, adapts or accommodates his language to what is not literal truth, then the sentiment is utterly to be rejected. See note on ver. 11.—C.
30 Then he said, uI have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
31 So Samuel turned again after Saul;5 and Saul worshipped the LORD.
5 Did not Samuel here either change his mind, or break his word, pledged not to return, in ver. 26? Neither. In ver. 26 he refused to return with him to worship; in ver. 31 he returns to do him honour before the people. And surely a man may refuse to do for one reason what he may assent to for another without any charge of fickleness, inconsistency, or falsehood.—C.
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me xAgag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. yAnd Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
x ver.8,33. Nu.24.7,20.
33 And Samuel said, zAs thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel ahewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
z Ex.17.11. Nu.14.45. Ge.9.6. Mat.26.52. Re.13.10; 16.6.
a 1 Ki.18.40. 2 Ki.1.10,12. Nu.25.7. Is.34.6.
34 Then Samuel went to bRamah; and Saul cwent up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
b ch.7.17.
c ch.11.4.
35 And Samuel dcame no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul:6 and the LORD erepented that he had made Saul king over Israel.7
d ch.19.24. Ps.119.136,158. Je.9.1,2.
A.M. cir. 2942. B.C. cir. 1062.
6 This is not surprising on two accounts, (1) Saul, with all his faults, possessed many fine qualities. (2) Nothing can more move the sorrow of a good man than to see a fellow-creature running, as Saul was, headlong to destruction.—C.
e ver.11. Ge.6.6.
7 See notes on ver. 11,29.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 5. 'To the city of Amalek,' i.e. the capital of the Amalekites; or 'to the city Amalek,' i.e. the city which bore the name of the people. Its position is not known. The Amalekites occupied the whole of the pastoral country from the southern border of Palestine to Egypt, and eastward as far as the valley of Arabah. P.]
Ver. 6. [It is recorded in Ju. 1. 16 that the Kenites who followed the Israelites to Palestine had settled in the wilderness of Judah, near Arad. One of their families went from thence northward to the mountains of Naphtali, Ju. 4. 11, the rest remained among the Amalekites, and were now warned away. P.]
Ver. 9. [Saul and the people spared Agag. Most likely for ransom; as avarice seems to have taken strong hold of their minds, and triumph does not appear, from history, to have become an object of national pride. C.]
Ver. 11. [It repenteth me. When God is said to 'repent,' it is not in any accommodation either to human weakness, human conceptions, or human language. To admit that God, at any time, ceases to speak plain, simple truth, is, in principle, to undermine the whole Scriptures. For if the ordinary rules of thought, facts, and language are twisted or violated in one place, why not in any other? And if, in any others, then, where? just wheresoever fancy pleases. But God gives no such dangerous scope to fancy. Repentance is a mere change of mind. Now when God, from regard to his courage, &c., raised Saul to the throne, he had first a mind to do so; and when, for his sins, he was determined to pull him down and set up another, he had also first a mind to do so; but, so far as Saul was concerned, this was a change of mind, while yet the Lord changeth not. But is it not said, 'He is not the son of man, that he should repent?' True. He does not repent as a son of man repents: that is, turning from sin. He repents as God repents—that is, changing the kind of his providence, as wisdom, justice, and mercy require, to suit different circumstances and persons. C.]
Reflections.—Injuries done to God's Israel will, sooner or later, be resented by him. He often bears long with sinners who fit themselves for destruction: but the longer judgments are forborne, they will only be the more severe when they come; and bloody instruments will be chosen for bloody work. How dangerous is it to live among the devoted enemies of God! But kindness to God's people often procures safety to men's offspring many ages afterward. A covetous and hypocritical heart makes men do the work of God by halves: and men's sins often make God change his methods of providence, though he never changes his mind or purpose. While the ruin of sinners is the grief of God's faithful ministers, the most deceitful men are most ready to boast of their exact obedience to his law: but hypocritical protestations of obedience are often contradicted by the most undeniable proofs. Such as are most forward to justify themselves, are ordinarily the readiest to condemn others; and throwing of the blame on our partners in or tempters to sin, is a shrewd evidence of an unhumbled heart. Those whom God hath highly exalted from low beginnings ought to remember it as an excitement to do great things for God their exalter. Ministers of Christ ought to deal faithfully with the greatest: and to hunt them out of all their lying refuges and ill-grounded excuses.—Next to Jesus' atonement, nothing is more pleasing to God than true holiness of heart and life. But to live in disobedience to the true God is as bad as to set up false gods, the devil not excepted: and those are unworthy to rule over men who are unwilling to be ruled by God. Fear of man causeth a snare. To confess the sins which we cannot conceal, and to be chiefly afraid of their shame, is no more than may be expected even from an unhumbled heart. But such repentance comes too late when God hath passed a sentence of rejection. So little are hardened sinners affected with God's threatenings, that honour before the people is dearer to their hypocritical hearts than reconcilement with him. But bloody murderers will at last be reckoned with by God. And never is the destruction of most sinners nearer than when they have no apprehension of it. Let us therefore withdraw from intimacy with such, but never neglect to mourn over their deplorable condition; for it is truly bitter to see those whom we love in the ways of death and hell.