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Destruction of the Amalekites. The final break between King Saul and the prophet Samuel. 1 Samuel 15:2. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I remembered what Amalek did to Israel, how he opposed him on the way when he came from Egypt; See Ref. 17:8–16. The Amalekites are nomads of the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, between Idumea and Egypt. 1 Samuel 15:3. now go and smite Amalek [and Jerim] and destroy all that he has; [do not take anything for yourself from them, but destroy and consign to destruction everything that he has;] and do not give him mercy, but put to death from man to wife, from child to infant, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey. “And Jerima” (1 Samuel 15:8). It is believed that Jerim was one of the leaders of the Amalekites, who stood out in some way among their other leaders. 1 Samuel 15:4. And Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand Israelites on foot, and ten thousand from the tribe of Judah. Telaim - in the south of Canaan, near the Jewish border. 1 Samuel 15:6. And Saul said to the Kinites: Go, separate, come out from among Amalek, lest I destroy you with him, for you showed favor to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. And the Kinites separated from among Amalek. The Kinites are one of the tribes among the Amalekites (cf. Ex. 2:15–21; Num. 10:29–33; Judges 1:16) friendly to the Jews. 1 Samuel 15:7. And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah to the region around Shur, which is before Egypt; The exact location of Havilah is unknown. Sur is a part of the Arabian desert adjacent to Egypt (Gen.16:7; Exod.15:22). 1 Samuel 15:9. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fattened lambs, and everything that was good, and did not want to destroy it, but destroyed all the things that were of little importance and evil. A new violation on the part of Saul of the will of the prophet of the Lord (cf. 1 Samuel 13:8–14, 15:1–3. See note to 1 Samuel 8:6). 1 Samuel 15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 1 Samuel 15:11. I regret that I made Saul king, for he turned away from Me and did not fulfill My word. And Samuel was saddened and cried out to the Lord all night. Wed. 1 Samuel 13:8–14. “And Samuel was saddened and cried out to the Lord all night,” asking him to give him some reason as to what he should do now with Saul. 1 Samuel 15:12. And Samuel arose early in the morning and went to meet Saul. And they informed Samuel that Saul went to Carmel and there built a monument for himself, [but from there he returned the chariot] and went down to Gilgal. Carmel mentioned here is a city of the tribe of Judah, located south of Hebron. “I erected a monument to myself” (some kind of pillar with an inscription) - to commemorate and perpetuate the victory. Probably Agag was spared (1 Samuel 15:9) not for the sake of Agag himself, but in order to increase the brilliance of the triumphant by his presence. 1 Samuel 15:13. When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed are you of the Lord; I have fulfilled the word of the Lord. "When Samuel came": to make a sacrifice. Wed. 1 Samuel 10:8,11:14–15,13:8–11. See note. to 1 Samuel 7:9. “I have fulfilled the word of the Lord”; see 1 Samuel 15:1–3. 1 Samuel 15:15. And Saul said, They have brought them from Amalek, because the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord thy God; we destroyed the rest. Verse nine suggests that Saul and his army did not retain the best of the Amalekites for religious reasons. 1 Samuel 15:17. And Samuel said, Were you not little in your own eyes when you became the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel? 1 Samuel 15:18. And the Lord sent you on your journey, saying: “Go and condemn the wicked Amalekites and fight against them until you destroy them.” 1 Samuel 15:19. Why did you not listen to the voice of the Lord and rushed at the prey and did evil in the sight of the Lord? Saul's ingratitude is noted. Raised from insignificance (v. 17) to the height of the royal throne, Saul did not demonstrate proper submission to the will of the One who raised him. 1 Samuel 15:21. And the people took the best of the spoils from the spoil, from the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord thy God in Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:22. And Samuel answered: Are burnt offerings and sacrifices as pleasing to the Lord as obedience to the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams; 1 Samuel 15:23. for disobedience is the same sin as witchcraft, and resistance is the same as idolatry; because you have rejected the word of the Lord, and He has rejected you, so that you should not be king [over Israel]. See 1 Samuel 15:1–3,10–11,17–19. 1 Samuel 15:24. And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and thy word; but I feared the people and listened to their voices; 1 Samuel 15:25. now take away my sin from me and return with me, that I may worship the Lord [thy God]. 1 Samuel 15:26. And Samuel answered Saul, “I will not turn back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you, so that you should not be king over Israel.” 1 Samuel 15:27. And Samuel turned to leave. But [Saul] grabbed the hem of his garment and tore it. 1 Samuel 15:28. Then Samuel said, “Today the Lord has torn away the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to your neighbor, who is better than you; 1 Samuel 15:29. and the Faithful of Israel will not speak a lie, nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent. 1 Samuel 15:30. And [Saul] said, I have sinned, but honor me this day before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God. 1 Samuel 15:31. And Samuel returned for Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. Saul realized that he had sinned, violating the will of God, but did not feel this sin, was not tormented by internal cleansing repentance. Outwardly, Saul’s ambitious soul was oppressed by the thought not so much that the Lord might leave him, but that the angry prophet of the Lord would now leave him and with his departure would lower his prestige before the princes and the people. Sparing not Saul, but the honor of the Jewish king, Samuel stayed and performed the required sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:32. Then Samuel said, Bring Agag king of Amalek to me. And Agag came up to him trembling, and Agag said: surely the bitterness of death has passed? 1 Samuel 15:33. But Samuel said: Just as your sword deprived your wives of children, so let your mother be deprived of a son among her wives. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:35. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; but Samuel grieved over Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. “Because the Lord repented” for making Saul king (cf. 1 Samuel 15:10–11, 16:1,7): a humanoid expression indicating that the first king of the Jews did not take advantage of the God-given means in order to be a zealous instrument of God’s will for the good of himself and the people entrusted to him. You might be interested in: