1 Samuel 15 Study Notes

15:1 Saul’s power and purpose lay in God’s anointing; Israel was his people, not Saul’s. Therefore, Saul needed to heed the divine instructions that Samuel now was giving him.

15:2 On the Amalekites, see note at 14:48. Exodus 17:8-16 records Israel’s initial victory over Amalek under Joshua’s leadership. At that time, God promised to oppose the Amalekites continually.

15:3 The phrase destroy everything they have describes the practice of the ban, wherein Israel would destroy everything in a town that had breath, including humans and animals. God had authority over when all life began and ended. In the battle of Jericho (Jos 6:17-21), the plunder went into the Lord’s treasury; at other times, the people were allowed to keep it (Jos 8:27).

15:4 Telaim was probably located in the Negev of Judah (Jos 15:21-24). The men from Judah are again listed separately (see note at 11:8).

15:5 The city of Amalek may designate the place the Amalekites were living rather than a city, since the group was nomadic.

15:6 Saul’s warning to the Kenites was a gracious act prompted by the memory of the Kenites’ kindness at the time Israel came out of Egypt. (Jdg 1:16; 4:11). The kindness to all the Israelites is only mentioned here, but clearly this was part of Israel’s memory in a land where people had long memories (2Ch 20:10-11).

15:7 This extensive campaign covered a broad region, from Arabia almost to Egypt’s border, whose inhabitants included many descendants of Ishmael (Gn 25:18).

15:8 The phrase captured King Agag . . . alive hints at Saul’s coming disobedience to what God had commanded (v. 3).

15:9 The Hebrew text emphasizes that Saul was the one primarily responsible for sparing Agag. The people also spared . . . the best of everything else, another violation of God’s command (v. 3). Of course, destroying all the worthless and unwanted things was no great sacrifice. Choice animals is literally “the second ones.” Some Jewish commentators proposed that the second born was better than the firstborn. Another possibility is that “the second ones” (Hb hammishnim) should be corrected to “the fat ones” (Hb hammashmannim).

15:10-11 The verb regret with God as its subject occurs only here and in Gn 6:7, where it denotes God’s regrets over making humanity and his ultimate decision to bring the great flood. In both cases, people made wrong moral choices, and God’s foreknowledge meant he knew what people would do. Nonetheless, it pained him to see the disobedience come to pass. The word translated turned away commonly means “repent” when it speaks of turning away from sin, but here it describes Saul’s conscious decision to cease following the Lord. Samuel was frustrated by Saul’s failing kingship, particularly as he remembered he had anointed him (10:1). Saul had indeed turned out to be a king just like the ones of “all the other nations” (8:5,20), but the people had persisted in their request despite his sober warnings (8:11-18). On cried out, see note at 4:13.

15:12 Perhaps God had told Samuel to get up early during his intense prayer the previous night (v. 11). Ironically, Saul had gone to Carmel, a town about seven miles south of Hebron in Judah’s hill country (Jos 15:55), to erect a monument for himself. This monument presumably would remind the Carmelites of the peace that came to their region because of Saul’s victory over Amalek. Gilgal had great historical significance (see notes at 7:16 and 10:8); it lay about fifteen miles east of Gibeah, Saul’s capital.

15:13 On I have carried out the Lord’s instructions, see note at vv. 10-11. God did not share Saul’s perspective on this matter.

15:14 The sound of sheep, goats, and cattle was proof that Saul had failed to execute God’s command.

15:15 Saul’s reference to the Lord your God (not “my God” or “our God”) sounds an ominous tone but aptly fits the situation because Saul did not appear to have much of a relationship with the Lord (cp. vv. 21,30). He also tried to blame the troops rather than taking responsibility as their commander.

15:16 Stop!—The prophet had endured enough of Saul’s excuses and interrupted him abruptly, an action most subjects would not dare take with their king.

15:17 God had taken Saul from relatively unimportant status as a common citizen (cp. Saul’s own words in 9:21) to king over Israel. The word you is emphasized in the text with respect to Saul to heighten the intensity of Samuel’s words.

15:18 On completely destroy, see note at v. 3. The presence of any survivors (in this case, King Agag and the best of the flocks and herds) was a violation of God’s command.

15:19 The verbal idea in the phrase rush on the plunder is related to the word for “bird of prey,” in this case swooping down on the spoils of war.

15:20 Saul’s own description of his actions condemned him because he admitted to sparing Agag and to putting to death only the Amalekites and not their domesticated property as God had commanded (v. 3).

15:21 Sacrifice . . . at Gilgal would not substitute for obedience on Saul’s part; further, God had already claimed the animals and given orders for their destruction (vv. 2-3). On the Lord your God, see note at v. 15.

15:22 Samuel’s words to obey is better than sacrifice drove home the point that partial obedience of God was really disobedience, and full obedience of God mattered more than any human-concocted alternatives.

15:23 The Mosaic law prohibited divination, the attempt to tap into demonic powers (Dt 18:10,14). Samuel compared both rebellion and defiance (lit “pushing back,” here, at God) as just as wicked. In its basic sense, idolatry is exalting something or someone (including one’s own will) above God.

15:24 Saul’s half-hearted repentance came only after it was too late, since Samuel had already pronounced the Lord’s verdict. Saul feared the people more than he feared God.

15:25 Saul wanted Samuel’s forgiveness and the endorsement of his kingship that Samuel’s staying with him would bring.

15:26 Samuel truly sought God’s will for his life; consequently, he could not support Saul’s kingship over Israel.

15:27 The words Saul grabbed the corner of Samuel’s robe may suggest that Saul had been kneeling before Samuel.

15:28 The words has given it to your neighbor suggest that in God’s mind the transfer of power to Israel’s new king was already accomplished, but Samuel would not learn the identity of the next king until chap. 16.

15:29 God’s eternal, constant character can be trusted. The word translated change his mind occurs in a totally different sense in v. 11 (“regret”). The Lord had expressed regret over Saul’s failures, but he would not change his verdict about Saul’s kingship.

15:30 Saul confessed his sin a second time. Note again the words the Lord your God (see note at v. 15).

15:31 Saul’s persistence paid off as Samuel went back and helped the king save face before his troops.

15:32 The Hebrew word behind trembling is obscure and may also mean “in bonds” or “confidently.” Certainly the bitterness of death has come may also be translated “Certainly the bitterness of death has turned aside” and if so, may represent Agag’s attempt to keep Samuel from killing him. Context suggests the CSB rendering is correct.

15:33 The prophet, not Saul, now finished God’s command. The Hebrew verb translated hacked . . . to pieces is shasaph, the sound of a whirring sword.

15:34 The two leaders, Samuel and Saul, parted company once and for all, even though their two cities were only two miles apart.

15:35 Technically, Samuel did see Saul again, but it was not a prearranged official visit (19:24). The words the Lord regretted he had made Saul king (see note at 15:10-11) highlight the seriousness with which God takes the failures of his leaders (2Sm 11:27; 12:7-12; Heb 13:7).