Outline of Chapter 15:

       vv.    1–3        Samuel Gives Saul Instructions from God to Completely Destroy the Amalekites

       vv.    4–9        Saul Defeats the Amalekites, but Does Not Comply With All God’s Directives

       vv.   10–19      Samuel confronts Saul Concerning his Disobedience to God

       vv.   20–21      Saul Makes Excuses for his Disobedience to God

       vv.   22–23      Samuel Pronounces God’s Judgment Against Saul

       vv.   24–25      Saul’s Partial Admission of Guilt and Samuel’s Response

       vv.   30–31      Saul Unequivocal Admission of Guilt and Samuel’s Response

       vv.   32–33      Samuel Kills Agag, King of the Amalekites

       vv.   34–35      Saul and Samuel Part Company for Good

Charts and Maps:

       v.      2           A Brief Summary of the Amalekites

       v.      2           The Groups of People Who Impeded Israel’s Progress Toward the Land of Promise

       v.      2           Why Do We Know this Passage Is Not Self-serving and Simply Inserted by Saul?

       v.      3           Who Has God Dedicated to Complete Annihilation?

       v.      3           Why Did God Demand the Complete Destruction of the Amalekites?

       v.      3           Why Would God Demand the Destruction of an Entire People?

       v.      3           Does God Work Through Any Specific Nation Today as He did Through Israel Previously?

       v.      6           The Kenites in Scripture

       v.     11           Times When God is Said to Have Changed His Mind

       v.     11           Translating and Interpreting Four Words of 1Sam. 15:11

       v.     11           Other Translations of These Four Words in 1Sam. 15:11

       v.     12           Map Showing Saul Traveling to Avoid Samuel

       v.     22           Isaiah 1:11–20a

       v.     23           A Brief Summary of Teraphim

       v.     23           God’s Steps in Replacing Saul as King

I ntroduction: God will give Saul, through Samuel, the order to destroy every Amalekite and all of their livestock. Saul does go to war against the Amalekites, and is victorious, but he spares the life of Agag, the Amalekite king, as well as the choicest of the livestock. Samuel comes to Saul, exasperated, and sweats Saul’s shadow into the wall. At this point, Saul does regret what he did and he does ask for forgiveness. Samuel tells Saul that God has already given the kingdom to another. He begs Samuel to stay with him to worship God, and he executes Agag at that time before God and Samuel. At that time, these two part for the last time.

To summarize this chapter in a little more detail: Samuel goes to Saul and tells him that the Amalekite people need to be destroyed: every man, woman and child, and all of their livestock (vv. 1–3). Although we might be able to argue about personal items and manufactured items, there is no question that every living thing was to be destroyed. You may wonder, how could God require that? God is able to see our world and all that will happen given that this or that takes place. He knows from eternity past who would believe in Him and who would not. In this chapter, we may reasonably assume that even keeping the female virgins alive or the children would result in a very problematic situation for Israel with absolutely no upside for mankind. You may wonder about the animals—it is possible, if not likely, that the entire population was infected with a contagious disease or diseases, and those were probably sexually transmitted diseases. It is also likely that they practiced child sacrifice and temple prostitution. We don’t know, as the Bible does not tell us, so the best we can do is speculate. However, since it is God’s Word which tells us that all of the Amalekites must be destroyed, then we can rest assured that He had good reason.

Saul apparently has a reserve force (1Sam. 13:2 14:52) and he is also able to quickly raise up a complete army, which is what he does (v. 4). They attack and defeat the Amalekites, after first allowing the Kenites to move out of harm’s way (vv. 5–7, 8b). But then Saul and the people save Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive; and they also preserve the best and the second best of their livestock (vv. 8a–9).

The Word of Jehovah comes to Samuel, saying “I regret that I made Saul king over Israel.” And Samuel is sent to Saul to correct Saul’s disobedience (v. 10). It takes Samuel a little time to catch up to Saul (Saul is first in Carmel setting up a monument or a statue of himself), and then Saul goes up to Gilgal, which is where Samuel finally finds him (vv. 11–12).

Saul’s conversation with Samuel is amazing. Scripture preserves enough to indicate that Saul is a real piece of work. One of the popular phrases of today is how some politicians put a spin on this or that event. That is, the event is reported and interpreted to favor that politician. Saul was certainly not the inventor of spin (either Adam or Satan was), but Saul was certainly a master of spin. When you read what happens and what Saul says, you will swear that you have been reading today’s newspaper. Samuel has to dig through Saul’s half-truths and the spin that he puts on things to get to the actual truth. Saul twice affirms that he obeyed the voice of God (vv. 13, 20), despite ample evidence to the contrary (vv. 14–15, 19, 21).

Samuel then pronounces judgment upon Saul, preceding that judgment with one of the most well-known passages from 1Samuel: “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Listen, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen [to Him] better than [offering up] the fat of rams. Rebellion is the sin of divination and insubordination is iniquity and idolatry.” (vv. 22–23a). And then Samuel informs Saul that God has taken the kingdom from him (v. 26).

For centuries, theologians have brow beat Saul. Knowing that his bravery and courage in battle is beyond reproach, and that his disobedience to God does not seem to be any worse than mine, I would prefer not to cast any stones at Saul. Saul finally admits that he did sin (vv. 24–25), and insists that Samuel join him in worship. It is not clear whether Saul is still working the situation, or whether he simply needs for Samuel to guide him in worship (Saul apparently does have a camp priest—1Sam. 14:3). In any case, I prefer to see this as Saul regretting his actions, and expressing this in worship (vv. 25, 27–31). Furthermore, the people of Israel are also to blame. As we will see, Saul will blame them himself (1Sam. 15:21, 24). Now, certainly as king and commander-in-chief, he should have assumed the blame; however, no doubt that many of the people acted on their own, spending time setting aside livestock rather than continuing the battle.

Some contemporary worship services are followed by Sunday School or fellowship in the main hall, or something of that nature. Samuel followed up his worship service with Saul with the hacking to pieces of Agag, the former king of Amalek (vv. 32–33), which would be quite the interesting presentation in fellowship hall. Then this chapter ends on a sad note: Samuel and Saul part company for the last time (vv. 34–35).

With respect to time, we have no idea how much time has transpired since 1Sam. 14. As I mentioned, I see 1Sam. 14 as occurring 20 years (if not more) after chapter 13; this chapter probably takes place another 10–15 years later. 1Sam. 14:47–48, 52 seem to summarize the military success of Saul, and the Amalekites, the object of Saul’s attack in this chapter, are mentioned separately. My thinking is that it appears as though a writer was putting the finishing touches on the reign of Saul in the previous chapter, and what occurs here is almost like an addendum or an expansion of v. 48. Also, since this chapter records Samuel’s last words to Saul, we can rest assured that Saul is at the end of his reign. God will only keep Saul alive to test David and his faithfulness.

McGee: In chapter 15 we [will see]...God’s rejection of Saul. God gave Saul not just one opportunity but several opportunities ot see if he would obey Him. Saul revealed that he was totally disobedient unto God. He should have made good, but he did not. The Lord did not need to wait to see the results of Saul’s kingship. He already knew. But Saul needed to know. Samuel needed to know because he loved Saul. The people needed to know because they had chosen Saul.

In my opinion, this portion of Scripture was written by a different hand than the previous few chapters. I came across word after word that has not been found in the book of Samuel prior to this; I found several words which are rarely found anywhere. This also is the case with subsequent chapters. In previous chapters of Samuel, once I had done 5–15 verses, almost every word that I came across after that point had already been used in that chapter. In this chapter I continually went to my Hebrew lexicon to pull out words that I had not seen for a long time (and many words that I have never seen before).

Samuel Gives Saul Instructions from God to Completely Destroy the Amalekites

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Samuel unto Saul, “Me had sent Y^ehowah to anoint you to king over His people, over Israel. And now listen to a sound of words of Y^ehowah.

Septuagint                             And Samuel said to Saul, ‘”The Lord sent me to anoint you king over Israel; and now hear the voice of the Lord:

Significant differences:          The LXX lacks over His people. It is rare for the LXX to lack what is in the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       One day, Samuel told Saul: The Lord had me choose you to be king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the Lord:

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

JPS (Tanakh)                        Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over His people Israel. Therefore, listen to the Lord’s command!

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     Then Samuel said to Saul, “This Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore listen to the words [lit., sound of the words] of the Lord.

Young's Updated LT              And Samuel says unto Saul, ‘Me did Jehovah send to anoint you for king over His people, over Israel; and now, hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah:

What is the gist of this verse? Samuel comes to Saul and tells him that Jehovah of Israel sent him to Saul with a message.

Translation: [Sometime later] Samuel said to Saul, “Y^ehowah had sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now, therefore, listen to the words of Y^ehowah: ... We do not know how much time has gone by since The NASB begins this chapter with the word then and many other translations begin this chapter with the word and. This is because this chapter (like almost every other previous chapter and like almost every previous sentence) begins with the wâw consecutive. Although then is a very good rendering of the wâw consecutive, our concept often implies a very short span of time between the events on both sides of the then. In the Hebrew, everything is strung together with either a wâw consecutive (which seems continue or introduce narrative action or act like the beginning of a sentence) or the wâw conjunction (which seems to act like the beginning of a sentence—in the English, we instead, use a period to end the previous sentence—or it is used to bind a list of things together (we use a comma and one and). However, we cannot put any sort of strict interpretation of a short chronology because the Hebrew uses the word then. Generally, we might assume the events of 1Sam. 15 follow chapter 14, but the intervening time is not constricted by this word. I assume that 10–20 years have passed since chapter 14, and that we are now at the end of Saul’s career.

Saul defeated the Philistines, but I suspect, as I have mentioned before, that the other groups mentioned in 1Sam. 14:47, occurred between Saul’s recorded victories over the Ammonites and the Philistines. If anything was inserted by an editor at a later date, it may have been v. 48. The Amalekites, the enemies of Israel in this chapter, are not listed with the other groups that Saul contended with. It is not as though the author in chapter 14 thought, naw, I won’t mention them; I’ll give them their own chapter. It is more likely that there was no conflict until this time. In fact, I believe that a new author picked up a pen and recorded this much later than 1Sam. 14, which chapter feels almost like a completed book at the end. In any case, given what Samuel will say to Saul in vv. 22–23, we may assume that we are at the end of Saul’s career as king over Israel.

When I say that we are at the end of Saul’s career, I mean one thing, and you are probably thinking another. With regards to time, my guess is that Saul has another 10 years or so to reign as king. However, we have come to a point where Saul is no longer God’s man for the job. God will no longer work through Saul to accomplish His ends. For instance, Samuel will never again come to Saul and tell him, “This is what God wants you to do.” This chapter is why—Saul won’t do it. Whatever God has for Saul to do, Saul will do a half-assed job. So, as far as God is concerned, this is the end of Saul’s career as king over Israel. In the remainder of this chapter, we will find out why.

Our verse tells us that Samuel was the man sent to anoint Saul king over all Israel, which has been confirmed for us in our previous study of 1Sam. 9:16 10:1. What is important is the way that Samuel explains this. He first tells Saul that he is being sent by the same God who appointed Saul king over Israel. Saul doubted that, and Samuel made certain that Saul had quite a few signs to confirm this appointment (1Sam. 10). Samuel comes to Saul under the exact same authority with the command of the next two verses. Saul is to have no confusion as to the origin or as to the solemnity of the command Samuel is about to deliver.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       So has said Y^ehowah [of] Armies, ‘I have visited [that] which has done Amalek to Israel which he placed to him in the way in his going up from Egypt.

Septuagint                             Thus said the Lord of hosts, ‘Now I will take vengeance for what Amalee did to Israel, when he met him in the way as he came up out of Egypt.

Significant differences:          The differences in the verbs may simply be a result of translation from Hebrew to Greek.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       “When the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt, the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am the Lord All-Powerful, and now I am going to make Amalek pay!

NLT                                        This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt.

TEV                                       He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will punish Amalek for what they did to Israel. They blocked Israel’s way after the Israelites came from Egypt.

JPS (Tanakh)                        “Thus said the Lord of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish [or, visit] Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

Young's Literal Translation    ‘Thus sad Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his gong up out of Egypt.

What is the gist of this verse? What God tells Saul is that He is going to settle accounts with Amalek. Amalek had caused Israel problems in her trek from Egypt to the Land of Promise, and now God was going to destroy all of Amalek (that will be made clear in subsequent verses).

Translation: Thus Y^ehowah of the Armies has said: ‘I will [re] visit that which Amalek did to Israel [for] that [which] they set before them on the road when they came up out of Egypt.

There were two general responses to Israel and the God of Israel when God took them out of Egypt and brought Egypt to her knees: some feared Israel and feared their God. However, there were others who want to challenge the biggest kid on the block. This was Amalek. The progenitor of this tribe was possibly the grandson of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Gen. 36:10–12). Just as Esau broke off from his father Isaac and formed his own nation, so did Amalek, forming a nation which was near Edom. There appear to be differing opinions as to the location of Amalek, placing it on either side of Edom (which is due south of the Dead Sea). I would think that Amalek would be found between Edom and the Mediterranean Sea. However, because these were nomadic Arabs, they probably lived in several different places. As Israel came up from Egypt, the first human obstacle that they faced was Amalek (the nation, not the individual). Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” And Joshua did as Moses told him and fought against Amalek. Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it came about when Moses held his arm up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were held steady until the sun set. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword (Ex. 17:8–13). There was no reason for the nation of Amalek to come out against Israel. They just did, whether out of hatred, jealousy or whatever group of mental attitude sins that acted upon. Interestingly enough, Moses told Israel that, at some point in time, they would have to blot out the memory of Amalek: “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt: how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore, it will come to pass when Y^ehowah your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which Y^ehowah your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you will blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.” (Deut. 25:17–19). We covered in detail the Doctrine of the Amalekites back in Num. 24:20.

And just in case you don’t look to the Doctrine of the Amalekites, let’s look at...

A Brief Summary of the Amalekites

1.    The origins of the Amalekites are unknown. They seem to appear suddenly in Gen. 14:7, although there is also a mention of an Amalek being born to the family of Esau (Gen. 36:12, 16). From http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/029.htm 2.    They primarily occupied the area south of Judah, although they also made inroads to Ephraim. Gen. 14:7 Ex. 17:8 Judges 12:15 1Sam. 30:1–3   3.    The Amalekites were the first nation to attack Israel when they came out of Egypt. They attacked Israel from the rear, where there were the tired, weak and sickly Israelites. It is possible that this attack was based on water rights, even though the water provided for the Israelites was from God. Ex. 17:8–16 Deut. 25:17–18 4.    Because of this merciless and vicious attack, and because of the negative volition and anti-Semitism which this people exhibited over the years, God ordered their complete and total destruction (Deut. 25:19 1Sam. 15:2–3). Saul disobeyed God about completely destroying the Amalekites, which was the act of disobedience which marked the end of his dynasty. 1Sam. 15 5.    David was troubled by the Amalekites when he was an expat in the territory of the Philistines. They raided his camp when he was gone and took his women and the things which he had accumulated over the past year or so. 1Sam. 30 6.    The Amalekites were among the people which David struck down. 2Sam. 8:11–14 1Chron. 18:11 7.    The Amalekites are not mentioned again until the time of Hezekiah (circa 700 a.d.), when the tribe of Simeon defeat them. 1Chron. 4:24 8.    The last Amalekite that we here about is Haman, who is said to be descended from Agag (an unspecified Amalekite king). Haman, in the book of Esther, launches a plan to destroy all the Jews in Persia (a scheme thwarted by Esther and her uncle, Mordecai). Esther 3:1, 10 8:3, 5 9:24. 9.    There is one historical theory which equates the Amalekites with the Hyksos dynasty in Egypt, but I personally do not buy into that, primarily because every time we run into the Amalekites in Scripture, they are over 100 miles away from Egypt and function more like Bedouins than like a people who have conquered a great nation.

Barnes believes that this aggressive action incited against the Amalekites in our passage was not necessarily unprovoked. Ditto for Keil and Delitzsch. Their justification is v. 33 of this chapter, in which Samuel refers to the sword of Agag, king of the Amalekites, which sword had made many women childless. It is speculated that the most recent aggression of the Amalekites is well-known to all, and is therefore not even given. Just as possible, we only are allowed in on a portion of Samuel’s conversation with Saul; and that other transgressions were enumerated as well. The Amalekites throughout several generations had been thorns in the sides of the Israelites, attacking them without reason on several occasions (knowing what we know about the reaction of some Arabs to the Jews in modern Israel makes this not a difficult thing to understand). Therefore, Barnes suggests that Amalek probably initiated an attack on Israel (similar to what we will find in 1Sam. 30) while Israel was weakened from their battles with the Philistines. Even if this war is not recently provoked, I will, in the next verse, provide ample reasons for Israel’s military advance against Amalek.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                         Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he has: do not spare him; do not covet anything that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Masoretic Text                       Now you go and may you strike down Amalek and you [all] completely devote [or, destroy] all that [is] to them and you will not show mercy unto him and you have caused to kill from man as far as woman, from infant and as far as suckling [child], from ox and as far as sheep, from camel and as far as donkey.’ ”

Septuagint                             And now go, and you will strike Amalee and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and then you will not save anything of him alive, but you will utterly destroy him; and you will devote him and all his and you will spare nothing belonging to him; and you will slay both man and woman, and infant and suckling, and calf and sheep, and camel and ass.

Significant differences:          I began to note the differences above, and almost put a darker blue over the latter two-thirds of this verse. The general meaning is the same—there are several words which are the same; however, there are a great many differences as well. However, it appears as though we are dealing with same basic idea in the Greek and the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       “Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don’t have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.”

NLT                                        Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.’ ”

TEV                                       Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don’t leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Now go and attack Amalek. Claim everything they have for God by destroying it. Don’t spare them, but kill men and women, infants and children, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

JPS (Tanakh)                        Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camel sand asses!”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

Young's Updated LT              Now, go and you have struck down Amalek, and devote all that he has, and you have no pity on it, and you have put to death from man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, from camel unto ass.’

What is the gist of this verse? God made it clear to Saul that every Amalekite must die—every man, woman and child. Furthermore, their cattle and livestock were to be completely destroyed as well.

Translation: Now go and strike down Amalek and you [all] will completely destroy all that they have [lit., all that (is) to him] and you will not show [any] mercy to them [lit., him] and you will execute men and women, infants and newborns, oxen and sheep, and camels and donkeys.’ ” This order is given to Saul, who is the great military man of his time. Saul is not a squeamish man; he has killed hundreds of men, if not thousands; and, as general, has overseen the killing of thousands and thousands of men. Therefore, God going to Saul at this time and requiring him to destroy all of Amalek—this is not a daunting task by any means.

There is no additional reason given for this offensive action against Amalek. There is no indication that they are encroaching on Israel’s territory (they do live in southern Judah, but they have always lived there). There is nothing which Amalek has done recently which has brought this on. That is, there is no immediate revealed provocation on the part of Amalek. However, what we have here is rather sobering—four centuries ago, the Amalekites attacked the weak and stragglers of Israel, and God has not forgotten. God promised that Amalek would be taken down, and now He is going to fulfill this promise. God allowed them their sin for awhile, but He never forgot. You might think, you don’t punish the sons for what the fathers have done! And God does not punish the sons for the sins of their fathers. However, God also knows the hearts of men, and God knows the hearts of the Amalekites of Saul’s day. We will discuss this further as we go on.

It is extremely important to fully understand exactly how Samuel has approached Saul with this mandate. He makes it clear that the authority of this mandate emanates from God. The same God who placed Saul as authority over all Israel is commanding Saul now to completely destroy the Amalekites. This not only absolutely clarifies the origin of this order, but it emphasizes Saul’s ability to carry the order out, as he is the king of Israel. Saul’s existence as king was as a military leader, defeating the foes of Israel who trouble her from all sides. Therefore, such a mandate is properly delivered to no one else in Israel. This is completely Saul’s responsibility.

Want you to notice two things are carefully interconnected here. God set Saul as king over Israel—I.e., God granted Saul great authority in the land; and God has responsibilities for Saul as well. V. 1 is God granted authority to Saul; v. 3 is God drops a responsibility into Saul’s lap. The two things go together: authority and responsibility.

Application: There are perhaps a million idiots who think they could be president of the United States; or, the president of their corporation, or the spiritual leader in their little group. These people desire the power and the authority, but they have no clue as to the responsibility that goes along with that authority. They think the whole idea is, they can now tell everyone else what to do. That is their goal; that is what they are after. There is a lot more to authority than you being the boss and telling everyone else what to do because you know better than they do. If you do not realize the extent of your responsibility, then you have no basis for coveting this or that position of power. It is a smart and wise Indian who realizes that he has no business being chief.

This idea that a people should be destroyed completely does not sit well with many today; particularly during a time of ethnic cleansing which is found in the most barbaric of countries. Therefore, we need to examine this from today’s perspective.

Concerning this order for complete destruction of the Amalekites, Stephen T. Davis wrote: I speak for no one except myself, but I believe that killing innocent people is morally wrong. And killing Canaanite civilians is to be sharply distinguished from killing soldiers in the battles that were necessary for the Israelites to conquer the land that God had promised them. I frankly find it difficult to believe that it was God’s will that every Canaanite—man, woman, and child—be slaughtered. Since the Bible clearly says that this was God’s will, I must conclude that the biblical writers in this case were mistaken. The error of confusing patriotic sentiments with God’s will is a common one in human history, but it is an error nonetheless.

God does not simply lash out at a people for no reason. That Amalek had displayed extreme viciousness toward Israel in the past, revealing great mental attitude sins and prejudices against Israel which festered within that Bedouin group. We have seen in our own country how prejudice is taught and can be carried down from one generation to the next for hundreds of years. We may reasonably assume that the same was true of the nation Amalek. They had been soundly defeated by Joshua and had been given perhaps 400 years to get over it. At this point in time, they could have been even great allies of Israel; however, we may assume that this generation had been taught hatred and prejudice toward the Jews and that they were like a mad dog. What Amalek did 400 years previous was still in the hearts of the Amalekites. We have seen this over and over in the Middle East. The hatred which has accumulated generation after generation is almost incomprehensible. God gave this people several centuries to get past this hatred and vindictiveness, and they did not. Now they are a cancer, a ticking bomb, a mad dog, and they have to be put down. We may infer that not one Amalekite was without hatred and prejudice, and we may infer that none of them would have ever chosen to believe in Jehovah of Israel.

Given all of this, it is important to recognize that it is not a matter of Israel being full of integrity and the people of the land being less so; Moses made that clear in Deut. 9:4–5: “Do not say in your heart when Jehovah God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land;’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” After saying this, then Moses told the Israelites how stubborn they were, providing specific examples. The idea is that these groups of people had become so degenerate that their very existence was a threat to all civilization.

Even though Saul will disobey this order from God, it will not be because he is squeamish or a humanitarian. Saul, above all else, is a great and fearless general and soldier. No one else in Israel could have done what he did in Israel’s fight against her enemies on all sides. He has nothing against destroying an entire population, either. When he becomes angry with the priests in Nob (which apparently was the religious center at that time), he will destroy men, women, children and animals of Nob (1Sam. 22:19). This is a command which Saul is fully able to obey.

There are several things at work here. For one thing, this is a test of Saul’s obedience to God. God tests men for approval and for disapproval. God chose something which Saul was able to clearly understand and He chose an order which Saul could easily obey; Saul’s disobedience was not a mistake or a misunderstanding, it was a clear choice to disobey. The second factor is one of discipline. The Amalekites, many centuries previous, had caused the Israelites great trouble on their journey on two occasions. Now, God does not punish this generation which is far removed from their patriarchs just to prove a point or to gain revenge. Obviously, their hearts are no different than those of their ancestors; and it is time for them to be wiped out. A third factor, which is a guess on my part, is that these people are infected, probably with various sexually transmitted diseases (or possibly an easily transmitted disease). The complete destruction of this people will control the disease, just as cutting out a cancerous growth will relieve the attack of the cancer. It is important to note that we are not dealing with a blameless people that God simply chose to use as an object lesson for Saul (and I have gone into great detail previously to substantiate this). Finally, the war in history needs to be seen as a war of principal and not a war of opportunity and greed. Israel’s enemies need to know that God will avenge His people; if the end result was that Israel took everything that they could, then the sense of morality is lost.

Saul Defeats the Amalekites, but Does Not Comply with All God’s Directives

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                         So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.

Masoretic Text                       And so causes to hear Saul the people and so he visits them in the Telaim—two hundred thousand on foot and ten of a thousand a man of Judah.

Septuagint                             And Saul summoned the people, and he numbered them in Galgala, 400,000 regular troops and Juda 30,000 regular troops.

Significant differences:          The numbers are obviously different. Where they were numbered is different as well.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Saul sent messengers who told every town and village to send men to join the army at Telaim. There were two hundred ten thousand troops in all, and ten thousand of these were from Judah. Saul organized them,...

NLT                                So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 troops in addition to 10,000 men from Judah.

REB                                       Saul called out the levy and reviewed them at Telaim; there were two hundred thousand foot-soldiers and another ten thousand from Judah.

TEV                                       Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem; there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Saul organized the troops, and he counted them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Saul mustered the troops and enrolled them at Telaim: 200,000 men on foot, and 10,000 men of Judah.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     Then Saul summoned the people and numbered [lit., mustered] them in Telaim, 2000,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

Young's Updated LT              And Saul summons the people and inspects them in Telaim, 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Judah.

What is the gist of this verse? Saul begins to obey God’s mandate. He summons his soldiers to Telaim and numbers and organizes them there. There are 200,000 men along with 10,000 men from Judah.

Translation: So Saul called the people and he numbered them in Telaim—200,000 on foot and 10,000 men from Judah. As I have mentioned, we do struggle with the word for a thousand in the Hebrew; what we may have here are 200 military units, including 10 military units from Judah (the accepted text is 200,000, but I believe that to be far too large—I suspect that a military unit has between 100–500 men). In any case, this is in stark contrast to the meager 600 who remained with Saul during the attack of the Philistines.

It is interesting to note that the soldiers from Judah are counted separately from the rest. The reason for this is two fold: first, the Amalekites are just south of Judah, so Judah would be the territory most threatened by them; and secondly, even at this point in time, we seem to be experiencing a split between the northern and southern kingdoms.

There is another factor here which causes me to question the numbers. Since Amalek is in southern Judah, we would expect a larger proportion of Israel’s army to be men from Judah. Rather than being 1/20^th of the entire force, we would have expected Judah to be 1/10^th (or more) of the entire infantry. I do not have an explanation for this. When something strikes me as odd, I will mention it, whether or not I have a ready explanation. It is perhaps based upon the word for 1000 which refers to military units instead.

Telaim of Judah is possibly found only here, near Ziph and the northern border of the Amalekites. However, there is another passage in 1Sam. 27:8 where there is a reference to men of old and ZPEB suggests that this passage has been corrupted (if one followed the Septuagint at this point) and that it should read they of Telaim. Although there are a few similar letters in the Hebrew, the text would have had to have been corrupted in order for this to refer to Telaim. Finally, several suggest that Telaim might be identical to Telem of Joshua 15:24, which is also a city in southern Judah. These are the only passages where this city (or cities) are possibly mentioned.

I have no explanation is to why the Septuagint differs so much with respect to the numbers of soldiers.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so comes Saul as far as a city of Amalek and so he [causes to] lay in wait in the brook.

Septuagint                             And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley [lit., brook].

Significant differences:          None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       [Saul organized them], then led them to a valley near one of the towns in Amalek, where they got ready to make a surprise attack.

TEV                                       Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Then Saul advanced as far as the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the wadi. [the meaning of the Hebrew word translated lay in wait is uncertain]

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley.

Young's Updated LT              And Saul comes in unto a city of Amalek, and lays wait in a valley;...

What is the gist of this verse? Saul takes his men to the northernmost city of Amalek (the territory of Amalek is just south of Judah). They go down by the brook to wait in ambush so that they are hidden in the foliage which would surround a brook and so that they have water to drink.

Translation: Then Saul went as far as the [northernmost] city of Amalek and he [causes his soldiers to] lay in wait in [the valley of] the brook. Saul, after numbering his troops, takes them to the outskirts of the nearest major city in Amalek and they all wait by the brook (which is part of a valley). The NIV Study Bible places this city somewhere between Telem and Kadesh-barnea (Kadesh-barnea is the southernmost city of Judah; this does not mean that Israel controls the land around Kadesh-barnea at this time). The NIV Study Bible, in fact, suggests that Kadesh-barnea might even be the city of the king of the Amalekites.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Saul unto the Kenite, “Go, depart, go down from a midst of [the] Amalekite lest I relocate [or, remove] you with him; and you made grace with all sons of Israel in their coming up from Egypt.” And so turned aside [the] Kenite from a midst of Amalek.

Septuagint                             And Saul said to the Kinite, “Go and depart out of the midst of the Amalekites, lest I put you with them, for you dealt mercifully with the children of Israel when they went up out of Egypt.” So the Kinite departed from the midst of Amalec.

Significant differences:          Apart from one verb, which does not change the meaning of the verse one whit, there are no significant differences between these passages.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Some Kenites lived nearby, and Saul told them, “You people were kind to our nation when we left Egypt, and I don’t want you to get killed when I wipe out the Amalekites. Leave here and stay away from them.” The Kenites left,...

NLT                                Saul sent this message to the Kenites: “Move away from where the Amalekites live or else you will die with them. For you were kind to the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites packed up and left.

TEV                                       He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: “Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won’t kill you along with them.” So the Kenites left.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Get away from the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them. You were kind to all the Israelites when they came from Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Saul said to the Kenites, “Come, withdraw at once from among the Amalekites, that I may not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they left Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

Young's Updated LT              ...and Saul says to the Kenite, “Go, turn aside, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I consume you with it, and you have done kindness with all the sons of Israel, in their going up out of Egypt;...

What is the gist of this verse? Because the Kenites were not antagonistic to the Jews moving northward from Egypt to the Land of Promise, Saul warns them to move away from the Amalekites so that they are not hurt in the destruction of the Amalekites. The Kenites take Saul’s advice and move away from the Amalekites.

Translation: Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites so that I do not remove you with them for you were gracious [lit, manufactured grace] to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.”

It is not clear as to how close the Kenites were to the Amalekites. It does not appear as though they lived integrated within the same cities, but that possibly their cities were side-by-side. Whatever the situation, Moses was able to contact the Kenites and ask them to move from their areas so that Israel could attack and destroy the Amalekites without accidentally killing any Kenites. As J. Vernon McGee points out, this is an act of mercy that no pagan nation would have practiced in that day.

Translation: So the Kenites departed from the midst of the Amalekites [lit., Amalek]. However they were warned, the Kenites, who lived in southern Judah, heeded the warning and separated themselves from the Amalekites.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so strikes down Saul Amalekites from Havilah your going to Shur, which [is] upon faces of Egypt.

Septuagint                             And Saul struck down Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.

Significant differences:          No significant differences.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       [The Kenites left], and Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, which is just east of Egypt. [I’ve included the tail end of v. 6 here]

NLT                                The Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

JPS (Tanakh)                        Saul destroyed Amalek from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is close to Egypt,...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     So Saul defeated [lit., smote] the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

Young's Updated LT              And Saul smites Amalek from Havilah—your going to Shur, which is on the front of Egypt.

What is the gist of this verse? With the Kenites out of the way, Saul successfully attacks and beats down the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is just east of Egypt.

Translation: Saul then struck down the Amalekites from Havilah as far as [lit., as your going to] Shur, which faces Egypt.

Havilah is mentioned early on as a land almost surrounded by a river which is one of the four forks of a river that flows out of Eden (Gen. 2:11–12). It is unlikely that this is the same Havilah that we speak of in this context, as the great flood no doubt altered the shape of the earth after this mention of Havilah.

Originally, the Ishmaelites occupy the area from Havilah to Shur (Gen. 25:12–18). Recall that Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar, the Egyptian, Sarah’s personal attendant. The Amalekites are descendants of Amalek, who was the grandson of Esau, Jacob twin brother (Esau and Jacob were grandsons of Abraham) (Gen. 36:15–16). It is obvious that they occupy the same area at this time. Since the Ishmaelites seem to have somehow banded with the Midianites (Gen. 37:26–28 Judges 8:1–24; but that is another story), apparently they left that particular area and went northeast. Whether they were forced out by the Amalekites or whether one took over as the other left, we are not told. The exact location of Havilah is disputed. Some place it in western Arabia, north of Yemen, not far from the Red Sea; others place it way over near the Persian Gulf, which is on the eastern side of Saudi Arabia.

Although we cannot place Havilah exactly, Shur as a region is much easier to identify. Shur was just east of Egypt and it may have referred to a fortified wall between Egypt and to that general region (Shur means wall, fortress). It is reasonable that the region took its name from the wall. In the Bible, the first reference to Shur is Gen. 16:7 where the Lord finds Hagar at the spring on the way to Shur (this is after she had left Abraham and Sarah). At one time, Abraham lived in this general vicinity (between Kadesh and Shur—Gen. 20:1). The way to Shur probably refers to an old caravan route. It could very well be the last leg of the King’s Highway, which came down on the east side of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, crossing through Edom, and then passing through the wilderness of Zin toward Kadesh-barnea, extending all the way to Egypt on this last leg of road. In Ex. 15:22, Moses leads Israel from the Sea of Reeds to the wilderness of Shur, so his approach to Shur is from the other direction (see also 1Sam. 27:8).

However, bearing in mind what Bullinger explains, the point is that the Amalekites lived throughout this area; however, it is not necessarily the case that Saul and his men pursued the Amalekites throughout this entire area. In fact, we will find out later that a significant number of Amalekites were left alive (see 1Sam. 27:8 30:1, 18 2Sam. 8:12 I Chron. 4:43). When comparing this fact with the rest of the information in this narrative—that many of Saul’s soldiers stopped to worry about the livestock that had belonged to the Amalekites (see v. 19 in particular)—it is not unreasonable to suppose the a significant number of Amalekites escaped corban.

A second possible explanation for the Amalekites that we find later on in Scripture is the specific area mentioned herein—from Havilah to Shur, which tells us that Amalekites living outside of this territory were left untouched. Now, this again could have been because Saul and his men stopped to cull out the best and second best of their livestock; therefore, they did not attack all of the Amalekites, leaving the Amalekites outside of this region able to continue to be thorns in the side of Israel. Although we tend to read over these cities without giving them much thought, one purpose of mentioning this area of attack tells us right up front that only a specific area was militarily dealt with (God’s mandate did not limit Saul to a specific area). Again, whether Bullinger’s take on this verse is correct, or whether some Amalekites lived outside of this area, nevertheless, many of them survived Saul’s attack, which is also a point of disobedience on the part of Saul and his army.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he seizes Agag king of Amalek alive and all the people he has completely devoted [and destroyed] to a mouth of a sword.

Septuagint                             And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he killed all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.

Significant differences:          The Greek translators were apparently confused by one word, and decided to transliterate it instead. The word they transliterate means to put under the ban; to devote completely.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Every Amalekite was killed except King Agag.

NAB                                       He took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but on the rest of the people he put into effect the ban of destruction by the sword.

TEV                                       ...he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         He captured King Agag of Amalek alive. Bu the claimed all the people for God by destroying them.

JPS (Tanakh)                        ...and he captured King Agag of Amalek alive. He proscribed all the people, putting them to the sword;...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     And he captured Agag the eking of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Young's Updated LT              ...and he catches Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people he has devoted by the mouth of the sword;...

What is the gist of this verse? Saul had been ordered to kill every Amalekite. He almost obeys this order; however, he allows the king of Amalek to live (and, as just discussed in the previous verse, Saul’s men allow many Amalekites to escape).

Translation: He seized Agag, the king of Amalek, alive, but he destroyed [in devotion to God] all the people with regards to the edge of the sword. Here we have a problem. Part of what Saul did was in obedience to God—he was told to destroy this entire people, and he almost did that, save one individual, the king of the Amalekites, Agag.

Zodhiates (as well as several others) suggests that Agag may be a title for the Amalekite king rather than his actual name (like pharaoh). The reference to Agag in Num. 24:7 seems to support that theory.

Now, why does Saul save Agag? Agag is the ruler of his country, and Saul identifies with that. Perhaps he even met Agag first, uncertain as to what he would do, and Agag ingratiated himself to Saul. Saul told his men, save their king aside for me to deal with. And then he meets with Agag personally. Agag may have hated Jews, but he certainly did not reveal that when he spoke to Saul. Realize that a country gets the ruler (or rulers) that it deserves. If all of the Amalekites hated the Jews, there is no reason to think that their king was any different. There is no reason to think that their king did not inspire and fan the flames of their hatred. During this era, I have seen film of Iraqi and Iranian rulers standing before large groups of their people; and they hold up pictures of our heads of state and the rulers whip the crowd into a frenzy of hatred and hysteria. There is no reason to think that Agag was any different. However, one-on-one with the man who held the power of life and death over him, Agag could be much more civilized. So Saul does not kill him.

Other explanations have been offered: e.g., Saul wanted a royal slave; or that Saul wanted to personally honor or dishonor Agag. However, none of those explanations ring true; as there is no support for any of them. That the relationship between Saul and Agag is relatively amiable is implied because (1) Saul does not kill Agag and (2) what Agag says in v. 32, albeit confusing, seems to indicate that Agag thought things were copesetic. You no doubt have heard the expression, it’s lonely at the top. This is Saul. He perhaps suffered, to some degree, early manifestations of several mental illnesses; furthermore, there was no previous king to guide him; and Saul went from zero to ruling a country in no time flat. So, some of the things which Saul pondered were not things that could be shared with just anyone. Agag was also a ruler of a people and Saul may have found that he had more in common with Agag than with anyone on his own staff. That Agag picked up on this and capitalized on Saul’s isolation is a reasonable theory. Whereas, they may not have been best buds; still, Agag was alive, and this was due to Saul. It’s easy to execute someone for whom you have great distaste and someone who is thoroughly unlike you. However, the more Charlie Brown is like you, the more difficult it is to order Charlie’s execution. Why Saul preserved Agag alive in the first place is unknown. It may have been that some of his soldiers captured Agag alive and brought him to Saul, as your cat might bring an almost dead mouse to you. Agag may have himself been a factor in all of this. In any case, here was Agag, arrested and imprisoned, but still very much alive in the palace of Saul.

Apart from Agag, Saul does destroy every Amalekite that he comes in contact with. Because we find the Amalekites in conflict with David later on in Scripture, this means that not all of them were killed. In fact, for enough to be alive to oppose David a decade or so later indicates that there were a great many Amalekites who survived this attack, probably because they retreated and because Israel’s interest in their cattle gave them ample time to do so. There may have been Amalekites further out from their general settlement who decided to retreat. Again, Israel’s preoccupation with their cattle allowed them to do so.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so spares Saul and the people concerning Agag and concerning [the] best of the flock and the herd and the seconds and concerning the rams and concerning all the good things and they had not willed their devotion [to God by destruction] and all the work, despised and melted, it [lit., her] they devoted [by destruction].

Septuagint                             And Saul and all the people saved Agag alive, and the best [lit., good] of the flocks, and of the herds, and of the fruits, of the vineyards, and of all the good things; and they would not destroy them; but every worthless and refuse thing [lit., work] they destroyed.

Significant differences:          There is some minor disagreement between the texts as to what was preserved.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases: