_A.M. 2925. B.C. 1079._ God commands Saul utterly to destroy the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:1. He destroys them, but not utterly, 1 Samuel 15:4. Samuel pronounces sentence upon him for his disobedience, yet consents to honour him before the people, 1 Samuel 15:10. Slays Agag, _1Sa 15:32, 1 Samuel 15:3... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord_ Thou hast erred already; now regain God's favour by thy exact obedience to what he commands. _Thus saith the Lord, I remember_, &c. Now I will avenge those old injuries of the Amalekites on their children, who continue in their parents' practices. God here r... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have_, &c. This heavy sentence was pronounced against them long before, (Exodus 17:14,) and renewed at the Israelites' entrance into Canaan, with a charge not to forget it, (Deuteronomy 25:19,) and now ordered to be put in execution. _Slay both... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saul came to a city of Amalek_ Or, _to the city of Amalek._ For the metropolis of the kingdom seems to be here meant, the name of which some have thought was Amalek. _And laid wait in the valley_ Or fought them in the valley; for they came out to give him battle.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saul said unto the Kenites_ A people descended from, or nearly related to, Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites, (Numbers 24:21,) and afterward some of them dwelt in Judah, (Judges 1:16,) whence it is probable they removed (which, dwelling in tents, they could easily do) and ret... [ Continue Reading ]
_To Shur_ That is, from one end of their country to the other; he smote all that he met with: but a great number of them fled away upon the noise of his coming, and secured themselves in other places, till the storm was over. _Destroyed all_ Whom he found. Now they paid dear for the sins of their an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Would not utterly destroy them_ As they had been commanded of God, but took them as a prey to themselves. _Every thing that was vile, they destroyed_ All that was not worth the keeping. Thus they obeyed God as far as they could, without inconvenience and loss to themselves, which is a striking inst... [ Continue Reading ]
_It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king_ Repentance, properly speaking, implies grief of heart, and a change of counsels. Understood in which sense, it can have no place in God. But it is often ascribed to him in the Scriptures when he alters his method of dealing with persons, and treat... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, he set him up a place_ That is, a monument or trophy of his victory; perhaps a column, or barely a large heap of stones, as was the custom of those early ages. _I have performed the commandment of the Lord_ He makes so little account of the fault he had committed, that he even boasts of his... [ Continue Reading ]
_They_ That is, the people; _have brought them from the Amalekites_ Thus he lays the blame upon the people, whereas they could not do it without his consent, and he should have used his power to overrule them. _To sacrifice unto the Lord thy God_ This was a plausible pretence; but as the Lord had gi... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord sent thee on a journey_ So easy was the service, and so certain the success, that it was rather to be called a journey than a war. _Wherefore didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord?_ The command was as plain as words could make it; and there was no reason but his own base covetousness w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have brought Agag the king_ To be dealt with as God pleaseth. Strange stupidity! to imagine such a partial obedience could be pleasing unto God. _But the people took of the spoil_ It was a mean thing to throw all the blame on the people, whom he ought to have governed better; and it was worst of al... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice_ A most divine admonition this, and inculcated by all the following inspired writers, by David, Solomon, and the prophets; as the reader may see by consulting the margin. Obedience to God is a moral duty, constantly and indispensably necessary; but sacrifice... [ Continue Reading ]
_For rebellion_ Disobedience to God's command; _is as the sin of witchcraft_ Or the using divinations, and consulting familiar spirits, is as plainly condemned, and as certainly damnable and destructive. _Stubbornness_ Contumacy, persisting in sin, justifying it, and pleading for it; _is as iniquity... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have sinned_ It does by no means appear that Saul acts the hypocrite herein, in assigning a false cause of his disobedience. Rather, he nakedly declares the thing as it was. _Pardon my sin_ Neither can it be proved that there was any hypocrisy in this. Rather, charity requires us to believe, that... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will not_ This was no lie, though he afterward returned, because he spoke what he meant; his words and his intentions agreed together, though afterward he saw reason to change his intentions. Compare Genesis 19:2. This may relieve many perplexed consciences, who think themselves obliged to do wha... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord hath rent the kingdom from thee_ Hath declared his firm resolution of laying aside thy family, and will soon actually take away thy life and thy kingly power. _Also the Strength of Israel_ Who is perfectly able to bring to pass all his purposes, and to make good all his declarations; _will... [ Continue Reading ]
_So Samuel turned again_ 1st, That the people might not, upon pretence of this sentence of rejection, withdraw their obedience from their sovereign; whereby they would both have sinned against God, and have been as sheep without a shepherd. 2d, That he might rectify Saul's error, and execute God's j... [ Continue Reading ]
_Agag came unto him delicately_ Hebrew, מעדנת, _magnadannoth, in delights_, or _ornaments;_ that is, he came not like an offender, expecting the sentence of death, but in the garb, and gesture, and majesty of a king. _And Agag said_ Or, _For Agag said;_ this being mentioned as the reason why he came... [ Continue Reading ]
_Samuel came no more to see Saul_ That is, to visit him, in token of respect or friendship; or, to seek counsel from God for him. Otherwise he did see him afterward, 1 Samuel 19:24. Though indeed it was not Samuel that came thither with a design to see Saul, but Saul went thither to see Samuel, and... [ Continue Reading ]