SAUL'S VICTORY OVER AMALEK. HIS DISOBEDIENCE AND REJECTION Amalek had attacked Israel at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8) and opposed their entrance into Canaan (Numbers 14:45 : cp. Deuteronomy 25:7; They are mentioned as allies of the Midianites in Judges 7:12. The Amalekite nomads probably occupied a large... [ Continue Reading ]
UTTERLY DESTROY] lit. 'devote' (to Jehovah). The first idea of the word (_herem_) is that the object is dedicated to Jehovah, and so forbidden to common use: see Joshua 6:18. We meet with the same root in _harem_ (the women's apartments), and _haram_ (the sacred enclosure at Mecca): cp. Leviticus 27... [ Continue Reading ]
TELAIM] probably the same as Telem (Joshua 15:24), a town in S. Judah. Men of Judah are thus summoned to the expedition.... [ Continue Reading ]
A CITY OF AMALEK] RV 'the city of Amalek,' i.e. the capital.... [ Continue Reading ]
KENITES] see on Judges 4:17. They formed a nomad tribe, living partly in and partly outside Palestine.... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM HAVILAH _until_ THOU COMEST TO SHUR] cp. Genesis 25:18. HAVILAH was the eastern boundary of the district inhabited by the Amalekites, but its position is uncertain. SHUR (_Wall_) was originally the name of the wall built to protect the eastern frontier of Egypt, and was then applied to the neig... [ Continue Reading ]
The Amalekites subsequently sack Ziklag (1 Samuel 30); but from this time onwards they cease to be formidable.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT GRIEVED SAMUEL] RV 'Samuel was wroth.' He was annoyed at the course events were taking: cp. 2 Samuel 6:8; Jon 4:1. It is characteristic of the Bible that it mentions the failings of its heroes and saints.... [ Continue Reading ]
CARMEL] a town in Judah, 7 m. S. of Hebron. It lay directly in Saul's way on his return from smiting the Amalekites. A PLACE] RV 'a monument' (to commemorate his victory): cp. 2 Samuel 18:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
RM 'Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel?' i.e. the excuse, even if genuine, was not valid. 22, 23. These words are in poetic form, as we can see by the parallelism. See Intro. to Psalms.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the views expressed in this v. cp. Psalms 40:6; Psalms 51:16; Isaiah 1:11.; Jeremiah 6:20; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21; Micah 6:6. The Israelite was not left to imagine, like the heathen, that sacrifices were what God chiefly desired.... [ Continue Reading ]
Samuel goes behind Saul's pretended motive, sacrifice, to his real disobedience. INIQUITY] RV 'idolatry.' IDOLATRY] RV 'teraphim': see on 1 Samuel 19:13. 24, 25. Saul's feeling was not true repentance, but merely a desire to propitiate Samuel and secure his apparent adhesion: see 1 Samuel 15:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
DELICATELY] RM 'cheerfully.' SURELY THE BITTERNESS, etc.] Since Saul had spared his life, Agag thought he was secure.... [ Continue Reading ]
CAME NO MORE TO SEE SAUL] As a prophet he had no longer any message for the rejected king, although as a man he mourned for the failure of a career that had once seemed so promising. The execution of Agag seems to us mere butchery; but, to both Samuel and Saul, Agag, like the rest of Amalek, had be... [ Continue Reading ]