1 Samuel 15:20

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saul	שָׁא֜וּל sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֨אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel	שְׁמוּאֵ֗ל she.mu.'El	H8050	Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
obeyed	שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ sha.Ma'.ti	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
voice	בְּק֣וֹל be.Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָ֔ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
gone	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
way	בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ ba.De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
LORD	יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
sent	שְׁלָחַ֣נִי she.la.Cha.ni	H7971	to send away · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
brought	וָאָבִ֗יא va.'a.Vi'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
Agag	אֲגַג֙ 'a.Gag	H90	Agag · proper noun, a man's name
king	מֶ֣לֶךְ Me.lekh	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Amalek	עֲמָלֵ֔ק 'a.ma.Lek	H6002	Amalek · proper noun, a place name
destroyed	הֶחֱרַֽמְתִּי he.che.Ram.ti	H2763	to seclude · verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
Amalekites	עֲמָלֵ֖ק 'a.ma.Lek	H6002	Amalek · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
Matthew 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the…
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox an…
1 Samuel 15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Job 35:2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 15:10-23

Saul is here called to account by Samuel concerning the execution of his commission against the Amalekites; and remarkable instances we are here furnished with of the strictness of the justice of God and the treachery and deceitfulness of the heart of man. We are here told, I. What passed between God and Samuel, in secret, upon this occasion, Sa1 15:10, Sa1 15:11. 1. God determines Saul's rejection, and acquaints Samuel with it: It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king. Repentance in God is not, as it is in us, a change of his mind, but a change of his method or dispensation. He does not alter his will, but wills an alteration. The change was in Saul: He has turned back from follow…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 15:13

Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord--Saul was either blinded by a partial and delusive self-love, or he was, in his declaration to Samuel, acting the part of a bold and artful hypocrite. He professed to have fulfilled the divine command, and that the blame of any defects in the execution lay with the people. Samuel saw the real state of the case, and in discharge of the commission he had received before setting out, proceeded to denounce his conduct as characterized by pride, rebellion, and obstinate disobedience. When Saul persisted in declaring that he had obeyed, alleging that the animals, whose bleating was heard, had been reserve…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 15:17

Little in thine own sight - Who can bear prosperity? Is it not of the Lord's great goodness that the majority of the inhabitants of the earth are in comparative poverty?

John Gill on 1 Samuel 15:20

And Saul said to Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord,.... Here Saul breaks in upon Samuel before he had declared all that the Lord had said unto him; for having expostulated with him for not obeying the voice of the Lord, he could not forbear interrupting him, but with the utmost assurance affirms he had obeyed the voice of the Lord; but then it was very imperfectly, and poor proof does he give of it: and have gone the way which the Lord sent me; it is very true he went into the country of Amalek, but he did not do there all the Lord commanded him: and have brought Agag the king of Amalek; took him alive, and brought him captive; whereas he ought to have destroyed him at once,…

The Church Fathers

And Saul said to Samuel: "Rather, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord," etc. How much this response of Saul suits the stubbornness of the rebellious proud ones is very easily evident from what was previously explained. For there are those who, convicted either by the reading of the Holy Scripture or by the speech of teachers, and reproved for their committed faults, prefer to seek an increase of their sins by excusing themselves rather than humbly seeking remedy.
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

19. For as if concealing his own hidden faults while bringing forth the exposed faults of others, the slippery teacher commends himself on the success of his preaching, saying: I ought not to be rebuked for the fault of my subjects, but rather praised, since I have destroyed it in the offenders by preaching. I struck Amalek: because the spirit of fornication fell by the sword of my tongue in the hearts of my hearers. The king, even if he lives, has been brought captive: because even if the sense of the flesh, as long as we are in the flesh, cannot be entirely destroyed, it has been captured, as it could be captured, because it cannot prevail over reason. Eager to show that his subjects themselves have been corrected and are confessing their sins, he added, saying: (Verse 21.) But the people took from the spoil sheep and oxen, the firstfruits of those things which were slain, to sacrifice to the Lord their God in Gilgal.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Agag — Flame, the usual title of the Amalekite kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian. (1.) A king of the Amalekites referred to by Balaam (Num. 24:7). He lived at the time of the Exodus. (2.) Another king…
Garrison — (1.) Heb. matstsab, a station; a place where one stands (1 Sam. 14:12); a military or fortified post (1 Sam. 13:23; 14:1, 4, 6, etc.). (2.) Heb. netsib, a prefect, superintendent; hence a military…
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Amalekites · General references — General references
Amalekites, The · Governed by Kings — Governed by Kings
Church And State · .Reproves rulers — .Reproves rulers
Gilgal · .An altar built at, and sacrifice offered — .An altar built at, and sacrifice offered
Presumption · .Sparing the Amalekites — .Sparing the Amalekites
Reproof · .Samuel, of Saul — .Samuel, of Saul
Responsibility · .Saul — .Saul
Self-Righteousness · .Saul — .Saul

1 Samuel 15:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 15:10-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 15:13

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 15:17

John Gill on 1 Samuel 15:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 15:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 15:10-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 15:13

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 15:17

John Gill on 1 Samuel 15:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 15:20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 15:17

Rashi on 1 Samuel 15:19