1 Samuel 15:28

_AND SAMUEL SAID UNTO HIM, THE LORD HATH RENT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL FROM THEE THIS DAY, AND HATH GIVEN IT TO A NEIGHBOUR OF THINE, THAT IS BETTER THAN THOU._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

24-31 There were several signs of hypocrisy in Saul's repentance. 1. He besought Samuel only, and seemed most anxious to stand right in his opinion, and to gain his favour. 2. He excuses his fault, even when confessing it; that is never the way of a true penitent. 3. All his care was to save his credit, and preserve his interest in the people. Men are fickle and alter their minds, feeble and cannot effect their purposes; something happens they could not foresee, by which their measures are broken; but with God it is not so. The Strength of Israel will not lie....

FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL (1 Samuel 15:1.) EXPOSITION DIVINE COMMAND TO PUNISH THE AMALEKITES, AND ITS EXECUTION BY SAUL (1 Samuel 15:1). 1 SAMUEL 15:1 SAMUEL ALSO SAID. Better literally, "And Samuel said." There is no note of time, but probably a considerable interval elapsed before this second trial of Saul was made. God does not finally reject a man until, after repeated opportunities for repentance,

AND SAMUEL SAID UNTO HIM, THE LORD HATH RENT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL FROM THEE THIS DAY,.... Seeing his mantle rent by Saul, he took occasion from thence to predict, and no doubt it was impressed on his mind by the Spirit of God, that his kingdom should be in a like manner rent from him, on account of his own evil conduct and behaviour; and from this day forward he might expect it; the sentence was gone forth from God, and it would not be reversed; and by a like sign was signified the rending of the ten tribes from the kingdom of Solomon in his son Rehoboam, 1 Kings 11:30, AND HATH GIVEN IT TO A NEIGHBOUR OF THINE, THAT IS BETTER THAN THOU; who was David, a man after God's own heart, that would fulfil his will, who was more holy, just, and wise than Saul; whose works were better and righter than his, as the Targum; who was an Israelite, of the same nation and religion as

8. WAR WITH AMALEK: SAUL'S DISOBEDIENCE AND REJECTION CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The commission to destroy Amalek (1 Samuel 15:1)_ 2. Saul's disobedience and rejection (1 Samuel 15:10) 3. Saul's confession (1 Samuel 15:24) 4. The doom of Agag (1 Samuel 15:32) From verse 48 in the previous chapter we learn that Saul smote the Amalekites. Samuel is sent by Jehovah with a new message to Saul telling him to smite Amalek again and to destroy utterly all that they have. It involves another task for Saul. He had been fully established as king and is therefore called upon to discharge his respo

XV. THE WAR AGAINST AMALEK; SAUL'S DISOBEDIENCE AND DEPOSITION (E). - A section of a secondary narrative; according to the scheme adopted here, the last section of this document was 1 Samuel 3:3 to 1 Samuel 4:1. 1 SAMUEL 15:1. Samuel bids Saul attack Amalek and subject it to the _herem_ (pp. 99, 114), or sacred ban, by which all living creatures were put to death in honour of Yahweh. (_Cf._ the cases of Jericho and Achan, Joshua 6 f.) Saul called a general levy to a rendezvous in the south of Judah the numbers are probably exaggerated and advanced against the city of Amalek, possibly a tribal sanctuary which served as the headquarters of this nomad tribe; and lay in ambush in a neighbouring valley. The

The rejection of Saul 24. _I have sinned_ Though a formal confession of his sin is extorted from Saul, he does not humble himself before God in genuine penitence. He still tries to shift the blame on to the people, and his chief anxiety is lest the breach between Samuel and himself should become a public scandal and weaken his authority (1 Samuel 15:30). Contrast David's heart-felt repentance (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalms 51:4)....

_Samuel and Saul Parted Permanently._ 1 Samuel 15:24-35 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, _that is_ better than thou. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he _is_ not a man, that he should repent. 30 T

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 tract of the wilderness S. of Judah. This chapter evidently comes from a different source from the preceding, which concludes the history of Saul. It forms the connexion between the history of Saul and that of David. We have no means of determining to what part of Saul's reign it belongs....

ISRAEL’S FIRST KING 1 SAMUEL _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 15 GOD REFUSES SAUL AS KING V1 Samuel said to Saul, ‘The *Lord sent me to *anoint you as king over his people, the *Israelites. Now listen to this message from the *Lord. V2 This is what the most powerful *Lord says. “The *Israelites came out of the country of Egypt and went to the country of Canaan. But the *Amalekites tried to stop them. So I will punish the *Amalekites. V3 Go and attack the *Amalekites. Completely destroy everything that lives. Do not save anything. Kill the men and women, children and babies. Kill their cows and sheep. Kill their camels and *donkeys”.’ V4 So Saul called his army together. They met at Telaim