1 Samuel 15:4

_AND SAUL GATHERED THE PEOPLE TOGETHER, AND NUMBERED THEM IN TELAIM, TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOTMEN, AND TEN THOUSAND MEN OF JUDAH._ Saul gathered the people together. The alacrity with which he entered (see a brief notice of it, 1 Samuel 14:48) on the necessary preparations for the expedition, gave a fair but delusive promise of faithfulness in its execution. TELAIM - or 'Telem' (according to Kimchi, Raumer, etc., though Keil is inclined, from the difference in the punctuation, to think they are separate places), among the uttermost cities of the tribe of Judah toward the coast of Edom (Joshua 15:21; Joshua 15:24). 'Saul would naturally choose a spot where the principal routes from north, e

1-9 The sentence of condemnation against the Amalekites had gone forth long before, Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:19, but they had been spared till they filled up the measure of their sins. We are sure that the righteous Lord does no injustice to any. The remembering the kindness of the ancestors of the Kenites, in favour to them, at the time God was punishing the injuries done by the ancestors of the Amalekites, tended to clear the righteousness of God in this dispensation. It is dangerous to be found in the company of God's enemies, and it is our duty and interest to come out from among them, lest we share in their sins and plagues, Revelation 18:4. As the commandment had been express, and a test of Saul's obedienc...

Verse 1 Samuel 15:4. _TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND - AND TEN THOUSAND_] The _Septuagint_, in the _London Polyglot_, have FOUR HUNDRED _thousand companies of_ _Israel_, and THIRTY _thousand companies of Judah_. The _Codex_ _Alexandrinus_ has TEN _thousand_ of each. The _Complutensian Polyglot_ has TWO HUNDRED _thousand companies of Israel_, and TEN _thousand of_ _Judah_. And _Josephus_ has FOUR HUNDRED _thousand of Israel_, and THIRTY _thousand of Judah_. All the other _versions_ are the same with the _Hebrew_ text; and there is no difference in the MSS....

TELAIM - Probably the same as “Telem” Joshua 15:24, one of the uttermost cities of Judah, toward the coast of Edom. The name means “lambs,” and was probably so called from the numerous flocks. TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND ... - A wonderful contrast with the six hundred men who composed his whole army before 1 Samuel 13:15, and a proof how completely for a time the Philistines had been driven back. The separate mention of the men of Judah shows how little union there was between Juduh and Ephraim even at this time; a circumstance which throws light upon the whole after history....

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 SAUL GATHERED THE PEOPLE TOGETHER,.... Or "made them to hear" r, by the sound of a trumpet; or by sending heralds into all parts of the land to proclaim the above order of the Lord, and summon them to come to him, perhaps at Gilgal; so the Septuagint version, and Josephus s: AND NUMBERED THEM IN TELAIM; thought to be the same with Telem, a place in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:24, the word signifies "lambs"; hence the Vulgate Latin version is, "he numbered them as lambs;'' and the Jews t say, because it was forbid to number the children of Israel, which was the sin of David; therefore every man had a lamb given him, and so the lambs were numbered, by which it was known what was the number of the people; and the Targum says, this was done with the passover lambs, it being now the time of the passover; but the numbering here made was not of the

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

TELAIM. Probably Telem (Joshua 15:24). MEN. Hebrew. _'ish.App-14._...

_in Telaim_ Nowhere else mentioned, unless it is the same as _Telem_(Joshua 15:24), the position of which in the southern border of Judah suits the circumstances. The name means "lambs," and was probably derived from the pastures in the neighbourhood. _ten thousand men of Judah_ This implies that the 200,000 foot-soldiers were from the other tribes. See note on 1 Samuel 11:8....