1Sa 15:1-35 :1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee [to be] king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Ver. 1. _The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king._] And kings are doubly bound to obey the Lord, - as Queen El... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember [that] which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid [wait] for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Ver. 2. _Thus saith the Lord of hosts._] Who judgeth righteously, Jer 11:20 and is able to save and to destroy. _ I remember that which Amalek did to Israe... [ Continue Reading ]
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 and sheep, camel and ass. Ver. 3. _Now go and smite Amalek._] This God had twice threatened; Exo 17:14 Deu 25:17 _Ut ostenderet quam ex animo et omnino id vellet... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. Ver. 4. _And numbered them in Telaim._] Called also Telem, a town of Judah. Jos 15:24 Not in Gilgala, as Josephus hath it, after the Septuagint. _Two hundred thousand fo... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. Ver. 5. _And laid wait in the valley._] Or, Skirmished by the burn or brook: declining the mountains, lest it should have proved prejudicial to the Kenites who dwelt there.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. Ver. 6. _And Saul said unto the Kenites._] Who w... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah [until] thou comest to Shur, that [is] over against Egypt. Ver. 7. _And Saul smote the Amalekites._] So many as he could well come at; for many made escape, and they were still a nation in David's days, retaining their old hatred and hostility against God'... [ Continue Reading ]
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. Ver. 8. _And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive._] _Captans laudem clementiae,_ that he might be cried up for a clement conqueror: or that he might put him to his ransom, o... [ Continue Reading ]
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all [that was] good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing [that was] vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. Ver. 9. _And the best of the sheep._] If Saul sp... [ Continue Reading ]
Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, Ver. 10. _Then came the word of the Lord._] That which one saith of our Henry VIII may well be applied to Saul, _Habuit ille quidem egregias dotes; sed suos simul patiebatur manes:_ there were in him great virtues, and no less vices, jumbled toget... [ Continue Reading ]
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul [to be] king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. Ver. 11. _It repenteth me that I have set up Saul._] This is _humaniths dictum,_ spoken after the manne... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. Ver. 12. _Saul came to Carmel._] A town of Judah that was in his way as he returned from Amalek. Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. Ver. 13. Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed, &c.] Which if he had done indeed, he would never thus have boasted, but by glossing speeches he thinks to stop Samuel... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel said, What [meaneth] then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? Ver. 14. _What meaneth then this bleating, &c._] _Quid verba quaero, facta cum videam? cave ne dicta factis erubescant. Tenue mendacium pellucet:_ falsehood may be transparently se... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Ver. 15. They have brought … the people spared, &c.] He had no hand in it, if you will believe him; he... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. Ver. 16. _Stay, and I will tell thee._] Ministers must rebuke with all authority: neither may any despise them for so doing. Tit 2:15 It is a treacherous flattery to soothe... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel said, When thou [wast] little in thine own sight, [wast] thou not [made] the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? Ver. 17. _When thou wast little in thine own sight._] There is an ingratitude in every sin, and that is to be considered. Good turns agg... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Ver. 18. _Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites._] Those sinners with an accent, those wicked with a witness; _qui noluerant solita peccare,_... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? Ver. 19. Wherefore then didst thou … fly upon the spoil?] As a hungry hawk upon his prey. See on 1 Samuel 15:9 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. _Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord._] He thinketh to overcome the prophet, and to m... [ Continue Reading ]
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. Ver. 21. _But the people took, &c._] See 1 Samuel 15:15 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams. Ver. 22. _Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice._] The reason whereof is given by one, _Qui... [ Continue Reading ]
For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king. Ver. 23. _For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft._] Because it dethroneth God, as it were, and setteth up se... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 24. _I have sinned._] _Tandem aliquando frigide ait Peccavi._ When he could deny it no longer, at length he maketh a forced and fei... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. Ver. 25. _Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin,_] _i.e., _ Pray God to pardon it: though some here also tax him for this, that he relied more upon another's virtue than upon his own penitency; likea... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 26. _The Lord hath rejected thee._] God loveth to retaliate; and what wonder that the holy and true God casteth off him, whose best... [ Continue Reading ]
And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. Ver. 27. _He laid hold on the skirt of his mantle, and it rent._] Saul was loath to leave him, lest the people should take notice of a breach betwixt them. But what a madness of malice was that in those P... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 28. _The Lord hath rent the kingdom._] And given it to the man that shall hereafter tear off the skirt of thy garment, as Lyra here note... [ Continue Reading ]
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he [is] not a man, that he should repent. Ver. 29. And also the Strength (or Eternity) of Israel will not lie nor repent.] This was most fearful, and showed that the sentence passed upon Saul was irrevocable. Do not think, saith a reveren... [ Continue Reading ]
Then he said, I have sinned: [yet] honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. Ver. 30. I have sinned: yet honour me.] Thus he careth to hold in with men, in what terms soever he standeth with God. Not s... [ Continue Reading ]
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. Ver. 31. _So Samuel turned again after Saul._] Both to show his respect to him as his sovereign, and to do execution upon Agag.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. Ver. 32. _And Agag came unto him delicately._] _Gressu et incessu regio, et superbo,_ _a_ stately and haughtily, with the garb and gait... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. Ver. 33. _As thy sword hath made women childless._] Thine and thy predecessors', in whose footsteps thou hast trodden; being _Mali corvi,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul._ Ver. 34. _Then Samuel._] Little caring for one another's company.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. Ver. 35. _And Samuel came no more,_] viz., To visit him, and assist him. _ Samuel mourned for Saul._] For the hardness of his heart, a... [ Continue Reading ]