--- title: "Clarke" description: "Verse 1 Samuel 15:1. The Lord sent me to anoint thee — This gave him a right to say what immediately follows. Verse 1 Samuel 15:2. I remember that which A" image: "/images/missing.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/15" --- Verse [1 Samuel 15:1](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/1). ***The Lord sent me to anoint thee*** — This gave him a right to say what immediately follows. Verse [1 Samuel 15:2](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/2). ***I remember*****that*****which Amalek did*** — The Amalekites were a people of Arabia Petraea, who had occupied a tract of country on the frontiers of Egypt and Palestine. They had acted with great cruelty towards the Israelites on their coming out of Egypt. (See [Exodus 17:8](../../../kjv/exodus/17/8), and the notes there.) They came upon them *when they were faint and weary, and smote the hindermost of the* *people*-those who were too *weak to keep up* with the rest. (See [Deuteronomy 25:18](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/25/18)) .And God then purposed that Amalek, as a nation, should be blotted out from under heaven; which purpose was now fulfilled by Saul upwards of *four hundred* years afterwards! Verse [1 Samuel 15:3](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/3). ***Slay both man and woman*** — Nothing could justify such an exterminating decree but the absolute authority of God. This was given: all the reasons of it we do not know; but this we know well, *The Judge of all the earth doth right*. This war was not for *plunder*, for God commanded that all the *property* as well as all the *people* should be destroyed. Verse [1 Samuel 15:4](../../../kjv/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. Verse [1 Samuel 15:5](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/5). ***Saul came to a city of Amalek*** — I believe the original should be translated, *and Saul came to the city Amalek*; their capital being called by the *name* of their *tribe*. Verse [1 Samuel 15:6](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/6). ***Said unto the Kenites*** — The Kenites were an ancient people. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite. Hobab his son (if the same person be not meant) was guide to the Hebrews through the wilderness. They had a portion of the promised land, near to the city Arad. See [Judges 1:16](../../../kjv/judges/1/16); and for more particulars concerning them and the Amalekites, see the notes on [Numbers 26:20-21](../../../kjv/numbers/26/20-21). Verse [1 Samuel 15:7](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/7). ***From Havilah - to Shur*** — From Pelusium in Egypt, unto the Red Sea.-*Josephus*. But Havilah lay eastward from the Red Sea; the Amalekites lay between this and the way to Egypt towards Shur. Verse [1 Samuel 15:11](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/11). ***It repenteth me that I have set up Saul*** — That is, I placed him on the throne; I intended, if he had been obedient, to have established his kingdom. He has been disobedient; I change my purpose, and the kingdom shall not be *established in his family*. This is what is meant by God's *repenting-changing a purpose* according to conditions already laid down or mentally determined. Verse [1 Samuel 15:12](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/12). ***He set him up a place*** — Literally, a *hand*, יד yad. Some say it was a *monument*; others, a *triumphal arch*: probably it was no more than a *hand*, pointing out the place where Saul had gained the victory. *Absalom's pillar* is called *the hand of* *Absalom*, [2 Samuel 18:18](../../../kjv/2-samuel/18/18). Verse [1 Samuel 15:15](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/15). ***The people spared the best of the sheep*** — It is very likely that the people did spare the best of the prey; and it is as likely that Saul might have *restrained* them if he would. That they might not *love war*, God had interdicted *spoil* and *plunder*, so the war was undertaken merely from a sense of *duty*, without any hope of enriching themselves by it. Verse [1 Samuel 15:17](../../../kjv/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*? Verse [1 Samuel 15:21](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/21). ***To sacrifice unto the Lord*** — Thus he endeavours to excuse the people. They did not take the spoil in order to *enrich* *themselves* by it, but to *sacrifice unto the Lord*; and did not this motive justify their conduct? Verse [1 Samuel 15:22](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/22). ***Hath the Lord as great delight, &c.*** — This was a very proper answer to, and refutation of Saul's excuse. Is not obedience to the will of God the end of all religion, of its rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices? Verse [1 Samuel 15:23](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/23). ***For rebellion*****is as*****the sin of witchcraft, and**********stubbornness*****is as*****iniquity and idolatry.*** — This is no translation of those difficult words, כי חטאת קסם מרי ואון ותרפים הפצר *ki* *chattath kesem meri veaven utheraphim haphtsar*. It appears to me that the three nouns which occur first in the text refer each to the three last in order. Thus, חטאת *chattath*, TRANSGRESSION, refers to און *aven*, INIQUITY, which is the principle whence *transgression* springs. קסם *kesem*, DIVINATION, refers to תרפים *teraphim*, consecrated images or *telesms*, vulgarly *talismans*, used in incantations. And מרי *meri*, REBELLION, refers evidently to הפצר *haphstar*, STUBBORNNESS, whence rebellion springs. The meaning therefore of this difficult place may be the following: As transgression comes from iniquity, divination from teraphim, and rebellion from stubbornness, so, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. All the *versions* are different. Verse [1 Samuel 15:24](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/24). ***I have sinned - because I feared the people*** — This was the best excuse he could make for himself; but had he *feared GOD* *more*, he need have *feared the PEOPLE less*. Verse [1 Samuel 15:25](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/25). ***Pardon my sin*** — Literally, *bear my sin*; take it away; forgive what I have done against thee, and be my intercessor with God, that he may forgive my offense against him; *turn again with* *me, that I may worship the Lord*. Verse [1 Samuel 15:26](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/26). ***I will not return with thee*** — I cannot acknowledge thee as king, seeing the Lord hath rejected thee. Verse [1 Samuel 15:29](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/29). ***The Strength of Israel will not lie*** — What God has purposed he will bring to pass, for he has all power in the heavens and in the earth; and he will not *repent*- change his purpose - concerning thee. We may say it was some extenuation of Saul's fault that the people *insisted* on preserving the best of the prey; for who could resist the demands of a victorious mob? But his crime was in *consenting*; had he not, the crime would have been *theirs alone*. Verse [1 Samuel 15:32](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/32). ***Agag came unto him delicately.*** — The Septuagint have τρεμων, *trembling*; the original, מעדנת *maadannoth, delicacies;* probably איש *ish*, man, understood; *a man of delights, a* *pleasure-taker*: the Vulgate, *pinguissimus et tremens*, "very fat and trembling." ***Surely the bitterness of death is past.*** — Almost all the versions render this differently from ours. *Surely death is bitter*, is their general sense; and this seems to be the true meaning. Verse [1 Samuel 15:33](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/33). ***As thy sword hath made women childless*** — It appears that Agag had forfeited his life by his own personal transgressions, and that his death now was the retribution of his cruelties. ***And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces*** — 1. What Samuel did here he did in his magisterial capacity; and, 2. It is not likely he did it by his *own sword*, but by that of an executioner. What kings, magistrates, and generals do, in an official way, by their subjects, servants, or soldiers, they are said to do themselves; *qui facit per alterum, facit per se*. Verse [1 Samuel 15:35](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/35). ***And Samuel came no more to see Saul*** — But we read, [1 Samuel 19:22-24](../../../kjv/1-samuel/19/22-24), that *Saul* went to *see Samuel* at Naioth, but this does not affect what is said here. From this time Samuel had no *connection* with Saul; he never more acknowledged him as king; he mourned and prayed for him, and continued to perform his prophetic functions at Ramah, and at Naioth, superintending the school of the prophets in that place. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/15#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary - 1 Samuel 15"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/15#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/15","name":"Clarke's Commentary - 1 Samuel 15","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/15#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse 1 Samuel 15:1. The Lord sent me to anoint thee — This gave him a right to say what immediately follows. Verse 1 Samuel 15:2. 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