1 Samuel 13:7-14

13:7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River ¹  to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 13:8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. ²  But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. ³ 

13:9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 13:10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. ⁴ 

13:11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me ⁵  and that you didn’t come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 13:12 I thought, ⁶  ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated ⁷  to offer the burnt offering.”

13:13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ⁸  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ⁹  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever! 13:14 But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out ¹⁰  for himself a man who is loyal to him ¹¹  and the Lord has appointed ¹²  him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

1 Samuel 15:12-33

15:12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where ¹³  he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left ¹⁴  and went down to Gilgal.” ¹⁵  15:13 When Samuel came to him, ¹⁶  Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”

15:14 Samuel replied, “If that is the case, ¹⁷  then what is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?” 15:15 Saul said, “They were brought ¹⁸  from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord our God. But everything else we slaughtered.”

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ¹⁹  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ²⁰  said to him, “Tell me.” 15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose ²¹  you as king over Israel. 15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ²²  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ²³  have destroyed them.’ 15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed ²⁴  the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.” ²⁵ 

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed ²⁶  the Lord! I went on the campaign ²⁷  the Lord sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites. 15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ²⁸ 

Certainly, ²⁹  obedience ³⁰  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ³¹  the fat of rams.

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as ³²  king.”

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ³³  and what you said as well. ³⁴  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ³⁵  15:25 Now please forgive my sin! Go back with me so I can worship ³⁶  the Lord.”

15:26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel!”

15:27 When Samuel turned to leave, Saul ³⁷  grabbed the edge of his robe and it tore. 15:28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you! 15:29 The Preeminent One ³⁸  of Israel does not go back on his word ³⁹  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ⁴⁰  15:30 Saul ⁴¹  again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the Lord your God.” 15:31 So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

Samuel Puts Agag to Death

15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ⁴²  thinking to himself, ⁴³  “Surely death is bitter!” ⁴⁴  15:33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.

[13:7]  ¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ² tn This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (FCI), 201-23.

[13:8]  ³ tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”

[13:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “to bless him.”

[13:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “dispersed from upon me.”

[13:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[13:12]  ⁷ tn Or “I forced myself” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV); NAB “So in my anxiety I offered”; NIV “I felt compelled.”

[13:13]  ⁸ tn Or “kept.”

[13:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.

[13:14]  ¹² tn Heb “commanded.”

[15:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and look.”

[15:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he turned and crossed over.”

[15:12]  ¹⁵ tc At the end of v. 12 the LXX and one Old Latin ms include the following words not found in the MT: “to Saul. And behold, he was offering as a burnt offering to the Lord the best of the spoils that he had brought from the Amalekites.”

[15:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to Saul.”

[15:14]  ¹⁷ tn The words “if that is the case” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they brought them.”

[15:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ²⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

[15:16]  tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “anointed.”

[15:18]  ²² tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18]  ²³ tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

[15:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ³¹ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ³² tn Or “from [being].”

[15:24]  ³³ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[15:25]  ³⁶ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[15:27]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he,” but Saul is clearly the referent. A Qumran ms and the LXX include the name “Saul” here.

[15:29]  ³⁸ tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

[15:29]  ³⁹ tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

[15:29]  ⁴⁰ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

[15:30]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:32]  ⁴² tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).

[15:32]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and Agag said.”

[15:32]  ⁴⁴ tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete סָר (sar, “is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word מַר (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “Surely the bitterness of death is past,” along with NLT, CEV). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”). Cf. NAB “So it is bitter death!”; NRSV “Surely this is the bitterness of death”; TEV “What a bitter thing it is to die!”