1 Sam. 15 Samuel sendeth Saul to destroy the Amalekites: his army, 1 Sam. 15:1–5. He favoureth the Kenites; spareth Agag, and the best of the spoil: God rejects Saul from being king, 1 Sam. 15:6–11. This Samuel declares to Saul; he commendeth, excuseth, at last humbleth himself, 1 Sam.

The Lord made thee king, and therefore thou art highly obliged to serve and obey him. Thou hast committed one error already, for which God hath severely rebuked and threatened; now therefore make amends for thy former error, and regain God’s favour by thy exact obedience to what he now commands.

I seem to have forgotten, but now I will show that I remember, and now will revenge, those old injuries done four hundred years ago, which now I will punish in their children; which was the more just, because they continued in their parents’ cruel practices, below, 1 Sam. 15:33.

All that they have, both persons and goods; kill all that live, and consume all things without life; for I will have no name nor remnant of that people, whom long since I have cursed and devoted to utter destruction. Spare them not; show no compassion or favour to any of them.

Who are particularly noted here, as also Zech. 11:8, either as select persons of extraordinary strength and courage; or to commend that tribe, which, though the kingdom had been promised to their own tribe, yet were forward in serving and obeying a king of another, and that a far meaner tribe.

A city of Amalek; their chief city, where their king was, as is probable from 1 Sam. 15:8. Laid wait, intending to draw them forth of their city by some pretence, like that of Joshua, Josh.

The Kenites; a people descending from or nearly related unto Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites, Num. 24:21, and afterwards some of them dwelt in Judah, Judg.

i.e. From one end of their country to the other; he smote all that he met with; but a great number of them fled away upon the noise of his coming, as is usual in such cases, and secured themselves in other places, until the storm was over, when they returned again; of whom we read before, 1 Sam.

Saul spared Agag, either out of foolish pity for the goodliness of his person, which Josephus notes; or for his respect to his royal majesty, in the preservation of which he thought himself concerned; or for the glory of his triumph: compare 1 Sam. 15:12.

Saul and the people; the one proposed to do so, and the other consented to it, and so both were guilty. All that was good; which it is more than probable they reserved for their own use, rather than for sacrifice, because they knew God would not accept a sacrifice contrary to his own command.

It repenteth me: repentance properly notes grief of heart, and change of counsels, and therefore cannot be in God, who is unchangeable, most wise, and most blessed; but it is ascribed to God in such cases, when men give God cause to repent, and when God alters his course and method of dealing, and…

Carmel; not Mount Carmel, of which Josh. 12:22, but another mountain or town in the tribe of Judah, of which see Josh. 15:55. A place, i.e. a monument or trophy of his victory, as the same Hebrew word is used, 2 Sam. 18:18.

Blessed be thou of the Lord; I thank thee, and I beg that God would bless thee, for sending me upon this employment, and giving me this opportunity of manifesting my obedience to God.

How can this evidence of guilt consist with the profession of thy innocency?

They, i.e. the people. Thus, after the manner of all hypocrites, he excuseth himself, and lays the blame upon the people; whereas they could not do it without his privity and consent; and he should have used his power and authority to overrule them for God’s sake, as he had done formerly for his…

Little in thine own sight, i.e. modest, humble, and submissive, as 1 Sam. 9:21, 1 Sam. 10:22; whereby he implies that now he was grown proud, and stubborn, and impudent, both to commit sin and justify it.

The sinners; so called by way of eminency, as that word is used, Gen. 13:13, Matt. 9:10, John 9:24, John 9:31.

Who cannot be deceived by thy fair professions of religion, but knows very well that thou didst not seek sacrifices for God, but prey for thyself.

He addeth obstinacy and impenitency to his crime, and justifies his fact, though he hath nothing of any moment to say but what he said before. So he gives Samuel the lie, and reflects upon him as one that had falsely accused him.

Heb. the chief of the devoted things; which being devoted to destruction, I thought it most proper to destroy them by way of sacrifice to God. But God had commanded Saul himself to smite and slay all upon the place, above, 1 Sam. 15:3.

To obey is better than sacrifice, because obedience to God is a moral duty, constantly and indispensably necessary; but sacrifice is but a ceremonial institution, sometimes unnecessary, as it was in the wilderness; and sometimes sinful, when it is offered by a polluted hand, or in an irregular…

Rebellion, i.e. disobedience to God’s express precept, which was Saul’s case. Is as the sin of witchcraft; is, though not so great, yet as inexcusable and impudent a sin as witchcraft; as plainly condemned, and as certainly destructive and damnable.

I have sinned; which confession proceeded not from true repentance, but from the sense of his great danger, and from a desire of recalling that dreadful sentence denounced against him. The commandment of the Lord, and thy words, i.e.

Pardon my sin; use thy great interest with God to obtain the pardon of my sin. Or, do thou pardon my sin against thee; for he had sinned not only against God, but against Samuel also, as God’s prophet; and therefore needed a pardon both from God and man.

I will not return with thee: this was no lie, though he afterwards returned, because he spoke what he meant; his words and intentions agreed together, though afterwards he saw reason to change his intentions: compare Gen.

Samuel makes use of the emergent occasion, as a sign, to signify and confirm his former prediction. A neighbour of thine; either another man, or another Israelite; for the word neighbour is used both ways; or rather, one of the neighbouring tribe, even Judah, whose inheritance did not only join to…

He calls God the Strength of Israel; partly, to show the reason why God neither will nor can lie; because lying is a weakness, and proceeds from the sense of a man’s weakness, because he cannot many times accomplish his design without lying and dissimulation; which therefore many princes have used…

Here he plainly discovers his hypocrisy, and the true motive of this and his former confession; he was not solicitous for the favour of God, but for his honour and power with Israel.

Samuel turned again after Saul; not to worship the Lord with him, for that he did not; and therefore it is here mentioned that Saul only worshipped the Lord; but for two other reasons: first, that people might not upon pretence of this sentence of rejection immediately withdraw all respect and…

Delicately, or in delights, or in his ornaments, i.e. he came not like an offender, expecting the sentence of death, but in that garb and gesture which became his quality. And Agag said, or, for Agag said; this being the reason why he came so.

Thy sword hath made women childless; whereby it appears that he was a cruel tyrant, and guilty of really bloody actions, and that towards God’s people, though it be not related elsewhere.

To see Saul, i.e. to visit him, either in token of respect or friendship; or to seek counsel from God for him, or to give counsel to him. Seeing is put for visiting here, and 2 Kings 8:29. Otherwise he did see him afterwards, 1 Sam. 19:24.