1 Samuel 15:2

The orders were plain, not to be mistaken, and full and strong for the utter destruction of them without any exception, and therefore nothing could be pleaded in excuse for the violation of them: and fight against them until they be consumed; entirely; they were not to be left until an end was made of them; or "until they had consumed them" {d}, the people of Israel, or the soldiers with Saul. {d} Mta Mtwlk de "donec consumant ipsi eos", Pagninus; so Vatablus. 1 Samuel 15:19 Ver. 19. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord,.... Who had made him king, and sent him on this errand, and gave him such plain directions, and such strong orders to make an entire consumption of Amalek: but didst fly upon the spoil; like a bird of prey, such as an eagle or vulture, not to devote it to the Lord, by an entire destruction of it, but to seize it for his own use, as being greedily desirous and covetous of it: and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? by disobeying his commands, from whose sight nothing can be hid. 1 Samuel 15:20 Ver. 20. And Saul said to Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord,....

15:1-9 The sentence of condemnation against the Amalekites had gone forth long before, Ex 17:14; De 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, Re 18:4. As the commandment had been express, and a test of Saul's obedience, his conduct evidently was the effect of a proud, rebellious spirit. He destroyed only the refuse, that was good for little. That which was now destroyed was sacrificed to the justice of God.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Of the celestial host of angels, and of the army of Israel, yea, of all the armies of the earth: this is premised to engage the attention of Saul: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel; four hundred years ago: how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt; in the valley of Rephidim, just before they came to Mount Sinai, and fell upon the rear of them, and smote the feeble, and faint, and weary, see

Verse 2. - Amalek . The Amalekites were a fierce race of nomads who inhabited the desert to the south of Judaea towards Egypt. They were, and still continue to be in their descendants, the Bedouins, an untamable race of savages, whose delight is in robbery and plunder. Between them and Israel there was bitter hostility occasioned by their having attacked the people immediately after the Exodus ( Exodus 17:8-16 ), and the command there given to exterminate them is repeated now, probably in consequence of their raids having become more numerous and sanguinary under their present king, as we gather from ver. 33. The reference to a war with the Amalektes in 1 Samuel 14:48 no doubt refers to this expedition, as we have there a mere summary of Saul's military enterprises. I remember. Literally, "I have visited;" but the sense of remembering seems confirmed by such passages as Genesis 21:1 ; Genesis 1:24 ; Isaiah 23:17 ; Isaiah 26:16 . The Septuagint, however, and Aquila, give a very good sense: "I have considered, "thought over." How he laid wait for him in the way. There is no idea in the Hebrew of ambuscade or treachery. It is simply, "How he set himself in the way against him," i.e. opposed, withstood him, tried to bar his progress. 1 Samuel 15:2

2 . I remember ] Rather, I have reviewed , or, considered. Vulg. recensui . that which Amalek did to Israel ] The origin of the powerful tribe of the Amalekites is uncertain. According to one view they had migrated from the East: according to another they were the descendants of Esau’s grandson Amalek ( Genesis 36:12 ). They were a nomad people, roaming over the wilderness which lies to the south and south-west of Palestine and stretches down into the peninsula of Sinai. They disputed the passage of the Israelites, but were signally defeated at Rephidim ( Exodus 17:8 ). Upon a later occasion they joined with the Canaanites, and were victorious in a battle near Hormah ( Numbers 14:45 ). In league with the Moabites ( Jdg 3:13 ) and Midianites ( Jdg 6:3 ) they continued to harass the Israelites alter their entrance into Canaan. As the first of the heathen nations who opposed the progress of God’s people after the Exodus they were doomed to utter destruction ( Exodus 17:16 ; Numbers 24:20 ; Deuteronomy 25:17-19 ), and the time had now come for the execution of this sentence.

Compare the marginal references. It appears 1 Samuel 14:48 that this expedition against Amalek was not made without fresh provocation. Probably some incursion similar to that described in 1 Samuel 30 was made by them upon the south country at a time when they thought the Israelites were weakened by their contests with the Philistines.

(2) That which Amalek did to Israel. —The Amalekites were a fierce, untameable race of wanderers, who roamed at large through those deserts which lie between Southern Judea and the Egyptian frontier. They were descended from Esau’s grandson, Amalek. Not long after the exodus from Egypt, they attacked and cruelly harassed the almost defenceless rear-guard of Israel in the desert of Rephidim. They were then, at the prayer of Moses, defeated by Joshua; but, for this cowardly unprovoked attack, solemnly doomed to destruction. In the prophecy of Balaam they are alluded to as the first of the nations who opposed the Lord’s people. During the stormy ages that followed, the hand of Amalek seems to have been constantly lifted against Israel, and we read of them perpetually as allied to their relentless foes.

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 Samuel 15:33 . In the way when he came up from Egypt ; when he was newly come out of cruel and long bondage, and was now weak, and weary, and faint, and hungry, Deu 25:18 ; and therefore it was barbarous and inhuman, instead of that pity which even nature prompted them to afford, to add affliction to the afflicted; it was also horrid impiety to fight against God himself, and to lift up their hand in a manner against the Lord’s throne , as some translate these words, Exodus 17:16 , whilst they struck at that people which God had brought forth in so stupendous and miraculous a way.

2, 3. Amalek—the powerful tribe which inhabited the country immediately to the eastward of the northern Cushites. Their territory extended over the whole of the eastern portion of the desert of Sinai to Rephidim—the earliest opponent (De 25:18; Ex 17:8-16)—the hereditary and restless enemy of Israel (Nu 14:45; Jud 3:13; 6:3), and who had not repented (1Sa 14:48) of their bitter and sleepless hatred during the five hundred years that had elapsed since their doom was pronounced. Being a people of nomadic habits, they were as plundering and dangerous as the Bedouin Arabs, particularly to the southern tribes. The national interest required, and God, as King of Israel, decreed that this public enemy should be removed. Their destruction was to be without reservation or exception. I remember—I am reminded of what Amalek did—perhaps by the still remaining trophy or memorial erected by Moses (Ex 17:15, 16).

"Thus saith the Lord of Zebaoth, I have looked upon what Amalek did to Israel, that it placed itself in his way when he came up out of Egypt" ( Exodus 17:8 ). Samuel merely mentions this first outbreak of hostility on the part of Amalek towards the people of Israel, because in this the same disposition was already manifested which now made the people ripe for the judgment of extermination (vid., Exodus 17:14 ). The hostility which they had now displayed, according to 1 Samuel 15:33 , there was no necessity for the prophet to mention particularly, since it was well known to Saul and all Israel. When God looks upon a sin, directs His glance towards it, He must punish it according to His own holiness. This פּקדתּי points at the very outset to the punishment about to be proclaimed.

[Bible] 15:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt. 15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet anything that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Child... The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children. 15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda. 15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent. 15:6. And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart, and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec. 15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt. 15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword. 15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile, and good for nothing, that they destroyed. 15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 15:11. It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night.