1 Samuel 15:23, 1 Samuel 15:26 RVA

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

5. Yahweh’s final rejection of Saul ch. 15"In the short pericope 1 Samuel 13:7-15 a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him." [Note: Ibid., p. 142.] Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul fought with the Amalekites, Israel’s enemy to the south (cf. 1 Samuel 14:48). The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12; 1 Chronicles 1:36) and, therefore, linked with the Edomites. They were nomads who lived principally in southern Canaan and the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 15:2-35

III. SAMUEL AND SAUL 7:2-15:35This third major part of 1 Samuel contains three subsections: Samuel’s ministry as Israel’s judge (1 Samuel 7:2-17), the kingship given to Saul (chs. 8-12), and the kingship removed from Saul (chs. 13-15). The main point seems to be Israel’s unjustified dissatisfaction with her sovereign God and its awful consequences. In spite of His people’s rejection, the Lord continued to show them mercy and faithfulness. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Saul’s Victory over Amalek. His Disobedience and RejectionAmalek had attacked Israel at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8) and opposed their entrance into Canaan (Numbers 14:45: cp. Deuteronomy 25:7; They are mentioned as allies of the Midianites in Judges 7:12. The Amalekite nomads probably occupied a large tract of the wilderness S. of Judah. This chapter evidently comes from a different source from the preceding, which concludes the history of Saul. It forms the connexion between the history of Saul and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Samuel 15:23

(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.—Witchcraft, more literally soothsaying or divination, was a sin constantly held up to reprobation in the Old Testament. It was the greatest of all the dangers to which Israel was exposed, and was in fact a tampering with the idol-worship of the surrounding nations. Impurity, and an utter lack of all the loftier principles of morality which the one true God and His chosen servants would impress on the peoples of the East, characterised the various... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Obedience 1 Samuel 15:10-23 Obedience is a sacrifice better, because more profound than any other sacrifice can be. 'It is much easier,' Matthew Henry remarks, 'to bring a bullock or a lamb to be burnt upon the altar than to bring every high thought into obedience to God, and make the will subject to His will.' Sacrifice is as the presents which Hiram sent to Solomon; but obedience is like the artist whom he sent to remain in Jerusalem and do the finest work of the Temple for obedience is a... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

CHAPTER XXI.THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL1 Samuel 15:1-35.HERE we find the second portion of God’s indictment against Saul, and the reason for his final rejection from the office to which he had been raised. There is no real ground for the assertion of some critics that in this book we have two accounts of Saul’s rejection, contradictory one of the other, because a different ground is asserted for it in the one case from that assigned in the other. The first rejection (1 Samuel 13:13-14) was the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:14-23

CHAPTER XXIII.DAVID’S EARLY LIFE*(*A few paragraphs on the Life of David are reproduced from the author’s book “David, King of Israel.") 1 Samuel 15:14-23.BEFORE we enter at large into the incident of which these verses form the record it is desirable to settle, as far as we can, the order of events in the early life of David. After being anointed by Samuel, David would probably return to his work among the sheep. It is quite possible that some years elapsed before anything else occurred to... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

8. War with Amalek: Saul’s Disobedience and Rejection CHAPTER 15 1. The commission to destroy Amalek (1 Samuel 15:1-9 ) 2. Saul’s disobedience and rejection (1 Samuel 15:10-23 ) 3. Saul’s confession (1 Samuel 15:24-31 ) 4. The doom of Agag (1 Samuel 15:32-35 ) From verse 48 in the previous chapter we learn that Saul smote the Amalekites. Samuel is sent by Jehovah with a new message to Saul telling him to smite Amalek again and to destroy utterly all that they have. It involves another... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - 1 Samuel 15:23

15:23 For {i} 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.(i) God hates nothing more than the disobedience of his commandment, even though the intent seems good to man. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

God had a more solemn controversy with the Amalekites than with the Philistines. The mere formal worship typified by the Philistines is empty; but Amalekite "lusts of the flesh" are a deadly enemy that had afflicted Israel from the time of their leaving Egypt. Samuel reminds Saul that it was the Lord who had sent him to anoint Saul as king over Israel, and calls for his attention to the authoritative words of God. God remembered the early attack of this bitter enemy of Israel (Exodus 17:8),... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 15:2-35

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Samuel 15:23

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:14-23

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Geneva Study Bible - 1 Samuel 15:23

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

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