1 Samuel 15:15 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:10-23

Saul is here called to account by Samuel concerning the execution of his commission against the Amalekites; and remarkable instances we are here furnished with of the strictness of the justice of God and the treachery and deceitfulness of the heart of man. We are here told, I. What passed between God and Samuel, in secret, upon this occasion, 1 Sam. 15:10, 11. 1. God determines Saul's rejection, and acquaints Samuel with it: It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king. Repentance in God... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:15

And Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites ,.... That is, the people, laying the blame upon them, as Adam did on his wife, as if he had no concern at all in it, when it is clear from 1 Samuel 15:9 he was the principal one; nor is it probable the people should do this of themselves, without his consent and authority, which was so directly contrary to the express order of God; and then to excuse the people as well as he could, on whom he laid the blame, he observes this was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:12-23

The sin of rebellion. The facts are— 1 . Saul, having raised a monument in honour of his victory, meets Samuel with a pious salutation, as though all were well. 2 . On being reminded of the presence of spoil, Saul explains by saying that it was spared for the worship of God in sacrifice. 3 . Samuel, referring to the instructions received from God, presses home upon him the fact of his guilt in disobeying the Lord. 4 . Saul, in response, maintains that substantially he has... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:15

They have brought them . No doubt this was verbally true, and very probably the excuse of holding a great sacrifice to Jehovah had been put prominently forward. But reasons are never wanting when men have made up their minds, and the people who so readily obeyed Saul before ( 1 Samuel 14:24 , 1 Samuel 14:34 , 1 Samuel 14:40 ) would have obeyed him now, had he really wished it. For a king so wilful and imperious as Saul thus to seek for excuses, and try to throw the blame on others,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 15:15

There is something thoroughly mean in his attempt to shift the responsibility of what was done from his own kingly shoulders to those of the people. Every word uttered by Saul seems to indicate the breaking down of his moral character. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 15:15

1 Samuel 15:15. They That is, the people; have brought them from the Amalekites Thus he lays the blame upon the people, whereas they could not do it without his consent, and he should have used his power to overrule them. To sacrifice unto the Lord thy God This was a plausible pretence; but as the Lord had given express command that nothing should be saved, no more for himself than for them, this excuse could be no more than an instance of mean hypocrisy. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 15:1-35

War against the Amalekites (15:1-35)The Amalekites came under the same curse as those Canaanite nations that were to be destroyed (15:1-3; cf. Exodus 17:8-16; Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Deuteronomy 25:17-19). Again Saul’s obedience was tested, and again he failed. His kingly power gave him no right to alter God-given instructions to suit himself (4-9).God sent Samuel to tell Saul of the consequences of his disobedience (10-16; cf. 13:13-14). Religious sacrifices and military victories were no... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Samuel 15:15

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 . read more

Thomas Constable

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