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1 Samuel 15:20

in 1 Samuel 15

“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

KJV

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

This verse in 1 Samuel 15

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Athanasius of Alexandria

296–373

LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF EGYPT 1.11 · Written before 373.

And when Saul was charged with negligence and a breach of the law, he did not benefit his cause by alleging his conduct on other matters. For a defence on one count will not operate to obtain an acquittal on another count; but if all things should be done according to law and justice, a man must defend himself in those particulars wherein he is accused, and must either disprove the past, or else confess it with the promise that he will desist, and do so no more.

This site's exposition

But I did obey the LORD

on 1 Samuel 15:20-21

Saul answers with a flat claim, "But I did obey the LORD." Verse 21 hands the excuse back to the troops, framing the kept plunder as sacrifice for Gilgal. The narrator's own phrase for it, "the best of the things devoted to destruction," judges the excuse before Samuel answers.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Cassian

CONFERENCE 2.3.1 · Written before 435.

proposed

Finally, because he never had this eye of discretion, he who by God's judgment first deserved to rule over the people of Israel was cast out of his kingdom like something dark out of a healthy body. Having been deceived by the darkness and error of this light, he decided that his own sacrifices were more acceptable to God than obedience to Samuel's command, and in the very act by which he had hoped that he would propitiate the divine majesty he committed sin instead.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And Saul said to Samuel: "Rather, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord," etc. How much this response of Saul suits the stubbornness of the rebellious proud ones is very easily evident from what was previously explained. For there are those who, convicted either …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.

proposed

19. For as if concealing his own hidden faults while bringing forth the exposed faults of others, the slippery teacher commends himself on the success of his preaching, saying: I ought not to be rebuked for the fault of my subjects, but rather praised, since I have destroyed it in the offenders by preaching. I struck Amalek: because the spirit of fornication fell by the sword of my tongue in the hearts of my hearers.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

But it was their doing and not his; and, besides, it was for sacrifice to the Lord here at Gilgal, whither they were now bringing them. See what a hard thing it is to convince the children of disobedience of their sin and to strip them of their fig-leaves. Samuel gives a full answer to his apology, since he did insist upon it,
And Saul said to Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord,....
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord--Saul was either blinded by a partial and delusive self-love, or he was, in his declaration to Samuel, acting the part of a bold and artful hypocrite. He professed to have fulfilled the divine command, and that the blame of any defects in the execution lay with the people.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • שָׁא֜וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שְׁמוּאֵ֗לSamuel

    shemuelH8050 →141 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רthat

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙I listened

    shama'tiH8085 →1159 times

  • בְּק֣וֹלto [the] voice of

    bekolH6963 →506 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וָאֵלֵ֕ךְand I went

    vaelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְon the journey

    baderekhH1870 →707 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • שְׁלָחַ֣נִיhe sent me

    shelachaniH7971 →845 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וָאָבִ֗יאand I brought

    vaavi'H935 →2568 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲגַג֙Agag

    ʾagagH90 →8 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • עֲמָלֵ֔קAmalek

    ʾamalekH6002 →39 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • עֲמָלֵ֖קAmalek

    ʾamalekH6002 →39 times

  • הֶחֱרַֽמְתִּי׃I totally destroyed

    hecheramtiH2763 →52 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Romans 10:3

    Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

    it leads to

    • Luke 16:15

      So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

    • Philippians 3:9

      and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

    • 2 Corinthians 5:21

      God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

    • Luke 18:9–12

      To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:

    • Romans 5:19

      For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

  • Through

    Job 40:8

    Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

    it leads to

    • Romans 3:4

      Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”

  • Through

    Matthew 19:20

    “All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:24

      So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

  • Through

    Job 33:9

    ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

    it leads to

    • Job 16:17

      yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Athanasius of Alexandria, LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF EGYPT 1.11; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 2.3.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.