1 Samuel 15:21
in 1 Samuel 15The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.
KJV
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
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," while the sheep and the captured king stand as evidence against him. 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.
This site's exposition
in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal
Albert Barnes hears a rebuke of Samuel in the words your God. Saul casts the spared herds as an offering to the prophet's own God, so that the man blaming him stands as the one blocking worship. Samuel answers that claim in verse 22.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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 Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
20. When something belonging to someone is taken away by the violence of armed men, it is called plunder. But the vices of the flesh and soul, because they are propagated at the devil's suggestion, are as it were his own property. Whoever therefore, recently lax within himself but now violent, destroys vices, takes plunder; because he powerfully seizes what belongs to another. And it should be noted that both slaughter and plunder are mentioned, so that it may be taught that some things are left behind dead while others are carried away alive.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But the people took the spoil, the sheep and oxen,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Lord thy God - There is an implied censure of Samuel in this phrase. Saul says that Samuel blames him for what was done in honor of Samuel’s God; as if be had more zeal for the glory of God than was felt by Samuel.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
To sacrifice unto the Lord - Thus he endeavors to excuse the people. They did not take the spoil in order to enrich themselves by it, but to sacrifice unto the Lord; and did not this motive justify their conduct?
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֨ח | vaiyikach | and it took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| הָעָ֧ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מֵהַשָּׁלָ֛ל | mehashalal | from the plunder | H7998 → | 73 times |
| צֹ֥אן | tzon | sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבָקָ֖ר | uvakar | and cattle | H1241 → | 183 times |
| רֵאשִׁ֣ית | reshit | [the] choicest of | H7225 → | |
| הַחֵ֑רֶם | hacherem | the object[s] for destruction | H2764 → | |
| לִזְבֹּ֛חַ | lizboach | to sacrifice [them] | H2076 → | 134 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֥ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בַּגִּלְגָּֽל׃ | bagilgal | in <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
וַיִּקַּ֨חand it took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
הָעָ֧םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
מֵהַשָּׁלָ֛לfrom the plunder
mehashalalH7998 →73 times
צֹ֥אןsheep
tzonH6629 →274 times
וּבָקָ֖רand cattle
uvakarH1241 →183 times
רֵאשִׁ֣ית[the] choicest of
reshitH7225 →
הַחֵ֑רֶםthe object[s] for destruction
hacheremH2764 →
לִזְבֹּ֛חַto sacrifice [them]
lizboachH2076 →134 times
לַֽיהוָ֥הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בַּגִּלְגָּֽל׃in <the> Gilgal
bagilgalH1537 →41 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Genesis 3:13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- 1 Timothy 2:14
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
- Genesis 3:4–6
“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
- John 18:35
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”
- Genesis 4:10–12
“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
Through
1 Samuel 15:15Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:9
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they…
- Genesis 3:12–13
And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- Exodus 32:22–23
“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
- 1 Samuel 15:9
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF EGYPT 1.11; 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 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).