Text -- 1 Samuel 15:1-5 (NET)

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. 15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt. 15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death– man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’” 15:4 So Saul assembled the army and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 15:1

¹ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

NET Notes: 1Sa 15:2

¹ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Sa 15:3

¹ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

NET Notes: 1Sa 15:4

¹ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

² tn Heb “people.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 15:5

¹ tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”

² tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate which assume a reading וַיָּאָרֶב (vayya’arev, “and he set an ambush,” from the root ארב [’rv] with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has וַיָּרֶב (vayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ריב [ryv]).

³ tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”