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OET by section 1SA 15:1

1SA 15:1–15:9 ©

Sha’ul destroys the Amalekites

This is still a very early look into the unfinished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.

Readers’ Version

Literal Version 

15:1 Sha’ul destroys the Amalekites

15One day Shemuel said to Sha’ul, “It was Yahweh who sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel back then, so now, listen to what he has to say.[ref] 2Commander Yahweh says, ‘I’ve noticed what the Amalekites did to Israel when they came out of Egyptthey attacked them as they passed by.[ref] 3So go now and attack Amalek and destroy them completely without compassion, putting men and women, children and infants to death, along with their cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”

4So Sha’ul summoned the people to Telaim and counted them: two hundred thousand foot soldiers as well as ten thousand warriors from Yehudah. 5Then Sha’ul took them to Amalek city, and they lay in wait in the valley. 6Then he warned the Kenites, “You all need to move out from among the Amalekites, so that you all won’t be attacked along with them. That’s because you all were kind to our ancestors when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved out from among the Amalekites.

7Then Sha’ul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur (near Egypt), 8and they captured King Agag alive but killed everyone else with swords. 9However, as well as sparing Agag, they took the best sheep and cattle


15and_ Shəʼēl _he/it_said to Shāʼūl DOM_me YHWH he_sent to_anoint_you as_king over people_of_his over Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) and_now listen to_sound/voice of_the_words_of of_YHWH.
2thus YHWH he_says hosts I_have_paid_attention_to DOM [that]_which it_did ˊAmālēq to_Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) [that]_which it_set to_him/it in/on/at/with_way in/on/at/with_came_up_they from_Miʦrayim/(Egypt).
3Now go and_attack DOM ˊAmālēq and_utterly_destroy DOM all_of that to_him/it and_not you_must_have_compassion on/upon/above_him/it and_kill from_man unto a_woman from_child and_unto a_sucking_child from_ox and_unto a_sheep from_camel and_unto a_donkey.
4and_ Shāʼūl _summoned DOM the_people and_numbered_them in/on/at/with_Ţəlāʼīm two_hundred thousand foot_soldier[s] and_ten_of thousand(s) with (the)_man_of Yəhūdāh/(Judah).
5And_ Shāʼūl _came to the_city_of ˊAmālēq and_set_an_ambush in/on/at/with_valley.
6And_ Shāʼūl _he/it_said to the_Qēynīs go depart go_down from_among_of [the]_ˊAmālēqite[s] lest destroy_you with_him/it and_you(ms) you_did loyalty with all_of the_people_of Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) in/on/at/with_came_up_they out_of_Miʦrayim and_ [the]_Qēynī[s] _withdrew from_among_of ˊAmālēq.
7And_ Shāʼūl _defeated DOM ˊAmālēq from_Ḩₐvīlāh goes_you Shūr which [is]_on the_face_of Miʦrayim.
8And_captured DOM Agag the_king_of ˊAmālēq alive and_DOM all_of the_people he_totally_destroyed with_edge_of [the]_sword.
9And_ Shāʼūl _spared and_the_people on Agag and_to the_best_of the_sheep and_the_cattle and_the_fatlings and_of the_lambs and_to all_of the_good and_not they_were_willing utterly_destroy_them and_all the_things despised and_worthless DOM_her/it they_totally_destroyed.

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Saul Attacks the Amalekites

1 Samuel 15

Saul’s war against the Amalekites exemplifies many of the key traits–good and bad–of Saul’s leadership over Israel. Immediately before the story is recounted, the author notes that during Saul’s entire reign he fought valiantly against Israel’s enemies on every side (1 Samuel 14:47-52), and he amassed an army of skilled soldiers. Thus, Saul fulfilled one of the primary reasons the people demanded that Samuel appoint a king over them (1 Samuel 8). Then the author notes that the Lord, through Samuel, directed Saul to attack the Amalekites and utterly destroy them and their belongings as punishment for their cruel attack on the Israelites after they left Egypt to travel to Mount Sinai (Exodus 17; Deuteronomy 25:17-19). So Saul mustered a large number of troops at a place called Telaim and traveled to an otherwise unknown “city of the Amalekites” and lay in lay in wait for them in a valley. Saul also warned the Kenites, the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law Hobab (also called Jethro), to move away from the Amalekites so they would not be killed in the coming battle. It appears that the Kenites had remained on good terms with the Israelites since the time of Hobab/Jethro and accompanied them as they entered the Promised Land, eventually settling among the Amalekites in the Negev near Arad (Judges 1:16). Saul defeated the Amalekites, pursuing them “from Havilah as far as Shur,” according the the Hebrew text. The region of Havilah, however, was several hundred miles from the Negev, making it unlikely to be the place to which Saul pursued them, and this is underscored by the Septuagint’s substitution of “Elath” for “Havilah”. It is possible that the author was using this phrase as a hyperbolic merism to indicate that Saul pursued the Amalekites throughout the entire land in which they lived (see also Genesis 25:18 regarding the Ishmaelites). But since elsewhere in Scripture the Amalekites are said to live in the Negev and in southern Canaan (Genesis 14:7; Numbers 13:29; 14:45; Judges 1:16), another possibility is that the “Havilah” reading is a textual corruption. The Septuagint translators may have preserved the original reading of “Elath,” or they may have been making their best guess as to the intended location. Simply based on the similarity of spelling and the geography of the region (as shown on this map), it is possible that the original reading was “Hachilah,” a hill where David would later have some close encounters with Saul during his time in the wilderness (1 Samuel 23:19; 26:1). In any case, Saul and his men thoroughly defeated the Amalekites, but they failed to completely destroy them (see 1 Samuel 30) and their belongings. Instead they took King Agag alive and kept the best of the spoils. After this Saul traveled to Carmel and set up a monument for himself, and then he continued on to Gilgal. When Samuel arrived in Gilgal, however, he was angry with Saul for failing to devote all of the Amalekites and their goods to destruction, and he told Saul that the Lord regretted having made him king. Samuel then killed King Agag himself at Gilgal and returned to his home in Ramah. Saul returned to his home in Gibeah, but Samuel never spoke with Saul again.

1SA 15:1–15:9 ©

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