Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ εἶπε Σαμουὴλ πρὸς Σαοὺλ, ἐμὲ ἀπέστειλε Κύριος χρίσαί σε εἰς βασιλεα ἐπὶ Ἰσραήλ· καὶ νῦν ἄκουε τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου. (Kai eipe Samouaʸl pros Saʼoul, eme apesteile Kurios ⱪrisai se eis basilea epi Israaʸl; kai nun akoue taʸs fōnaʸs Kuriou. )
BrTrAnd Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over Israel: and now hear the voice of the Lord.
ULTAnd Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel. And now, listen to the voice of the words of Yahweh.
USTOne day Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to appoint you to be the king of the Israelite people. So now listen to this message from Yahweh:
BSB § Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
OEBSamuel said to Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over his people Israel. Now listen to the words of the Lord.
WEBBESamuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the LORD’s words.
BBEAnd Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord.
JPSAnd Samuel said unto Saul: 'The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
ASVAnd Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of Jehovah.
DRAAnd Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his People Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord:
YLTAnd Samuel saith unto Saul, 'Me did Jehovah send to anoint thee for king over His people, over Israel; and now, hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah:
DrbyAnd Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah.
RVAnd Samuel said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice the words of the LORD.
WbstrSamuel also said to Saul, the LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou to the voice of the words of the LORD.
KJB-1769Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. (Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee/you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou/you unto the voice of the words of the LORD. )
KJB-1611¶ [fn]Samuel also saide vnto Saul, The LORD sent me to annoint thee to bee king ouer his people, ouer Israel: nowe therefore hearken thou vnto the voyce of the words of the LORD. (¶ Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to annoint thee/you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou/you unto the voice of the words of the LORD.)
BshpsSamuel also saide vnto Saul: The Lord sent me to anoynt thee, to be king ouer his people, ouer Israel: Now therfore hearken thou vnto the voyce of the wordes of the Lorde. (Samuel also said unto Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee/you, to be king over his people, over Israel: Now therefore hearken thou/you unto the voice of the words of the Lord.)
GnvaAfterward Samuel said vnto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee King ouer his people, ouer Israel: nowe therefore obey the voyce of the wordes of the Lord. (Afterward Samuel said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee/you King over his people, over Israel: now therefore obey the voice of the words of the Lord. )
CvdlSamuel sayde vnto Saul: The LORDE sent me to anoynte the for to be kynge ouer his people of Israel: heare now therfore the voyce of the wordes of the LORDE. (Samuel said unto Saul: The LORD sent me to anoint the for to be king over his people of Israel: hear now therefore the voice of the words of the LORD.)
WyclAnd Samuel seide to Saul, The Lord sente me, that Y schulde anoynte thee in to `kyng on his puple Israel; now therfor here thou the vois `of the Lord. (And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me, that I should anoint thee/you in to `kyng on his people Israel; now therefore here thou/you the voice `of the Lord.)
LuthSamuel aber sprach zu Saul: Der HErr hat mich gesandt, daß ich dich zum König salbete über sein Volk Israel; so höre nun die Stimme der Worte des HErr’s. (Samuel but spoke to Saul: The LORD has me sent, that I you/yourself for_the king salbete above his people Israel; so listen now the voice the/of_the words the LORD’s.)
ClVgEt dixit Samuel ad Saul: Me misit Dominus ut ungerem te in regem super populum ejus Israël: nunc ergo audi vocem Domini.[fn] (And he_said Samuel to Saul: Me he_sent Master as ungerem you(sg) in regem over the_people his Israel: now therefore listen vocem Master. )
15.1Et dixit, etc. Bovem, etc. RAB. in lib. Reg., tom. 2. Ideo jubet Dominus demoliri jumenta Amalec, etc., usque ad subsannationem Dei in cœlum projecerunt.
15.1And dixit, etc. Bovem, etc. RAB. in lib. Reg., tom. 2. Ideo yubet Master demoliri yumenta Amalec, etc., until to subsannationem of_God in cœlum proyecerunt.
God instructed Saul to “completely destroy” the Amalekites, who had ambushed the Israelites after the Exodus (see Exod 17:8-16; Deut 25:17-19). The Hebrew word kharam (“completely destroy”) often means dedicating something or someone completely to the Lord, either by destroying it (1 Sam 15:3; Josh 6:17-18) or by giving it as an offering (see Lev 27:28-29; Josh 6:19).
Complete destruction was called for in cases where those to be destroyed had committed a severe offense against God, such as worshiping false gods (Deut 7:1-6; 13:12-18). In 1 Samuel 15:3, complete destruction is prescribed as God’s judgment on a nation that mistreated his chosen people. Those who curse God’s family are, in turn, cursed (Gen 12:3).
God still judges the godless and impenitent. But in the new covenant, Christians are not called to be agents of such judgment. God calls us to exercise his mercy toward those who wrong us (see Luke 9:51-56). We must completely destroy whatever within ourselves wars against Christ (Rom 8:12-13; Col 3:5). And we must overcome the enemies of Christ by our faith, by the Good News, and by our love (Eph 6:10-20; 1 Jn 2:9-17). God will mete out judgment according to his justice and in his time (Rom 12:19; 2 Thes 1:6-10).
(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_said Shəmūʼēl to/towards Shāʼūl DOM=me Shalah YHWH to,anoint,you as,king on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in people,his on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in Yisrael and=now listen to=sound/voice words YHWH )
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.
