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, red:negative, 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 ἱνατί οὐκ ἤκουσας φωνῆς Κυρίου, ἀλλʼ ὥρμησας τοῦ θέσθαι ἐπὶ τὰ σκῦλα, καὶ ἐποίησας τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον Κυρίου; (Kai hinati ouk aʸkousas fōnaʸs Kuriou, allʼ hōrmaʸsas tou thesthai epi ta skula, kai epoiaʸsas to ponaʸron enōpion Kuriou; )
BrTrAnd why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
ULTAnd why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh? But you rushed with shouting on the spoil and you did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.”
USTSo why did you not obey Yahweh? Why did you take the plunder for yourself instead of destroying it? You have done what Yahweh says is evil, and he knows it!”
BSBSo why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
OEBWhy then did you not obey the voice of the Lord and why did you swoop upon the spoil and displease the Lord?’
WEBBEWhy then didn’t you obey the LORD’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight?”
JPSWherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?'
ASVWherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah?
DRAWhy then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord.
YLTand why hast thou not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah — and dost fly unto the spoil, and dost do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah?'
DrbyWhy then didst thou not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, but didst fall upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of Jehovah?
RVwherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?
WbstrWhy then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
KJB-1769Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? (Wherefore then didst thou/you not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? )
KJB-1611Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst flie vpon the spoile, and didst euill in the sight of the LORD? (Wherefore then didst thou/you not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst flie upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?)
BshpsAnd wherfore hast thou not hearkened vnto the voyce of the Lorde? but hast turned to the praye, and hast done that which is wicked in the syght of the Lorde? (And wherefore hast thou/you not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord? but hast turned to the praye, and hast done that which is wicked in the sight of the Lord?)
GnvaNowe wherefore hast thou not obeyed the voyce of the Lord, but hast turned to the pray, and hast done wickedly in the sight of the Lord? (Now wherefore hast thou/you not obeyed the voice of the Lord, but hast turned to the pray, and hast done wickedly in the sight of the Lord? )
CvdlWherfore hast thou not herkened vnto the voyce of the LORDE, but hast turned thy selfe to the spoyle, and done euell in the sighte of the LORDE? (Wherefore hast thou/you not herkened unto the voice of the LORD, but hast turned thyself/yourself to the spoil, and done evil in the sight of the LORD?)
WyclWhi therfor herdist thou not the vois of the Lord, but thou were turned to prey, and didist yuel in the `iyen of the Lord? (Whi therefore herdist thou/you not the voice of the Lord, but thou/you were turned to prey, and didist evil in the `iyen of the Lord?)
LuthWarum hast du nicht gehorchet des HErr’s Stimme, sondern hast dich zum Raube gewandt und übel gehandelt vor den Augen des HErr’s? (Warum have you not gehorchet the LORD’s Stimme, rather have you/yourself for_the plundere gewandt and bad/evil gehandelt before/in_front_of the Augen the LORD’s?)
ClVgQuare ergo non audisti vocem Domini: sed versus ad prædam es, et fecisti malum in oculis Domini? (Quare therefore not/no audisti vocem Domini: but versus to prædam es, and fecisti evil in oculis Domini? )
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=for=what? not you(ms)_paid_attention in/on/at/with,voice YHWH and,pounce to/towards the,plunder and,do the,evil in/on=both_eyes_of YHWH )
Samuel asks this question to rebuke Saul for disobeying Yahweh. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question as a statement. Alternate translation: “You should have obeyed … Yahweh!”
(Some words not found in UHB: and=for=what? not you(ms)_paid_attention in/on/at/with,voice YHWH and,pounce to/towards the,plunder and,do the,evil in/on=both_eyes_of YHWH )
Here “voice” refers to the commands that Yahweh spoke. Alternate translation: “the things that Yahweh commanded”
(Occurrence 0) but instead you seized the booty
(Some words not found in UHB: and=for=what? not you(ms)_paid_attention in/on/at/with,voice YHWH and,pounce to/towards the,plunder and,do the,evil in/on=both_eyes_of YHWH )
Samuel is accusing Saul of direct disobedience. Yahweh commanded Saul to completely destroy everything belonging to the Amalekites, and not to bring anything back to camp.
(Occurrence 0) the booty
(Some words not found in UHB: and=for=what? not you(ms)_paid_attention in/on/at/with,voice YHWH and,pounce to/towards the,plunder and,do the,evil in/on=both_eyes_of YHWH )
Alternate translation: “the plunder” or “the possessions you took from the enemy”
(Occurrence 0) what was evil in the sight of Yahweh
(Some words not found in UHB: and=for=what? not you(ms)_paid_attention in/on/at/with,voice YHWH and,pounce to/towards the,plunder and,do the,evil in/on=both_eyes_of YHWH )
Here “sight” refers to Yahweh’s thoughts or opinion. Alternate translation: “what Yahweh considers to be evil” or “what is evil in Yahweh’s judgement”
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.
