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).
BrLXXΤάδε εἶπε Κύριος σαβαὼθ, νῦν ἐκδικήσω ἃ ἐποίησεν ʼΑμαλὴκ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, ὡς ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἀναβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου. (Tade eipe Kurios sabaōth, nun ekdikaʸsō ha epoiaʸsen ʼAmalaʸk tōi Israaʸl, hōs apaʸntaʸsen autōi en taʸ hodōi anabainontos autou ex Aiguptou. )
BrTrThus said the Lord of hosts, Now will I take vengeance for what Amalec did to Israel, when he met him in the way as he came up out of Egypt.
ULTThus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel when he set against him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
USTYahweh, commander of the angel armies, has declared this: ‘I am going to punish the descendants of Amalek for attacking the Israelite people after the Israelites left Egypt.
BSBThis is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.
OEBThis says the Lord of armies: “I have determined to punish the Amalekites for wha they did to Israel, in opposing them as they came up out of Egypt.
WEBBEThe LORD of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt.
WMBBThe LORD of Hosts says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt.
NETHere is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt.
LSVThus said YHWH of Hosts: I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt.
FBVThis is what the Lord Almighty says: I observed what the Amalekites did to Israel when they ambushed them on their way from Egypt.
T4TYahweh, the commander of the armies of angels has declared this: ‘I am going to punish the descendants of Amalek for attacking the Israeli people after the Israelis left Egypt.
LEBThus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, how he opposed him[fn] when he went up from Egypt.
15:2Literally “what he placed against him in the way”
BBEThe Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt.
JPSThus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
ASVThus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
DRAThus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: I how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.
YLT'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt.
DrbyThus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have considered what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
RVThus saith the LORD of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
WbstrThus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
KJB-1769Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. (Thus saith/says the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. )
KJB-1611[fn]Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came vp from Egypt. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
BshpsThus saith the Lorde of hoastes: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how they layed waite for them in the waye as they came vp from Egypt. (Thus saith/says the Lord of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how they laid wait for them in the way as they came up from Egypt.)
GnvaThus saith the Lord of hostes, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, howe they laide waite for the in ye way, as they came vp from Egypt. (Thus saith/says the Lord of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how they laid wait for the in ye/you_all way, as they came up from Egypt. )
CvdlThus sayeth ye LORDE Zebaoth: I haue remembred what Amaleck dyd vnto Israel, & how he layed wayte for him in ye waye, whan he wente out of Egipte: (Thus sayeth ye/you_all LORD Zebaoth: I have remembred what Amaleck did unto Israel, and how he laid wait for him in ye/you_all way, when he went out of Egypt:)
WyclThe Lord of oostis seith thes thingis, Y haue rikenyd what euer thingis Amalech dide to Israel; hou Amalech ayenstood Israel in the weie, whanne he stiede from Egipt. (The Lord of hosts saith/says thes things, I have rikenyd what ever things Amalech did to Israel; how Amalech againsttood Israel in the way, when he stiede from Egypt.)
LuthSo spricht der HErr Zebaoth: Ich habe bedacht, was Amalek Israel tat, und wie er ihm den Weg verlegte, da er aus Ägypten zog. (So says the/of_the LORD Zebaoth: I have bedacht, what/which Amalek Israel did, and like he him the path verlegte, there he out_of Egypt zog.)
ClVgHæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Recensui quæcumque fecit Amalec Israëli: quomodo restitit ei in via cum ascenderet de Ægypto. (This dicit Master exercituum: Recensui quæcumque he_did Amalec Israeli: how restitit to_him in road when/with ascenderet about Ægypto. )
15:2Lord of Heaven’s Armies: See study note on 1:3. • to settle accounts: In Moses’ time, the nation of Amalek had inhabited southern Judah and the Negev area south of Judah. As Israel traveled to Canaan, the Amalekites preyed on the sick and the weak and those traveling at the rear. They were the first people to attack Israel after the exodus from Egypt, for which God had promised to judge them (Exod 17:8-16; Deut 25:17-19).
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).
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.
