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Key: khaki:verbs.
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 ἐπάταξε Σαοὺλ τὸν Ἀμαλὴκ ἀπὸ Εὐειλὰτ ἕως Σοὺρ ἐπὶ προσώπου Αἰγύπτου. (Kai epataxe Saʼoul ton Amalaʸk apo Eueilat heōs Sour epi prosōpou Aiguptou. )
BrTrAnd Saul smote Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
ULTAnd Saul struck down Amalek, from Havilah as you enter Shur, which is on the face of Egypt.
USTThen Saul’s army slaughtered the Amalek people group, from the town of Havilah in the east to the town of Shur in the west. Shur was at the border between Israel and Egypt.
BSB § Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
OEBAnd Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
WEBBESaul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt.
NETThen Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is next to Egypt.
LSVAnd Saul strikes Amalek from Havilah [to] your going to Shur, which [is] on the front of Egypt,
FBVSaul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, to the east of Egypt.
T4TThen Saul’s army slaughtered the Amalek people-group, from Havilah town in the east to Shur town in the west. Shur was at the border between Israel and Egypt.
LEBThen Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as one goes to Shur which is east of[fn] Egypt.
JPSAnd Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is in front of Egypt.
ASVAnd Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt.
DRAAnd Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
YLTAnd Saul smiteth Amalek from Havilah — thy going in to Shur, which [is] on the front of Egypt,
DrbyAnd Saul smote Amalek from Havilah as thou comest to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt.
RVAnd Saul Smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt.
WbstrAnd Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
KJB-1769And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. (And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou/you comest/come to Shur, that is over against Egypt. )
KJB-1611And Saul smote the Amalekites from Hauilah, vntill thou commest to Shur, that is ouer against Egypt. (And Saul smote the Amalekites from Hauilah, until thou/you comest/come to Shur, that is over against Egypt.)
BshpsAnd Saul smote the Amalekites, from Heuila, as thou commest to Sur, that lyeth before Egypt. (And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Heuila, as thou/you comest/come to Sur, that lieth/lies before Egypt.)
GnvaSo Saul smote the Amalekites from Hauilah as thou commest to Shur, that is before Egypt, (So Saul smote the Amalekites from Hauilah as thou/you comest/come to Shur, that is before Egypt, )
CvdlThen smote Saul the Amalechites from Heuila vnto Sur (which lyeth ouer against Egipte) (Then smote Saul the Amalechites from Heuila unto Sur (which lieth/lies over against Egypt))
WycAnd Saul smoot Amalech fro Euila, til thou come to Sur, which is ayens Egipt. (And Saul smote Amalech from Euila, till thou/you come to Sur, which is against Egypt.)
LuthDa schlug Saul die Amalekiter von Hevila an bis gen Sur, die vor Ägypten liegt. (So hit/beat Saul the Amalekiter from Hevila at until to/toward Sur, the before/in_front_of Egypt liegt.)
ClVgPercussitque Saul Amalec ab Hevila donec venias ad Sur, quæ est e regione Ægypti. (Percussitque Saul Amalec away Hevila until venias to Sur, which it_is e regione Ægypti. )
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,defeated Shāʼūl DOM ˊAmālēqites from,Havilah goes,you Shūr which/who on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in face/surface_of Miʦrayim/(Egypt) )
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.
