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parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
1Sa Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31
1Sa 15 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35
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.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) and they captured King Agag alive but killed everyone else with swords.
OET-LV And_captured DOM Agag the_king of_ˊAmālēq alive and_DOM all the_people he_totally_destroyed with_edge of_[the]_sword.
UHB וַיִּתְפֹּ֛שׂ אֶת־אֲגַ֥ג מֶֽלֶךְ־עֲמָלֵ֖ק חָ֑י וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעָ֖ם הֶחֱרִ֥ים לְפִי־חָֽרֶב׃ ‡
(vayyitpos ʼet-ʼₐgag melek-ˊₐmālēq ḩāy vəʼet-kāl-hāˊām heḩₑrim ləfī-ḩāreⱱ.)
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).
BrLXX Καὶ συνέλαβε τὸν ʼΑγὰγ βασιλέα ʼΑμαλὴκ ζῶντα, καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν καὶ Ἱερὶμ ἀπέκτεινεν ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας.
(Kai sunelabe ton ʼAgag basilea ʼAmalaʸk zōnta, kai panta ton laon kai Hierim apekteinen en stomati ɽomfaias. )
BrTr And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he slew all the people and [fn]Hierim with the edge of the sword.
15:8 This is strangely given as the rendering of החריס 'he destroyed.'
ULT And he seized Agag the king of Amalek alive. But he completely destroyed all the people by the mouth of the sword.
UST Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people group, but they killed everyone else.
BSB He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
OEB He took Agag the king of Amalek alive and completely destroyed all the people with the sword.
WEBBE He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people with the sword.
LSV and he catches Agag king of Amalek alive, and he has devoted all the people by the mouth of the sword;
FBV He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but exterminated all the people by the sword.
T4T Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people-group, but they killed everyone else.
LEB He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the edge[fn] of the sword.
15:8 Literally “mouth”
BBE He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy.
Moff No Moff 1SA book available
JPS And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
ASV And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
DRA And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
YLT and he catcheth Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people he hath devoted by the mouth of the sword;
Drby And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
RV And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
Wbstr And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
KJB-1769 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
KJB-1611 And hee tooke Agag the king of the Amalekites aliue, and vtterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps And toke Agag the king of the Amalekites alyue, and vtterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sworde.
(And took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.)
Gnva And tooke Agag the King of the Amalekites aliue, and destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
(And took Agag the King of the Amalekites alive, and destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. )
Cvdl & toke Agag the kynge of ye Amalechites alyue, & damned all ye people wt the edge of the swerde.
(& took Agag the king of ye/you_all Amalechites alive, and damned all ye/you_all people with the edge of the sword.)
Wycl And he took Agag quyke, the kyng of Amalech; sotheli he killide bi the scharpnesse of swerd alle the comyn puple.
(And he took Agag quyke, the king of Amalech; truly he killed by the scharpnesse of sword all the common puple.)
Luth Und griff Agag, der Amalekiter König, lebendig, und alles Volk verbannete er mit des Schwerts Schärfe.
(And griff Agag, the/of_the Amalekiter king, lifedig, and all/everything people banishte he with the Schwerts Schärfe.)
ClVg Et apprehendit Agag regem Amalec vivum: omne autem vulgus interfecit in ore gladii.
(And apprehendit Agag regem Amalec vivum: omne however vulgus interfecit in ore gladii. )
15:8 Agag was probably the descendant of an earlier king by the same name (see Num 24:7; cp. Esth 3:1).
Complete Destruction
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).
Passages for Further Study
Exod 22:20; Lev 27:28-29; Num 21:2-3; Deut 7:1-6, 26; 13:12-18; Josh 6:17-19; 7:11-26; 1 Sam 15:3; 1 Kgs 20:42; Isa 43:26-28
Yahweh had told Saul to destroy everything, but here Saul disobeys Yahweh’s command.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
(Occurrence 0) he took Agag
(Some words not found in UHB: and,captured DOM Agag king ˊAmālēqites living_(creature) and=DOM all/each/any/every the,people utterly_destroyed with,edge sword )
Here Saul represents himself accompanied by his army. Alternate translation: “Saul and his army took Agag” or “Saul and his army captured Agag”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
(Occurrence 0) he completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword
(Some words not found in UHB: and,captured DOM Agag king ˊAmālēqites living_(creature) and=DOM all/each/any/every the,people utterly_destroyed with,edge sword )
The “edge of the sword” represents the swords and other weapons that soldiers used in battle. Here Saul represents himself accompanied by his army. Alternate translation: “they completely destroyed all of the people with their swords” or “they killed all of the people with their swords”
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.