Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

1 Samuel 15:32
ESV Then Samuel said, "Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
NIV Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites." Agag came to him in chains. And he thought, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
NASB Then Samuel said, 'Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.' And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, 'Surely the bitterness of death is gone!'
CSB Samuel said, "Bring me King Agag of Amalek." Agag came to him trembling, for he thought, "Certainly the bitterness of death has come."
NLT Then Samuel said, 'Bring King Agag to me.' Agag arrived full of hope, for he thought, 'Surely the worst is over, and I have been spared!'
KJV Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
NKJV Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

What does 1 Samuel 15:32 mean?

Samuel returned with Saul despite making it clear that God had rejected Saul's kingship over Israel (1 Samuel 15:27–28). He appears before the elders of Israel (1 Samuel 15:30–31), seemingly to perform a brutal, public, shocking act. Saul had been commanded to entirely destroy every living thing among the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3). This was God's judgment on a wicked people (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). In addition to sparing the best of the animals, Saul had not killed the king, Agag (1 Samuel 15:8–9). Instead, Saul brought Agag back with him to Gilgal.

No reason is given as to why Saul spared Agag. Perhaps it was customary to spare the king of a conquered people. Saul may have intended to parade Agag around to celebrate his victory. Whatever Saul's motivation, his refusal to kill Agag along with his people was disobedience to the Lord.

Samuel calls for Agag to be brought to him, and Agag's response is revealed. The word usually translated as something like "cheerfully" could also be read as "haltingly" or "uncertainly." The Amalekite king seems to assume that if the Israelites were going to kill him, they would have done so already. That might have been a reasonable assumption when dealing with a king and army who failed to obey God. Samuel has no such weakness.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit