Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 15:32

"Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past." — 1 Samuel 15:32 (ASV)

Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. —But in the public service of thanksgiving, there was one stern act of judgment still to be done. The King of the Amalekites had been sentenced to die. Saul had spared him for selfish reasons of his own; we need not discuss here the apparent harshness of the doom. There were, no doubt, amply sufficient reasons for the seemingly hard sentence on the people of Amalek, such as their past crimes, their evil example, and the unhappy influence which they probably exercised on the surrounding nations.

Weighed in the balance of Divine justice, Amalek had been found wanting. Perhaps—we speak in all reverence—this death, which was Amalek's doom, was sent in mercy rather than in punishment. It was mercy to those whom their evil lives might have deeply corrupted, and mercy to themselves, by calling them away from greater evils yet to come, if they had been permitted to continue living in sin. Their king, whom Saul had, in defiance of the Divine command, spared, could not be permitted to live.

From Samuel’s words in 1 Samuel 15:33, he seems, even among a wicked race, to have been pre-eminent in wickedness. Ewald suggests a curious, but not wholly improbable, reason for Saul’s preserving him alive: “kings, for the honour of their craft, must spare each other.” There are other instances in the Sacred Book of prophets and priests acting as the executioners of the Divine decrees: for instance, Phinehas, when he slew Zimri and Cozbi before all Israel (Numbers 25:8–15); and Elijah, in the case of the slaughter of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:40).

It has been suggested that Samuel did not perform the terrible act of Divine justice with his own hand, but simply handed over Agag to the officers of justice to be put to death. However, it is far more in harmony with other similar scenes in Hebrew story, and with the stern, unflinching character of these devoted servants of the God of Israel, to understand the account in its literal sense. This interpretation certainly leaves the impression on the reader that Samuel himself slew the King of Amalek.

The Hebrew word translated “delicately” is apparently derived from the same root as “Eden,” the garden of joy. Its meaning then would probably be “cheerfully, gladly.” Another derivation, however, would enable us to translate it as “in bands or in fetters.” This would give a very good sense, but most expositors prefer the idea of “cheerfulness” or “gladness.” The Septuagint must have found another word altogether in their copies, for they translate it as “trembling.” The Syriac Version omits it—strangely enough—altogether. Another view of the tragical incident is suggested in Excursus G at the end of this Book.