Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, June 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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THE MESSAGE

1 Samuel 15:12

Samuel said to Saul, " God sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now, listen again to what God says. This is the God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaking: "‘I'm about to get even with Amalek for ambushing Israel when Israel came up out of Egypt. Here's what you are to do: Go to war against Amalek. Put everything connected with Amalek under a holy ban. And no exceptions! This is to be total destruction—men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys—the works.'" Saul called the army together at Telaim and prepared them to go to war—two hundred companies of infantry from Israel and another ten companies from Judah. Saul marched to Amalek City and hid in the canyon. Then Saul got word to the Kenites: "Get out of here while you can. Evacuate the city right now or you'll get lumped in with the Amalekites. I'm warning you because you showed real kindness to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." And they did. The Kenites evacuated the place. Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban. Then God spoke to Samuel: "I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him." Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God .

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Agency;   Amalekites;   Carmel;   Falsehood;   Gilgal;   Minister, Christian;   Presumption;   Repentance;   Rising;   Rulers;   Thompson Chain Reference - Early Rising;   Rising, Early;   Saul, King of Israel;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Amalekites, the;   Early Rising;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Amalekites;   Carmel;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Amalekites;   Carmel;   Gilgal;   Saul, king of israel;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Mediator, Mediation;   Samuel, First and Second, Theology of;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Pillar;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Carmel;   Pillars;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Carmel;   Hand;   Samuel, Books of;   Saul;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Agag;   Amalek, Amalekites;   Ban;   Carmel;   Israel;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hand ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Agag ;   Amalek, Amalekites ;   Carmel ;   Gilgal;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Mordecai;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Agag;   Amalek;   Saul;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Pillar;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ahimelech;   Carmel;   Early;   Racal;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Gilgal;   Parashiyyot, the Four;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal.”
Hebrew Names Version
Shemu'el rose early to meet Sha'ul in the morning; and it was told Shemu'el, saying, Sha'ul came to Karmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
King James Version
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
Lexham English Bible
Then Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul. Samuel was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel, and look, he is setting up a monument for himself." Then he turned around and crossed over and went down to Gilgal.
English Standard Version
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal."
New Century Version
Early the next morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, "Saul has gone to Carmel, where he has put up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone down to Gilgal."
New English Translation
Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, "Saul has gone to Carmel where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left and went down to Gilgal."
Amplified Bible
When Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, he was told, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up for himself a monument [commemorating his victory], then he turned and went on and went down to Gilgal."
New American Standard Bible
Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when Samuel arose early to meete Saul in the morning, one tolde Samuel, saying, Saul is gone to Carmel: and beholde, he hath made him there a place, from whence he returned, and departed, and is gone downe to Gilgal.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told to Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."
Contemporary English Version
Early the next morning he went to talk with Saul. Someone told him, "Saul went to Carmel, where he had a monument built so everyone would remember his victory. Then he left for Gilgal."
Complete Jewish Bible
Sh'mu'el got up early in the morning to meet Sha'ul; however, Sh'mu'el was told, "Sha'ul came to Karmel to set up a monument for himself there, but now he has left and is on his way down to Gilgal."
Darby Translation
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a monument, and has turned about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
Easy-to-Read Version
Samuel got up early the next morning and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, "Saul went to Carmel. He went there to set up a stone monument to honor himself. Then he left there and went down to Gilgal." So Samuel went to Saul. Saul had just offered the first part of the things he took from the Amalekites as a burnt offering to the Lord.
George Lamsa Translation
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul has come to Carmel, and, behold, he has set up a dwelling place for himself, and has turned and passed on and gone down to Gilgal.
Good News Translation
Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal.
Literal Translation
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul has come to Carmel. And behold, he has set up a monument to himself, and has gone around, and has passed over and gone down to Gilgal.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Samuel gat him vp early, that he might mete Saul in ye mornynge. And it was tolde him, that Saul was come vnto Carmel, & had set him vp a piler, and was gone aboute, and come downe to Gilgall.
American Standard Version
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
Bible in Basic English
And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And whe Samuel rose early to meete Saul in the morning, it was tolde Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel, and beholde, he hath made him there a place, and is returned, and departed and gone downe to Gilgal.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying: 'Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he is setting him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.'
King James Version (1611)
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was tolde Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him vp a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone downe to Gilgal.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning, and it was told Saul, saying, Samuel has come to Carmel, and he has raised up help for himself: and he turned his chariot, and came down to Galgala to Saul; and, behold, he was offering up a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, the chief of the spoils which he brought out of Amalec.
English Revised Version
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
Berean Standard Bible
Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne Samuel hadde rise bi nyyt to go eerly to Saul, it was teld to Samuel, that Saul hadde come in to Carmel, and hadde reisid to hym a signe of victorye; and that he hadde turned ayen, and hadde passid, and hadde go doun in to Galgala. Therfor Samuel cam to Saul, and Saul offride brent sacrifice to the Lord of the cheef thingis of preies, whiche he hadde brouyt fro Amalech.
Young's Literal Translation
And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, `Saul hath come in to Carmel, and lo, he is setting up to himself a monument, and goeth round, and passeth over, and goeth down to Gilgal.'
Update Bible Version
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, look, he set up for himself a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
Webster's Bible Translation
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place, and has gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
World English Bible
Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
New King James Version
So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal."
New Living Translation
Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, "Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal."
New Life Bible
When Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, he was told, "Saul came to Carmel and set up a stone in his honor. Then he turned and went down to Gilgal."
New Revised Standard
Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and Samuel was told, "Saul went to Carmel, where he set up a monument for himself, and on returning he passed on down to Gilgal."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul, in the morning, and it was told Samuel, saying - Saul having come to Carmel, and lo! having set him up a sign, hath gone round, and passed over, and descended to Gilgal.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, out of the choicest of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalec.
Revised Standard Version
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."

Contextual Overview

10Then God spoke to Samuel: "I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him." Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God . As Samuel came close, Saul called out, " God 's blessings on you! I accomplished God 's plan to the letter!" Samuel said, "So what's this I'm hearing—this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?" "Only some Amalekite loot," said Saul. "The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God . But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban." "Enough!" interrupted Samuel. "Let me tell you what God told me last night." Saul said, "Go ahead. Tell me." And Samuel told him. "When you started out in this, you were nothing—and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel—made you king over Israel. Then God sent you off to do a job for him, ordering you, ‘Go and put those sinners, the Amalekites, under a holy ban. Go to war against them until you have totally wiped them out.' So why did you not obey God ? Why did you grab all this loot? Why, with God 's eyes on you all the time, did you brazenly carry out this evil?" Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey God . I did the job God set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. So the soldiers saved back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to God at Gilgal—what's wrong with that?" Then Samuel said, Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult. Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors. Because you said No to God 's command, he says No to your kingship. Saul gave in and confessed, "I've sinned. I've trampled roughshod over God 's Word and your instructions. I cared more about pleasing the people. I let them tell me what to do. Oh, absolve me of my sin! Take my hand and lead me to the altar so I can worship God !" But Samuel refused: "No, I can't come alongside you in this. You rejected God 's command. Now God has rejected you as king over Israel." As Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed at his priestly robe and a piece tore off. Samuel said, " God has just now torn the kingdom from you, and handed it over to your neighbor, a better man than you are. Israel's God-of-Glory doesn't deceive and he doesn't dither. He says what he means and means what he says." Saul tried again, "I have sinned. But don't abandon me! Support me with your presence before the leaders and the people. Come alongside me as I go back to worship God ." Samuel did. He went back with him. And Saul went to his knees before God and worshiped. Then Samuel said, "Present King Agag of Amalek to me." Agag came, dragging his feet, muttering that he'd be better off dead. Samuel said, "Just as your sword made many a woman childless, so your mother will be childless among those women!" And Samuel cut Agag down in the presence of God right there in Gilgal. Samuel left immediately for Ramah and Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel had nothing to do with Saul from then on, though he grieved long and deeply over him. But God was sorry he had ever made Saul king in the first place. 12 Samuel said to Saul, " God sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now, listen again to what God says. This is the God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaking: "‘I'm about to get even with Amalek for ambushing Israel when Israel came up out of Egypt. Here's what you are to do: Go to war against Amalek. Put everything connected with Amalek under a holy ban. And no exceptions! This is to be total destruction—men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys—the works.'" Saul called the army together at Telaim and prepared them to go to war—two hundred companies of infantry from Israel and another ten companies from Judah. Saul marched to Amalek City and hid in the canyon. Then Saul got word to the Kenites: "Get out of here while you can. Evacuate the city right now or you'll get lumped in with the Amalekites. I'm warning you because you showed real kindness to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." And they did. The Kenites evacuated the place. Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban. Then God spoke to Samuel: "I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him." Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God . 13 As Samuel came close, Saul called out, " God 's blessings on you! I accomplished God 's plan to the letter!" 14 Samuel said, "So what's this I'm hearing—this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?" 15 "Only some Amalekite loot," said Saul. "The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God . But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban." 16 "Enough!" interrupted Samuel. "Let me tell you what God told me last night." Saul said, "Go ahead. Tell me." 17And Samuel told him. "When you started out in this, you were nothing—and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel—made you king over Israel. Then God sent you off to do a job for him, ordering you, ‘Go and put those sinners, the Amalekites, under a holy ban. Go to war against them until you have totally wiped them out.' So why did you not obey God ? Why did you grab all this loot? Why, with God 's eyes on you all the time, did you brazenly carry out this evil?" 20Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey God . I did the job God set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. So the soldiers saved back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to God at Gilgal—what's wrong with that?" 22Then Samuel said, Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult. Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors. Because you said No to God 's command, he says No to your kingship.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Carmel: 1 Samuel 25:2, Joshua 15:55, 1 Kings 18:42

he set him: 1 Samuel 7:12, Joshua 4:8, Joshua 4:9, 2 Samuel 18:18

a place: Yad, Literally as the LXX render קויסב, a hand; probably because the trophy or monument of victory was in the shape of a large hand, the emblem of power, erected on a pillar. These memorial pillars were anciently much in use; and the figure of a hand, by its emblematical meaning, was well adapted to preserve the remembrance of a victory. Niebuhr, speaking of the Mesjed Ali, or Mosque of Ali, says that, "at the top of the dome, where one generally sees on the Turkish mosques a crescent, or only a pole, there is here a hand stretched out, to represent that of Ali." Another writer informs us, that at the Alhamra, or red palace of the Moorish kings in Grenada, "on the key-stone of the outward arch - of the present principal entrance is sculptured the figure of an arm, the symbol of strength and dominion.

Reciprocal: Numbers 31:13 - went forth Joshua 19:26 - Carmel 1 Kings 18:19 - mount Carmel Psalms 49:11 - they call

Cross-References

Genesis 2:21
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
Genesis 15:5
Then he took him outside and said, "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"
Genesis 15:8
Abram said, "Master God , how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
Genesis 15:9
God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
Genesis 15:13
God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."
1 Samuel 26:12
David took the spear and water jug that were right beside Saul's head, and they slipped away. Not a soul saw. Not a soul knew. No one woke up! They all slept through the whole thing. A blanket of deep sleep from God had fallen on them.
Job 33:15
"In a dream, for instance, a vision at night, when men and women are deep in sleep, fast asleep in their beds— God opens their ears and impresses them with warnings To turn them back from something bad they're planning, from some reckless choice, And keep them from an early grave, from the river of no return.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning,.... Having had no sleep since the revelation of the will of God was made unto him, and therefore rose early, being in haste to converse with Saul about it:

it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel; not to Carmel where Elijah offered sacrifice, for that was very remote from hence; but to Carmel, a city in the tribe of Judah, which lay in the way of Saul's return from Amalek, Joshua 15:55

and, behold, he set him up a place; to divide his spoil in, as the Targum; or to encamp in, as Kimchi; or to build an altar on, as Jarchi, who takes it to be the same that Elisha after repaired; but, as before observed, this place was at a great distance from Mount Carmel where Elijah sacrificed. The word for a "place" signifies a hand; and, according to the Vulgate Latin version, it was a triumphal arch, and was perhaps an obelisk or pillar, a trophy or monument erected in memory of the victory he had obtained over the Amalekites. So Jerom says a, when a victory was obtained, they used to make an arch of myrtle, palm, and olive branches, a sign of it; these trophies were sometimes of brass, sometimes of marble; some were only heaps of stones, others a remarkable tree with the branches cut off b so the pillar Absalom erected is called his hand, 2 Samuel 18:18

and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal; he took a circuit, and moved in great pomp and parade, carrying the king of the Amalekites in triumph with him, and the spoil he had taken and reserves. To Gilgal be went, expecting to meet Samuel there, and offer up peace offerings to the Lord for the victory he had got.

a Heb. Trad. in lib. Reg. fol. 76. B. b Vid. Alex. ab. Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 22.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A place - Rather, “a monument.” The Hebrew word יד yâd means a “hand,” but is used in the sense of “monument,” or “trophy,” in 2 Samuel 18:18, where we are told that the marble pillar which Absalom set up in his lifetime, was called “Yad Absalom.”

Carmel - (see the marginal reference) would be on Saul’s line of march on his return from the country of the Amalekites, more especially if he came from the neighborhood of Akaba.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 15:12. He set him up a place — Literally, a hand, יד yad. Some say it was a monument; others, a triumphal arch: probably it was no more than a hand, pointing out the place where Saul had gained the victory. Absalom's pillar is called the hand of Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:18.


 
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