1 Samuel 15:8

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He captured King Agag of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword.

Hebrew Names Version
He took Agag the king of the `Amaleki alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

King James Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Lexham English Bible
He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the edge of the sword.

English Standard Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.

New Century Version
He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he killed all of Agag's army with the sword.

New English Translation
He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag's people with the sword.

Amplified Bible
He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, though he totally destroyed all [the rest of] the people with the sword.

New American Standard Bible
He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And tooke Agag the King of the Amalekites aliue, and destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he seized Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.

Contemporary English Version
Every Amalekite was killed except King Agag.

Complete Jewish Bible
He took Agag the king of ‘Amalek alive; but he completely destroyed the people, putting them to the sword.

Darby Translation
And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Easy-to-Read Version
Agag was the king of the Amalekites. Saul captured Agag alive. Saul let Agag live, but he killed all the men in Agag's army.

George Lamsa Translation
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Good News Translation
he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people.

Literal Translation
And he captured Agag the king of Amalek alive. But he exterminated all the people with the mouth of the sword.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& toke Agag the kynge of ye Amalechites alyue, & damned all ye people wt the edge of the swerde.

American Standard Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Bible in Basic English
He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And toke Agag the king of the Amalekites alyue, and vtterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sworde.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

King James Version (1611)
And hee tooke Agag the king of the Amalekites aliue, and vtterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he slew all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.

English Revised Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Berean Standard Bible
He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he took Agag quyke, the kyng of Amalech; sotheli he killide bi the scharpnesse of swerd alle the comyn puple.

Young's Literal Translation
and he catcheth Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people he hath devoted by the mouth of the sword;

Update Bible Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

World English Bible
He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

New King James Version
He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

New Living Translation
He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else.

New Life Bible
He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and destroyed all the people with the sword.

New Revised Standard
He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, - but, all the people, devoted he to destruction at the edge of the sword.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.

Revised Standard Version
And he took Agag the king of the Amal'ekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Contextual Overview

¹Samuel 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 . 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." ³ 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. ⁴Saul 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. ⁶ 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. ⁷Then 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.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Agag: 1 Samuel 15:3, Numbers 24:7, 1 Kings 20:30, 1 Kings 20:34-42, Esther 3:1

utterly: 1 Samuel 27:8, 1 Samuel 30:1, Joshua 10:39, Joshua 11:12

Reciprocal: Exodus 17:14 - for I will Numbers 24:20 - shall be that he perish for ever Deuteronomy 2:34 - utterly destroyed Joshua 6:21 - utterly Joshua 8:23 - General Joshua 11:15 - he left nothing 1 Samuel 15:20 - have brought 2 Samuel 21:2 - in his zeal 1 Kings 20:32 - he is my brother 1 Chronicles 4:43 - the rest

Cross-References

Genesis 15:2
Abram said, " God , Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."

Genesis 15:4
Then God 's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."

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 15:10
He brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn't split the birds. Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off. As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.

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."

Genesis 15:17
When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

2 Kings 20:8
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "How do I know whether this is of God and not just the fig plaster? What confirming sign is there that God is healing me and that in three days I'll walk into The Temple of God on my own legs?"

Luke 1:18
Zachariah said to the angel, "Do you expect me to believe this? I'm an old man and my wife is an old woman."

Luke 1:34
Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive,.... This name seems to be a common name of the kings of these people, as Pharaoh was of the Egyptians, see Numbers 24:2. When this king fell into the hands of Saul, he did not put him to death, as he should have done, but preserved him; for what reasons, see in the following verse:

and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword; that is, all that came in his way, or fell into his hands; all between Havilah and Shur; all excepting those that made their escape, for we after read of Amalekites, and that in large bodies, 1 Samuel 27:8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The saving Agag alive was in direct violation of the devotion to destruction.