1 Samuel 15:8

1 Samuel 15:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
• New International Version (NIV)He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.
• New King James Version (NKJV)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Context of 1 Samuel 15:8

6Saul said to the Kenite people, ‘Go away from here! I will kill the Amalekites, but I do not want to kill you. You were kind to the Israelites when they came out from Egypt.’ So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. 7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. Saul caught their king, Agag, while he was still alive. Saul's soldiers used their swords to kill all of Agag's people. 9But Saul and the army let King Agag live. Also, they did not kill the best sheep, lambs, cows and fat calves. They kept all the good things and they did not agree to destroy them. But they killed everything that was weak and useless. 10Then the Lord gave this message to Samuel:

1 Samuel 15:8 word by word

וַיִּתְפֹּ֛שׂ אֶת־אֲגַ֥ג מֶֽלֶךְ־עֲמָלֵ֖ק חָ֑י וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעָ֖ם הֶחֱרִ֥ים לְפִי־חָֽרֶב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he tookתָּפַשׂtâphaώ · to captureH8610
• Agagאֲגָג'ăgag · AgagH90
• the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of the Amalekitesעֲמָלֵק‛ămâlêq · AmalekH6002
• aliveחַיchay · aliveH2416
• and utterly destroyedחָרַםchâram · to devote/destroyH2763
• all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• with the edgeפֶּהpeh · lip: edgeH6310
• of the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 15:8

• 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy everything that they have. Do not save anything. Kill the men and women, as well as their children and babies. Kill their cows, sheep, camels and donkeys.” ’
• Numbers 24:7God will give them plenty of rain. Their descendants will always have plenty of water. Their king will be more powerful than Agag. Their kingdom will be great.
• 1 Kings 20:30The other soldiers ran back to Aphek. When they went into the city, the city wall fell on 27,000 of them. King Ben-Hadad also ran into the city. He hid in a room at the back of a house.
• Esther 3:1After some time, King Xerxes gave one of his officers greater authority. The officer's name was Haman. He was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag. Haman became the most important officer who served the king.
• 1 Samuel 27:8During that time David and his men attacked the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. These tribes had lived in that place for a very long time. Their land went as far as Shur and the border of Egypt.
• 1 Samuel 30:1David and his men arrived at Ziklag three days after they left King Achish. They found that the Amalekites had attacked Ziklag and towns in the south of Judah. The Amalekites had destroyed Ziklag with fire.
• Joshua 10:39They took the city, its king and all the towns near to it. They killed everyone who lived there. They did the same thing to Debir and its king as they had done to Hebron, and to Libnah and its king.
• Joshua 11:12Joshua took all these cities and he killed all their kings. He destroyed them all, as the Lord's servant Moses had told him to do.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 15:8

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8The saving Agag alive was in direct violation of the devotion to destruction.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Agag was likely a descendant of an earlier king with the same name (see Numbers 24:7; compare Esther 3:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-97-9. Saul smote the Amalekites--His own view of the proper and expedient course to follow was his rule, not the command of God.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 15:8

• Agag
• Agency
• Amalekites
• Covetousness
• Falsehood
• Gilgal
• Repentance
• Retaliation
• Rulers
• War

In the dictionaries

• Agag
• Amalekite
• Better
• Chief
• Pardon
• Reject
• Samuel
• Saul
• Skirt
• Amalek; Amalekite

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings