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 Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites. 7Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is next to Egypt. He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people with the sword. 9However, Saul and the army spared Agag, along with the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, and the lambs, as well as everything else that was of value. They were not willing to slaughter them. But they did slaughter everything that was despised and worthless. 10Then the word of the Lord came 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 15:3So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
• Numbers 24:7He will pour the water out of his buckets, and their descendants will be like abundant water; their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be exalted.
• 1 Kings 20:30The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room.
• Esther 3:1Some time later King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position above that of all the officials who were with him.
• 1 Samuel 27:8Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.)
• 1 Samuel 30:1On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it.
• Joshua 10:39They captured it, its king, and all its surrounding cities and put the sword to them. They annihilated everyone who lived there; they left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king what they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
• Joshua 11:12Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded.

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