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

Context of 1 Samuel 15:8

6Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. 7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. 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 15:3Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
• Numbers 24:7Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. “Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted.
• 1 Kings 20:30The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
• Esther 3:1After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
• 1 Samuel 27:8Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
• 1 Samuel 30:1David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,
• Joshua 10:39They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
• Joshua 11:12Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord 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