1 Samuel 15:27 Komentář

In this chapter we have the final rejection of Saul from being king, for his disobedience to God's command in not utterly destroying the Amalekites. By his wars and victories he hoped to magnify and perpetuate his own name and honour, but, by his mismanagement of them, he ruined himself, and laid his honour in the dust. Here is, I. The commission God gave him to destroy the Amalekites, with a command to do it utterly (Sa1 15:1-3). II. Saul's preparation for this expedition (Sa1 15:4-6). III. His success, and partial execution of this commission (Sa1 15:7-9). IV. His examination before Samuel, and sentence passed upon him, notwithstanding the many frivolous pleas he made to excuse himself (v. 10-31). V. The slaying of Agag (Sa1 15:32, Sa1 15:33). VI. Samuel's final farewell to Saul (Sa1 15:34, Sa1 15:35).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 15 In this chapter are recorded the order Saul had from the Lord to destroy Amalek utterly, Sa1 15:1 the preparation he made to put it in execution, and the success thereof, Sa1 15:4 the offence the Lord took at his not obeying his order thoroughly, with which Samuel was made acquainted, and which grieved him, Sa1 15:10, upon which he went out to meet Saul, and reprove him; and a long discourse upon the subject passed between them, the issue of which was, that by an irrevocable decree he was rejected from being king, Sa1 15:12 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Samuel's hewing in pieces Agag king of Amalek, and of his final departure from Saul, Sa1 15:32.

And as Samuel turned about to go away,.... From Saul, a different way from Gilgal, perhaps towards his own city Ramah, with an intention to have nothing more to say to Saul, or to do with him, or to see his face no more; so displeased was he with him: he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle; in order to detain him, and prevent his departure from him, and his going a different way: and it rent; Samuel twitching away from him with great vehemence and warmth. The Jewish (f) Rabbins are divided about this, whose skirt was rent; some say it was Samuel that rent the skirt of Saul, and by this signified to him, that he that cut off the skirt of his garment should reign in his stead; whereby Saul knew that David would be king when he cut off the skirt of his robe, Sa1 24:4, others, that Samuel rent the skirt of his own mantle himself, which is the way of good men when things are not right; but the plain sense is, that Saul rent the skirt of Samuel's mantle, which, when Samuel saw, he understood what that rent was a sign of, as expressed in the following verse. (f) Midrash Schemuel, sect. 18. apud Jarchi, Kimchi & Abarbinel in loc.

Again Saul sinned by disobedience, and again Samuel addressed to him the Lord’s word: “Inasmuch, therefore, as you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also rejected you as king.” And again, because of the same sin, when Saul admitted it and sought pardon, beseeching Samuel to go back with him and appease God, the prophet said, “I will not return with you, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.” And Samuel turned about to go away; but he grabbed hold of the skirt of his mantle, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom from Israel from your hand this day and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you, and Israel shall be divided in two. But the triumpher in Israel will not spare and will not be moved to repentance; for he is not a man that he should repent. He threatens and does not persist.”Actually, the man to whom these words were spoken, “The Lord shall reject you as king over Israel,” and, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day,” ruled over Israel for forty years—for the same duration as David did—and he heard this pronouncement in the early part of his reign. Accordingly, we are to understand it to mean that no one of Saul’s posterity was to rule after him—an admonition to look to David’s stock whence was to stem, according to the flesh, Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and humanity.

In many Latin versions we find one of the above verses in the following form: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from your hand.” But I have quoted from the Greek text: “The Lord has torn the kingdom from Israel from your hand”—the expression “from Israel” being equivalent to “from your hand.” In this way, Samuel stood figuratively for the people of Israel which was to lose the kingdom when our Lord Jesus Christ would come to reign—spiritually, not carnally—in the New Testament. The reference to him in the words “and he has given it to your neighbor” is an allusion to the racial relationship, for Christ in the flesh derived from Israel just as did Saul.

29. What are the garments of a teacher, if not to teach the qualities of the subjects adhering to him? Concerning these garments, indeed, a promise is made to the great shepherd through the prophet: 'As I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with all these as with a garment' (Isa. 49:18). And through the Psalmist it is sung: 'The Lord has reigned, He has put on beauty; the Lord has put on strength' (Ps. 93:1). For He put on beauty, who joined to Himself the splendid minds of the faithful, as it were garments. Saul therefore seized Samuel's cloak, when any proud and rejected person seeks the honor of high office to be conferred upon himself by great men through those dear ones and intimates who cling to him; and because no one intercedes on behalf of the reprobate among perfect hearers, he is said to have seized not the cloak, but the edge of the cloak, that is, the extremity; but that edge is torn, because he who suggests useless things is rejected. For when a lesser person making an indiscriminate request is repelled, it is as though the edge of the garment is said to be torn. For it was as though a part of the great prophet's cloak was torn, when He answered Peter who was making a bad suggestion, saying: 'Get behind me, Satan, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but the things that are of men' (Matt. 16:23). Hence He likewise commands, saying: 'If your hand or your foot scandalizes you, cut it off and cast it from you; likewise, if your eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it from you' (Matt. 5:30). By these words, assuredly, not only the edge of the cloak but even the middle portion is designated as needing to be cut away: because when they suggest evil things, even perfect hearers must be disregarded. For this is why the sons of Zebedee together with their mother ask that one sit at the right hand and the other at the left of the Redeemer; but as though ignorant of what constitutes a good request, they are repelled (Matt. 20). For it was as though the Lord tore a part of the cloak, when He rebuked and confuted those members who were causing scandal. And it should be noted that the whole cloak is not torn, but a part of the cloak is torn: because when a good person suggests evil things, he ought to be repelled in that which he suggests wrongly, and in that in which he is otherwise good, he ought to be retained out of love. 30. By the garment, the conduct of the ruler is also signified, as the Psalmist attests, who says: "Let your priests be clothed with justice" (Ps. 131:9). The edge of the cloak is therefore seized when the teacher is praised for great holiness, when that which displays outward beauty is spoken in his praise. But because the good qualities of the just that lie hidden are more numerous, only the edge of the cloak can be grasped: because what is seen of the chosen teacher's justice is little, while much indeed is concealed. But that very little which is known, when it is grasped, is torn: because the just are not held by their own praises. For because they despise them in a moment, they cannot be held, as it were, by the tearing of the cloak. The torn part of the garment is indeed held, but the prophet is not held: because what is said in praise of the just person is true, and yet the just, while they despise what they hear, leave, as it were, the torn piece in the hands of the one holding it. Of the greater ones, therefore, because certain things can be known, a part is, as it were, grasped. But when all that is done is known by the little ones, if it is praised, it must nonetheless be cast aside; because nothing of good works should be held onto through vanity. For hence it is that while John, still a youth, follows the Lord already seized, and is held by his garment, he is described as having fled naked, leaving the garment behind (Mark 14). For the youth is caught by the garment when he is praised for the beginning of his good conduct; but he who despises the praises he hears flees naked, leaving the linen cloth behind. For to flee naked is to have a praiseworthy life, but to despise the praise of a chosen life. For he flees as if naked who ascribes nothing to himself through vainglory from the adornment of virtues. He can also be understood to have fled naked for this reason: because he who is said to have been caught by part of the linen cloth is reported to have left the cloth behind; because it frequently happens in the conscience of the elect that, through the fact that they are praised in part, they suspect that they have lost not a part of their merits, but all the merit of a good life. Samuel's cloak is therefore torn, because chosen teachers despise their own praises. And because they are not swayed by praises, he repeats the severity of the former sentence, saying: (v. 28) "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from your hand this day."

And Samuel turned to depart, etc. When the grace of prophecy turned away because of sins to depart from the Jews, they did not grasp the full garment of prophetic reading by which they could warm their souls with faith and adorn them with works; but only the extreme fringe, which is in the part of the letter, which they also tear away from the solidity of the spiritual sense, as if from the integrity of the prophetic garment. And therefore because they did not fear to tear the prophets, they deserved that the kingdom of God be torn from them and given to the Gentiles. But also today anyone who with an impious mind despises the sacred words in which he was instructed and imbued to seek the heavenly kingdom; because he stains the sacred garment by consecrating himself in the kingdom, he leaves the taken away kingdom's happiness to a better neighbor. Nor does it differ from signifying the misery of such people when it is said that Samuel, hearing of Saul's pride, turned to depart. For many, while they disdain to do the good they know they should do, eventually by the just judgment of God, deserve to be ignorant of what should be done. Hence, the multifaceted luxury of heretics' weeds pollutes the harvest of the evangelical seed with a wicked seed, while rejected from the action of truth often, knowledge finally turned away and withdrew from the mind.

Political prosperity is the business of emperors; the condition of the church is the concern of shepherds and teachers. Any other method is piracy, brothers. Saul tore Samuel’s cloak, and what was the consequence? God tore the kingdom away from him and gave it to David the meek.… We will obey you, O emperor, in those matters which pertain to our daily lives: payments, taxes, tributes; these are your due, and we will give them to you. But as far as the government of the church is concerned, we have our pastors, and they have preached the word to us; we have those who interpret the ordinances of the church.

Samuel sends Saul to destroy the Amalekites, and all their substance, Sa1 15:1-3. Saul collects an immense army and comes against their city, Sa1 15:4, Sa1 15:5. He desires the Kenites to remove from among the Amalekites, Sa1 15:6. He smites the Amalekites, and takes their king, Agag, prisoner, and saves the best of the spoil, Sa1 15:7-9. The Lord is displeased, and sends Samuel to reprove him, Sa1 15:10, Sa1 15:11. The conversation between Samuel and Saul, in which the latter endeavors to justify his conduct, Sa1 15:12-23. He is convinced that he has done wrong, and asks pardon, Sa1 15:24-31. Samuel causes Agag to be slain; for which he assigns the reasons, Sa1 15:32-35.

SAUL SENT TO DESTROY AMALEK. (Sa1 15:1-6) Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee . . .: now therefore hearken thou unto . . . the Lord--Several years had been passed in successful military operations against troublesome neighbors. During these Saul had been left to act in a great measure at his own discretion as an independent prince. Now a second test is proposed of his possessing the character of a theocratic monarch in Israel; and in announcing the duty required of him, Samuel brought before him his official station as the Lord's vicegerent, and the peculiar obligation under which he was laid to act in that capacity. He had formerly done wrong, for which a severe rebuke and threatening were administered to him (Sa1 13:13-14). Now an opportunity was afforded him of retrieving that error by an exact obedience to the divine command.

he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle--the moil, upper tunic, official robe. In an agony of mental excitement, he took hold of the prophet's dress to detain him; the rending of the mantle [Sa1 15:27] was adroitly pointed to as a significant and mystical representation of his severance from the throne.

War with Amalek. Saul's Disobedience and Rejection - 1 Samuel 15 As Saul had transgressed the commandment of God which was given to him through Samuel, by the sacrifice which he offered at Gilgal in the war with the Philistines at the very commencement of his reign, and had thereby drawn upon himself the threat that his monarchy should not be continued in perpetuity (Sa1 13:13-14); so his disobedience in the war against the Amalekites was followed by his rejection on the part of God. The Amalekites were the first heathen nation to attack the Israelites after their deliverance out of Egypt, which they did in the most treacherous manner on their journey from Egypt to Sinai; and they had been threatened by God with extermination in consequence. This Moses enjoined upon Joshua, and also committed to writing, for the Israelites to observe in all future generations (Exo 17:8-16). As the Amalekites afterwards manifested the same hostility to the people of God which they had displayed in this first attack, on every occasion which appeared favourable to their ravages, the Lord instructed Samuel to issue the command to Saul, to wage war against Amalek, and to smite man and beast with the ban, i.e., to put all to death (Sa1 15:1-3). But when Saul had smitten them, he not only left Agag the king alive, but spared the best of the cattle that he had taken as booty, and merely executed the ban upon such animals as were worthless (Sa1 15:4-9). He was rejected by the Lord for this disobedience, so that he was to be no longer king over Israel. His rejection was announced to him by Samuel (Sa1 15:10-23), and was not retracted in spite of his prayer for the forgiveness of his sin (Sa1 15:24-35). In fact, Saul had no excuse for this breach of the divine command; it was nothing but open rebellion against the sovereignty of God in Israel; and if Jehovah would continue King of Israel, He must punish it by the rejection of the rebel. For Saul no longer desired to be the medium of the sovereignty of Jehovah, or the executor of the commands of the God-king, but simply wanted to reign according to his own arbitrary will. Nevertheless this rejection was not followed by his outward deposition. The Lord merely took away His Spirit, had David anointed king by Samuel, and thenceforward so directed the steps of Saul and David, that as time advanced the hearts of the people were turned away more and more from Saul to David; and on the death of Saul, the attempt of the ambitious Abner to raise his son Ishbosheth to the throne could not possibly have any lasting success.