Bible Synapse
Was Saul rejected as king for the offering at Gilgal or for sparing Amalek?
Hard question · Israel’s history: Joshua to Esther · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
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Saul offered the burnt offering without waiting for Samuel; Samuel told him, “now thy kingdom shall not continue”.
And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.
After Saul spared Agag and the best of the spoil: “Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
The objection
1 Samuel 13 says that Saul lost his kingdom because he offered a burnt offering at Gilgal instead of waiting for Samuel. 1 Samuel 15 says that God rejected him because he spared the Amalekite king and the best of the spoil. Critics ask which was the real reason.
The answer
Both were reasons, because Saul was judged twice, for two acts of disobedience, and the sentence was heavier the second time. At Gilgal Samuel told him: “thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God”; had he obeyed, the Lord would have established his kingdom for ever, “But now thy kingdom shall not continue” (13:13–14). Keil and Delitzsch point out that this was not yet a rejection of Saul himself. It meant that his kingship would not be handed on to his descendants: there would be no dynasty of Saul.
The second sentence came after the war with Amalek, when Saul again set aside God’s command and then excused himself. This time Samuel said, “he hath also rejected thee from being king” (15:23), and “The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day” (15:28). Now Saul himself was rejected, and soon afterwards Samuel anointed David (16:1–13). Both judgments rest on the same fault, named in both chapters: Saul had not kept, and then had rejected, the word of the Lord (13:13–14; 15:23, 26). The passages are two stages in one story of a king who would not obey.
From the classic commentators
It was not till his second transgression that Saul was rejected, or declared unworthy of being king over the people of GodKeil & Delitzsch, Commentary on 1 Samuel 13
Sources
- Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on 1 Samuel 13, at Bible Hub
- Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on 1 Samuel 15, at Bible Hub