Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
- BSB But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
- NKJV But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
- NASB But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
- NLT But Samuel said, “As your sword has killed the sons of many mothers, now your mother will be childless.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samuel executes Agag, declaring just retribution for his violence. It completes the judgment Saul left undone and shows that God's justice will be fulfilled.
Overview
Samuel carries out the sentence Saul disobeyed, applying the principle of just retribution for the bloodshed Agag had caused. The prophet does what the king would not, dramatizing the gap between Saul's compromise and full obedience. God's righteous judgment against persistent enemies of his people is sure, even when human leaders falter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Judg 1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
- Gen 9:6Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
- Matt 7:2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Rev 18:6Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
- Rev 16:6For they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
- Isa 34:6Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
- Exod 17:11When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
- Num 14:45Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.
- 1 Kgs 18:40Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
- Jer 48:10“Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
- Num 25:7–8When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 15:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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