What is the meaning of 1 Samuel 15:15?

Saul answered

Saul’s very first move is verbal self-defense. Instead of confessing, he explains.

• Like Adam in the garden, he tries to shift responsibility (Genesis 3:12).

• His words follow an earlier boast, “I have carried out the LORD’s command” (1 Samuel 15:13), proving the inconsistency of a heart that wants approval without obedience.

• Proverbs 28:13 reminds that covering sin never prospers, while 1 John 1:9 offers the better path of open confession.

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The troops brought them from the Amalekites;

Saul blames the people while calling them “troops,” distancing himself from their choice.

• God had clearly ordered, “Put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep” (1 Samuel 15:3).

• Blame-shifting cannot hide disobedience; Moses never allowed Aaron’s excuse for the golden calf (Exodus 32:21-24).

• The original charge to blot out Amalek (Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:17-19) was God’s, not the army’s; leadership is accountable for the outcome.

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They spared the best sheep and cattle

Selective obedience surfaces: only what seemed valuable was kept.

• The same pattern plagued Achan, who “saw…coveted…took” (Joshua 7:20-21).

• Love for the world’s goods competes with love for God (1 John 2:15-17).

• Hebrews 10:26-27 warns that willful sin after receiving clear knowledge invites judgment, however small the compromise appears.

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to sacrifice to the LORD your God,

Spiritual vocabulary tries to sanctify disobedience.

• Samuel later counters, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

• Isaiah 1:11-17 shows God rejecting offerings that mask rebellion.

• Jesus exposed a similar tradition-based loophole in Mark 7:9-13, where “Corban” excuses replaced plain obedience to honor parents.

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but the rest we devoted to destruction.

Partial obedience masquerades as faithfulness.

• James 2:10 reminds that breaking one part of the law still makes one a lawbreaker.

• Deuteronomy 12:32 urges neither addition nor subtraction from God’s command.

• “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9); incomplete surrender leaves sin fermenting in the heart.

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summary

Saul’s reply strings together blame, selective obedience, and religious pretense. God had spoken plainly; Saul responded partially, then justified himself. The verse exposes the danger of using spiritual language to veil disobedience. True worship begins with wholehearted submission, for the Lord desires obedience more than any sacrifice.