1 Samuel 15:30

1Sa 15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: [yet] honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

Ver. 30. I have sinned: yet honour me.] Thus he careth to hold in with men, in what terms soever he standeth with God. Not so the sincere Christian. {Rom 2:29}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa_15:30

I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people.

True and false repentance

How may we discriminate between a merely seeming repentance and genuine penitence? There is hardly a passage of Scripture which could render us mere decided assistance than that portion of Sauls history which here claims attention.

I. We see that though there was confession, it was not made until Saul was actually compelled to make it, because the evidence of his sin was incontrovertibly clear. We see that the confession is wrung from him inch by inch, end if, only comes at last when, as far as the facts were concerned, it made no difference whether be confessed or not, for he was proved to be guilty. We discover at once, in this circumstance, the opposite of that state of mind which feels the weight of personal sin, and which longs to unburden itself; and, as we compare it with that scripture (Pro_28:13) we are compelled to regard Sauls action rather as a bungling attempt to cover his sin--an attempt which, after all, did not succeed--than as that unburdening of conscious guilt which is alone consistent with true penitence.

II. A second proof against Sauls real penitence is his attempt to palliate the crime which he had confessed, by throwing the blame on other persons--The people took of the spoil. According to his own view, he was more to be pitied than blamed--I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

III. A third proof against Saul was his greater anxiety to have the forgiveness of Samuel than to receive the pardon of God--the prominent place he gave to the one above the other consideration. Now, therefore. I pray thee, pardon my sin and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord. What argued that postponement of Gods pardon till he was reconciled to man--what but that he treated it as a matter which did not press immediately, which could be arranged subsequently? Could any real mourner for sin have felt thus? with such a penitent, is not the thought of God the One exciting, all-pervading idea in his contrition? How strange the contrast presented by the case before us, to that view of sincere repentance of which the Psalmist was the subject! There was fervour, indeed, in Saul, but fervour in the wrong direction. He would press his point with the prophet, and gain forgiveness if he could, but Samuel turned about to go away.

IV. A fourth circumstance which throws suspicion on the penitence of Saul--the manner in which he showed that all his desire was to stand well in public estimation. He had evidently forfeited his claim on the good opinion of those around him. It was to be expected that, having lost the favour of God, he would lose the regard of those around him. That must be an evil state of things which would enable a wrong-doer to obtain from public opinion an award in his favour; and what must have become of the cause of integrity--of honour--of justice--of all that is excellent, where, by reason of the low state of moral feeling, the voice of society is no longer heard to pronounce its verdict, distinctly and emphatically, against evil-doers and in praise of those who do well. In this respect, every community incurs a deep responsibility. To a rightly-constituted mind, even the favourable verdict of public opinion would be of little worth, except as it, echoed the verdict of the court of heaven. This is the highest acquisition, favour with God and man; but the latter always in subordination to the former, never as a substitute for it. Saul reckoned that the people would think the better of him if he still ranked among the worshippers of God; he knew that to have given this up would have told effectually against him. There was something even beyond this. He knew that very much of the success of any effort which he might make to keep his place in the good opinion of the community would depend upon the way in which he was treated by Samuel. We blame not Saul for being anxious about, public esteem, but we do blame him for being more solicitous about this than about Gods judgment. (J. A. Miller.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:30 honor me before the elders: To help Saul save face.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(30) Yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders.—It was a strange penitence, after all, this sorrow of Saul for his great sin. He was, no doubt, terribly in earnest and in great fear; but his earnestness was based upon a desire to maintain his power and royal state, and his fear sprang from a well-grounded apprehension that if he lost the countenance of Samuel the seer, the revered and honoured servant of the Lord, he would probably forfeit his crown. “If Saul had been really penitent, he would pray to have been humble rather than to be honoured” (St. Gregory, quoted by Wordsworth).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30. honour me now, &c.] Joh_5:44; Joh_12:43 point to the radical defect in Saul’s character.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then he said, I have sinned,.... So he had said before, Sa1 15:24 but his confession there was attended with an extenuation of his sin, pleading in excuse of it that it was through fear of the people, but here it is without any; and yet by what follows it appears to be not ingenuous and sincere, but hypocritical:

yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel; with his company; since should he be slighted openly by the Lord, and by his prophet, he would fall into contempt both with the principal men, and with the common people; wherefore he seemed more concerned for the loss of honour and reputation with the people, than for his sin against God, which is always the case of hypocrites:

and turn again with me, and worship the Lord thy God; See Gill on Sa1 15:25.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The pertinacity with which Saul clings to Samuel for support is a striking testimony to Samuel’s integrity. With all his worldly-mindedness Saul could perceive and appreciate the purity of Samuel’s character as a man of God.

The Lord thy God - As above, 1Sa 15:15.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Israel. He is wholly solicitous to shun disgrace in this world. (Haydock) --- His confession was not actuated by such contrition as that he might deserve to hear, the Lord has removed thy sin. He begins by falsehood; continues making idle excuses, and throwing the blame on others, and concludes, by shewing that he is more concerned for what his subjects may think and do against him, than for the displeasure of God. He boldly ventures to offer victims. But Samuel joins not with him in prayer, looking upon him as a person excommunicated; and he only attends that he may see the word of the Lord fulfilled, and Agag treated as he deserved. (Salien, the year of the world 2965.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Here he plainly discovers his hypocrisy, and the true motive of this and his former confession; he was not solicitous for the favour of God, but for his honour and power with Israel.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 30, 31. Then he said, I have sinned. We have here no real confession of guilt. Even in ver. 24 the words were rather an expression of vexation at the strictness with which he was held to the letter of the command, than an acknowledgment that he really had done wrong. Here Saul"s meaning seems to be, Well, granting that I have sinned, and that this sentence of exclusion kern the kingdom is passed upon me, yet at least pay me the honor due to the rank which I still continue to hold. And to this request Samuel accedes. Saul was de facto king, and would continue to be so during his lifetime. The anointing, once bestowed, was a consecration for life, and so generally it was in the days of the son that the consequences of the father"s sin came fully to pass. (1Ki 11:84, 35 14:13, etc.) Had Samuel refused the public honour due to Saul"s rank, it would have given an occasion for intrigue and resistance to all who were disaffected with Saul"s government, and been a step towards bringing back the old anarchy. Jehovah thy God. See on ver. 13.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

After this declaration as to the irrevocable character of the determination of God to reject Saul, Samuel yielded to the renewed entreaty of Saul, that he would honour him by his presence before the elders and the people, and remained whilst Saul worshipped, not merely "for the purpose of preserving the outward order until a new king should take his place" (O. v. Gerlach), but also to carry out the ban upon Agag, whom Saul had spared.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

But please honor me now before the elders

Saul may have been more interested in being honored by the people than in actually worshipping God.

before the elders of my people and before Israel

Here "Israel" refers to the people of Israel. AT: "before the people of Israel and the elders who lead them" (See: Metonymy)

Turn again with me

"Come back with me" or "Return with me"

So Samuel turned again after Saul

This implies that Samuel changed his mind, and that they went together to where the people were. AT: "So Samuel finally agreed to do that, and they went together back to where the people were"

translationWords

honor

elder

Yahweh

God

turn

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.