Passage

1 Samuel 15.22

Book: 1 Samuel · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal."

"22. And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

"23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 24. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice." (1 Samuel 15:20-24, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"20. Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.”"

"22. Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams."

"23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.” 24. Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice." (1 Samuel 15:20-24, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal."

"22. 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."

"23. 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. ^{witchcraft: Heb. divination} 24. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice." (1 Samuel 15:20-24, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"20. And Saul saith unto Samuel, 'Because, I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and I go in the way which Jehovah hath sent me, and bring in Agag king of Amalek, and Amalek I have devoted; 21. and the people taketh of the spoil of the flock and herd, the first part of the devoted thing, for sacrifice to Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.'"

"22. And Samuel saith, 'Hath Jehovah had delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as [in] hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? lo, hearkening than sacrifice is better; to give attention than fat of rams;"

"23. for a sin of divination [is] rebellion, and iniquity and teraphim [is] stubbornness; because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He also doth reject thee from [being] king.' 24. And Saul saith unto Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I passed over the command of Jehovah, and thy words; because I have feared the people, I also hearken to their voice;" (1 Samuel 15:20-24, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Samuel the prophet, indicting King Saul after the Amalek campaign
Audience: Saul; narratively, all covenant-Israel
Location: Gilgal, after Saul's return from Amalek
Time period: Saul's reign, c. 1030-1010 BC

Theological reading

Samuel's response to Saul's partial obedience is the strongest single-verse statement of the Hebrew anthropology of hearing = obeying. The Hebrew construction uses [[H8085 - shama|shama]] twice, bishmoa be-qol YHWH ("in hearing the voice of YHWH") and u-le-haqshib (from [[H7181 - qashab|qashab]]), pairing the two attention-verbs to indict Saul's failure. Saul did the sacrifice; he did not hear. The verse names the ritual-without-obedience pattern as the diagnostic of false religion across the prophets (Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 7:21-24; Amos 5:21-24). Saul's failure at v. 9 to execute the [[H2763 - charam|charam]] commission against Amalek (1 Sam 15:3) is named not as cunning-disobedience but as failure-to-hear. The verse anchors the OT pattern that true religion is hearing-and-doing, never the substitution of cultic-act for covenantal-response. It is cited by Hos 6:6 ("I desire mercy and not sacrifice") and developed in Jesus's deployment of that verse (Mt 9:13; 12:7).

Key words

H8085 - shama, shama', the verb at the verse's center; "to obey is better than sacrifice" deploys the hearing-as-obeying anthropology.
H7181 - qashab, qashab, paired attention-verb ("to hearken than the fat of rams").
H2763 - charam, charam, the verb of the commission Saul partially executed (1 Sam 15:3 context).

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.