1 Samuel 15:2

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them on their way up from Egypt.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD of Hosts speaks through Samuel to King Saul at the moment of his commission to execute divine judgment. This declaration occurs immediately before the specific command to attack the Amalekites.

The words — The term פָּקַדְתִּי (paqadti) translates literally to "I have paid attention to" or "I have witnessed," indicating God's deliberate observation of past events. כֹּה (koh) functions as a formal marker introducing the divine pronouncement.

The thread — This recollection of Amalekite hostility during the Exodus appears in Deuteronomy 25:17 as a command to remember, Numbers 24:20 as a prophecy of their destruction, and Exodus 17:8 as the historical account of their attack at Rephidim.

Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that God’s present commands are grounded in His historical reckoning of human actions. It requires the reader to align with divine justice without minimizing the severity of the coming judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כֹּ֤הkohthus אָמַר֙'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh צְבָא֔וֹתtze.va.'otof hosts פָּקַ֕דְתִּיpa.Kad.tiI have paid attention to אֵ֛ת'et<obj.>אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-[that] which עָשָׂ֥ה'a.Sahit did עֲמָלֵ֖ק'a.ma.LekAmalek לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לle./Yis.ra.'Elto/ Israel אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-[that] which שָׂ֥םsamit setלוֹ֙l/oto <the>/ itבַּדֶּ֔רֶךְba./De.rekhon the/ way בַּעֲלֹת֖וֹba./'a.lo.T/owhen/ came up/ it מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃mi./mitz.Ra.yimfrom/ Egypt

King James Version

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,
Numbers 24:20 Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
Exodus 17:8 After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
Hosea 7:2 But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.
Amos 8:7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”