1 Samuel 15:33 kjv
And Samuel said, As the sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
1 Samuel 15:33 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.
1 Samuel 15:33 niv
But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women." And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
1 Samuel 15:33 esv
And Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
1 Samuel 15:33 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.
1 Samuel 15 33 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Judg 1:7 | Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings… had their thumbs and their big toes cut off… so God has repaid me." | Proportional divine retribution. |
| Exod 21:24 | "...eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot..." | Lex talionis; principle of exact repayment. |
| Deut 19:21 | "...life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." | Reinforcement of judicial retribution. |
| Ps 137:8-9 | O Daughter of Babylon… blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! | Retributive justice for Babylon's cruelty. |
| Jer 50:15 | "Lay siege to her all around; make her yield! Her pillars have fallen; her walls are torn down. For this is the vengeance of the Lᴏʀᴅ; take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done." | Divine vengeance mirroring actions. |
| Obad 1:15 | "...as you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head." | Principle of divine reciprocity for Edom. |
| Mt 7:2 | "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." | Principle of reciprocity in New Testament. |
| Gal 6:7 | "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." | Principle of sowing and reaping applied. |
| Rom 12:19 | "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" | Vengeance is God's prerogative. |
| Deut 25:17-19 | "Remember what Amalek did to you... you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget." | Original command to eradicate Amalek. |
| Deut 20:16-18 | "...in the cities of these peoples… you shall save alive nothing that breathes..." | Command for "herem" (devotion to destruction). |
| 1 Sam 15:2-3 | "Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them... kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child..." | Specific divine command Saul disobeyed. |
| 1 Sam 15:9 | "But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen..." | Saul's partial obedience leading to this judgment. |
| 1 Sam 15:22 | "Has the Lᴏʀᴅ as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..." | Context of obedience versus sacrifice. |
| Gen 20:18 | "For the Lᴏʀᴅ had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah..." | Childlessness as divine judgment/curse. |
| Lev 26:22 | "I will send wild beasts among you, which shall devour your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted." | Childlessness among covenant curses. |
| Deut 28:18 | "Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock." | Childlessness/loss as a curse for disobedience. |
| Josh 6:21 | "...they devoted everything in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword." | Example of full herem execution in Jericho. |
| Isa 34:5-6 | "For My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction." | Divine sword for judgment and destruction. |
| Ps 109:12-13 | "Let there be none to extend kindness to him… let his posterity be cut off; in the second generation let their name be blotted out." | Loss of progeny as a curse on the wicked. |
1 Samuel 15 verses
1 Samuel 15 33 Meaning
This verse declares and executes divine judgment upon Agag, king of the Amalekites. It functions as a direct, prophetic sentence from Samuel, God's representative, stating that the suffering Agag inflicted on others—specifically making women childless through warfare—would be reciprocated upon his own mother. It is a graphic illustration of the principle of proportional justice (lex talionis) enacted by God through human agency, concluding the Lord's command to utterly destroy Amalek.
1 Samuel 15 33 Context
The verse immediately follows Saul's catastrophic disobedience in his divinely commanded campaign against Amalek. The Lord had specifically ordered Saul, through Samuel, to utterly destroy all Amalekites—men, women, children, and livestock—as retribution for their unprovoked attack on Israel during the Exodus (Exod 17:8-16, Deut 25:17-19). However, Saul spared Agag, the Amalekite king, and the best of the livestock, justifying it as an act for sacrifice. This partial obedience infuriated the Lord and led to the declaration that Saul would be rejected as king. In this highly charged atmosphere, Samuel, demonstrating unflinching obedience to the divine will, personally carries out the final act of the herem command by executing Agag, thereby completing what Saul failed to do. The pronouncement reflects Agag's own assumed cruelty in war, establishing a direct parallel between his actions and his ultimate fate, aligning divine justice with the severity of Agag's ungodly character and the Amalekites' history as an inveterate foe of God's people.
1 Samuel 15 33 Word analysis
- And Samuel said, (וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל – wa-yōmer Šəmûʾēl): This emphasizes Samuel's prophetic authority and role as the executor of God's justice. He is not merely narrating but actively pronouncing and implementing divine judgment, reflecting God's absolute decree.
- 'As your sword (כַּאֲשֶׁר חַרְבְּךָ – ka’ăšer ḥarbəḵā): "Your sword" directly attributes responsibility to Agag, implying that the instrument of his conquests was also the instrument of his cruelty. The phrase highlights his personal culpability and actions.
- has made women childless, (שִׁכְּלָה נָשִׁים – šikkəláh nāšîm):
- שִׁכְּלָה (šikkəláh) from root שָׁכַל (shakal) meaning "to miscarry, bereave, make childless." This word evokes extreme grief and loss.
- This phrase underscores Agag's barbarity, likely through the killing of sons and male offspring, a common atrocity in ancient warfare. It points to the deepest form of human suffering and despair.
- The focus on "women" (נָשִׁים, nāšîm) highlights the specific anguish of mothers losing their children, a profound curse in the ancient world, as family and progeny ensured legacy and support.
- so your mother (כֵּן אִמְּךָ – kēn ʾimməḵā): "So" establishes direct, proportional, and retaliatory justice (lex talionis). Agag's own mother is singled out to bear the very sorrow he inflicted.
- shall be childless (תִּשְׁכַּל – tiškal): This verb shares the same root (שָׁכַל, shakal) as "made childless," reinforcing the exact reciprocity of the judgment. It’s a direct consequence, a mirroring of the evil perpetrated.
- among women.' (בַּנָּשִׁים – ba-nnāšîm): This phrase intensifies the public nature of the curse, marking her as distinctly suffering this unique grief compared to other women. It is a judgment meant to be observed and understood, making the impact absolute.
1 Samuel 15 33 Bonus section
The execution of Agag, following his 'coming delicately' (v. 32), likely believing his life was spared by Saul, underscores the sudden and definitive nature of divine retribution through Samuel. This dramatic shift highlights the ultimate authority of God's word conveyed by Samuel over any human decision. The phrase "hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal" (v. 33) signifies not merely an execution, but a ritualistic act of devotion and purification, emphasizing that this judgment was not for personal vengeance but a holy fulfillment of God's command in a sacred space. The thoroughness of the execution contrasts sharply with Saul's incomplete obedience and serves as a physical manifestation of God's commitment to eradicating evil and maintaining covenant fidelity.
1 Samuel 15 33 Commentary
This verse encapsulates the uncompromising nature of divine judgment and the principle of poetic justice within the narrative of 1 Samuel. Agag, a remnant of a cursed nation, is judged not only because of his Amalekite identity but also specifically for his personal cruelty. Samuel's pronouncement reflects the grim reality of ancient warfare, where the slaughter of children and the resulting childlessness of women were horrific consequences, and it invokes a quid pro quo response: what Agag inflicted, his lineage would now experience. This act completes the herem (devotion to destruction) command, demonstrating that God's justice is unyielding and his commands must be obeyed completely, setting a stark contrast to Saul's failed leadership rooted in disobedience. Agag's demise serves as a severe example of God's holy indignation against unrighteousness and persistent evil, especially when it involves harming the innocent, fulfilling an ancient curse.