1 Samuel 15:5 (ASV)

Passage

And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

1 Samuel 15:4 And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

1 Samuel 15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

1 Samuel 15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:7 And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saul", "came", "city", "amalek", "laid", "wait", and "valley". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "saul" and "came", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And Saul summoned the people and numbered..." into verse 6's "And Saul said unto the Kenites Go...", so "saul" and "came" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "saul" and "came" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.