1 Samuel 15:3 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent *me* to anoint thee king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah.

1 Samuel 15:2 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have considered what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and destroy utterly 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 the Amalekites, and set an ambush in the valley.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "smite", "amalek", "destroy", "utterly", "spare", "slay", and "both". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "smite", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts I have..." into verse 4's "And Saul summoned the people and numbered...", so "sheep" and "smite" 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 "sheep" and "smite" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.