1 Samuel 15:15 (DRB)

Passage

And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:13 And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:14 And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?

1 Samuel 15:15 And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.

1 Samuel 15:16 And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak.

1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "saul", "said", "brought", "amalec", "people", "spared", and "best". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "saul", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And Samuel said What meaneth then this..." into verse 16's "And Samuel said to Saul Suffer me...", so "sheep" and "saul" 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 "saul" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.