1 Samuel 15:7 (LSB)

Passage

So Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

1 Samuel 15:6 And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; you showed lovingkindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:7 So Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

1 Samuel 15:8 And he seized Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.

1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and they were not willing to devote them to destruction; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saul", "struck", "amalekites", "havilah", "shur", "east", and "egypt". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "saul" and "struck", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "And Saul said to the Kenites Go..." into verse 8's "And he seized Agag the king of...", so "saul" and "struck" 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 "struck" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.