And Agag came unto him delicately, &c.— Houbigant renders this, Agag came to him from his bonds, and said, How bitter is death! for his justification of which version we refer to his note. It is uncertain whether Samuel himself put Agag to death, or commanded it to be done by the public executioner. See Judges 8:20. Samuel, however, is very justifiable in the affair; for Agag was a cruel prince, whose sword had made havock among the people, and whose barbarity called for public justice. He, therefore, ordered him to be slain before the Lord; that is, before the altar of the Lord, which was at Gilgal: thus showing that he destroyed him by the express authority and command of God. See 1 Kings 18:40 and Chandler as above, p. 29. Some writers, willing to lay hold of the least shadow of objection against the Scriptures, have inferred from this passage and some others, that human sacrifices were offered to God: but they have been clearly and fully refuted by Dr. Sykes, in his Examination into the Connection of Natural and Revealed Religion, vol. 2: p. 109.
Note; 1. Death is bitter to the sinner; but to the believer in Jesus, sin being removed from his conscience, the bitterness of death is past. 2. Many promise themselves life and peace, who do not see the dart of death, like this sword of Samuel, ready to pierce them to the heart.