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.
Ver. 3. Now go and smite Amalek.] This God had twice threatened; Exo 17:14 Deu 25:17 Ut ostenderet quam ex animo et omnino id vellet fieri. a The greater was Saul's offence, in executing it so slackly.
And utterly destroy all that they have.] Oh the severity of God! Oh the venomous nature of sin! How evil and bitter a thing is it! Jer 2:1-37 Aliorum perditio, tua sit cautio. Amalek, for molesting God's Israel, is thus utterly destroyed. The Kenites, for showing them kindness, are graciously preserved.
a A. Lapide.