Sefer Shmuel A chapter 15 revolves entirely around one central theme: the command Shaul receives to wipe out Amalek, and the manner in which he carries it out. This is a fateful chapter, in which the fate of Shaul's kingship is sealed. We will try to move through the pesukim in order and understand, mainly in light of the Malbim's explanations, what exactly the sin was here, and why specifically about it it is said, "I regret that I made Shaul king."
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־שָׁאוּל אֹתִי שָׁלַח יְהֹוָה לִמְשָׁחֳךָ לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־עַמּוֹ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַתָּה שְׁמַע לְקוֹל דִּבְרֵי יְהֹוָה׃ - And Shmuel said to Shaul: Hashem sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Yisrael; and now hearken to the voice of the words of Hashem.
Shmuel opens with an introduction before he places the mission upon Shaul. And at first glance this introduction is puzzling: why would Shmuel suddenly remind Shaul of history? Had Shaul managed to forget that Hashem sent Shmuel to anoint him as king? The latter part can indeed be understood simply: you have already failed once, in the offering of the sacrifice, when you did not wait and said that the people were scattering away from you; therefore now I ask you, I plead with you - "hearken to the voice of the words of Hashem," do not do this again.
But what is the meaning of "Hashem sent me"? The answer becomes clear from what follows, when Shaul returns from the war and says: "Blessed are you to Hashem, I have fulfilled the word of Hashem." Once again we see that Shmuel enters the picture here in a personal way. What is the connection between fulfilling the command and Shmuel's personal blessing? Chazal say that Shmuel lived only fifty two years, and why did he not live longer? Because Shmuel did not want to witness Shaul's death in his lifetime, did not want to see his own handiwork undone before his eyes, and so he asked Hashem to take him first. It turns out, then, that Shaul's deeds are what caused Shmuel's premature death.
According to this, Shmuel says to him: "Hashem sent me to anoint you as king" - you are my handiwork, and since that is so, it will be grievous in my eyes to see my handiwork undone, and it may be that I will be forced to die early because of you. Therefore do me a favor and fulfill the word of Hashem. There is a truly personal matter of his here. And for this reason, when Shaul arrives, he hastens to say: "Blessed are you to Hashem" - you will live, Shmuel, do not worry, you will live long, for I have fulfilled the word of Hashem. For according to Shaul's understanding he truly did the word of Hashem, killed Amalek, and everything was in order. Shmuel's life depended on Shaul's fulfillment of the mitzvah.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת פָּקַדְתִּי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה עֲמָלֵק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר־שָׂם לוֹ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּעֲלֹתוֹ מִמִּצְרָיִם׃ - Thus said Hashem of hosts: I have remembered that which Amalek did to Yisrael, how he set himself against him on the way, when he came up from Egypt.
Shmuel explains to Shaul the reason for which there is a mitzvah to blot out the memory of Amalek. And here we enter the pasuk in the Torah: "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you came out of Egypt, how he happened upon you on the way and cut down all the stragglers behind you, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God." The Malbim says: there are five reasons for which a nation goes out to war against another nation, and this is an interesting thing - things have not changed to this day. And the Torah negates them one by one with regard to Amalek.
The first reason: expanding territorial holdings. This is the primary reason for wars in the world - everyone wants more parts, England goes out to fight over the Falkland Islands, and so on. Perhaps this was Amalek's reason? About this the Torah says "on the way" - did we have any territory there? We were on the way. There was no seizing of land here.
The second reason: fear of a threat. When a nation fears that the other people will pass through its border or attack it, it preempts the blow. So Yisrael in the Six Day War struck a crushing blow to the Arab forces out of a sense of threat. So too Yoshiyahu, who, when the king of Egypt sought to pass through his land in order to fight another enemy, refused adamantly, and in the end entered the battle and was killed - "the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem." But here it is explicit in the pasuk "when you came out of Egypt," and Egypt is very far from Amalek's border. Chazal say that Amalek came from a distance of many mil, many kilometers, in order to fight. We did not pass through his border and posed no threat at all. This is not like Balak, of whom it is said that Yisrael was encamped opposite him, and he felt threatened.
The third reason: quarrel, enmity and ancient hatred. There are peoples in history known to hate one another for years upon years, like the British and the French - this is not a hatred from today. But about Amalek it is said "how he happened upon you on the way" - by chance, there was no prior acquaintance here and no earlier quarrel. "Happened upon you" - by way of chance he seized us.
The fourth reason: a show of strength. A nation goes to war in order to display its power, so that the other nations feel threatened by its military might. It is well known that many times the generals push for war, and there is a constant tension between the security cabinet and the army: the army trains on dry runs and wants one real campaign, it has forces and wants to use them. But to display strength you need a worthy opponent; America will not attack Switzerland to show off its might. And here it says "and he cut off all the stragglers behind you" - does one who wants to display strength strike at the weak? Come and strike the mighty, the warriors, there you will show strength. This reason too does not apply.
The fifth reason, and the Malbim says this is a central one: war for religious motives, in order to impose one's religion on others. "The law of Muhammad is by the sword" brought about murder for years; the Crusades killed everyone who did not accept upon himself the "religion of love" - you must love, and if you do not love, you die. Hypocrisy. And so it continues to this day: the war between America and Islam is essentially a religious war, and all the ferment within Islam, al-Qaeda and Hamas, has its source in religion. But of Amalek it says "and he did not fear God" - he has no god, he does not believe in anything that he wants to impose upon the world, he denies everything. If so, of all five reasons not a single one remains.
So what is the true reason? Chazal offer a parable: a boiling bath that the whole world feared, until one fool came and said, why are you afraid, one can go in. He jumped into it and his entire body was scalded, but the bath cooled off a little. This is the matter of Amalek. Amalek is pure hatred of the Creator of the world. He is willing to be scalded, as long as he cools off a little the sanctity of Hashem in the world. Therefore "Hashem has a war with Amalek." What bothered Amalek? Why is there strengthening in the world, that people fear the Creator of the world, that there is fear of Heaven. When you see a person fighting against the Creator of the world, know that this is the root of Amalek. A person commits a transgression for his own pleasure, he eats pork because he enjoys pork; but a person who says "I want to anger the Creator of the world," that is the root of Amalek. And therefore the Name is not complete and the Throne is not complete until Amalek is wiped out from the world, for as long as he exists he pains and hinders the increase of the honor of Heaven. And a further reason: Amalek has an open account with us from the time of Esav, for Esav fathered Elifaz and Elifaz fathered Amalek. And therefore Hashem commanded to blot out the memory of Amalek.
And behold, in our pasuk Shmuel mentions only two things: "which he did to him on the way when he came up from Egypt." The Malbim says that he mentioned here only two reasons, because most wars are for the sake of lands, and about this he says "on the way," there was no territory here; and the second, "when he came up from Egypt," that we did not come to him and we did not come to conquer him, but simply came up from Egypt and he came upon us. Now, Shmuel says, this account must be closed.
עַתָּה לֵךְ וְהִכִּיתָה אֶת־עֲמָלֵק וְהַחֲרַמְתֶּם אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ וְלֹא תַחְמֹל עָלָיו וְהֵמַתָּה מֵאִישׁ עַד־אִשָּׁה מֵעֹלֵל וְעַד־יוֹנֵק מִשּׁוֹר וְעַד־שֶׂה מִגָּמָל וְעַד־חֲמוֹר׃ - Now go and strike Amalek and destroy all that is his, and do not have pity on him, and put to death from man to woman, from child to infant, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.
Concerning the property it says "and destroy," that they should derive no benefit from it at all, and concerning the souls it says to strike them all. Notice that the pasuk goes from the more important to the less important: "from man" - and after him the woman, who is weaker than the man; after her the child, weaker still; and after him the infant, a baby literally in his mother's arms. And so too with the animals: the ox, which is important, after it the sheep, which is lesser, the camel, which is a beast of burden, and the donkey, which is worth less than the camel. The pasuk lists them one by one.
Chazal give two reasons for this. The first reason: the Amalekites were sorcerers, and they knew how to cause a person to be absorbed and appear as a donkey or an object. The Gemara brings a story about Ze'iri who came to Alexandria and bought a donkey there, and rode upon it. When he came to the water to water the donkey and the donkey began to drink, he suddenly noticed that he was riding on a log of wood, for sorcery is nullified in water, since once the magic touches water it is nullified. He went back to the seller and said to him: you sold me a log of wood that was enchanted into the form of a donkey? The seller said to him: who buys something in Egypt without checking it in water? That is your problem; but were you not Ze'iri, I would not have looked at you at all, and since you are Ze'iri, he returned his money. From here you see how great Ze'iri was.
And do not think that this is only a matter of thousands of years ago. Yaakov Sapir, "the Wandering Jew," was a Torah scholar who traveled and passed through many communities in the world and wrote a book in which he documented all that he saw. Incidentally, the detailed documentation of the community of Yemen comes only from him: he describes their order of Torah study, their diligence, their fear of Heaven and their precision in the laws. He relates that he was astonished to see that they had no books, and in the reading of the Torah a ten year old boy would stand and translate by heart, one would read "And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying" and the other would translate "And Hashem spoke with Moshe to say," and so with every single pasuk, and he was amazed at the power of their memory and their learning. That same Yaakov Sapir also came to Egypt, and there they offered him gold dirt cheap, literally for pennies. He said: a deal like this must not be passed up. He bought the gold, arrived with it in Jerusalem, and since it was a bit dirty he washed it, and discovered that instead of gold he had shards in his hands. They laughed at him and said: you bought this in Egypt? Do you not know that in Egypt everything is by sorcery, and the moment it touches water all the sorcery is nullified. There they were expert in sorcery, and therefore Hashem did not want a situation in which one of the Amalekites would perform sorcery and be absorbed into some physical thing or into an animal, and therefore He commanded to destroy everything.
And who, incidentally, was absorbed into a physical thing? Yeshayahu the prophet. When he saw that Menashe was coming to kill him, he uttered a Name and was absorbed into a tree; Menashe commanded that the tree be sawed, and when the saw reached his mouth his soul departed. You see that there was such a reality in which they could be absorbed, there it was through powers of holiness, by means of a Name and a pasuk, but it was also possible through powers of impurity, through sorcery.
The second reason: The Gemara says that he did not want any remnant of Amalek to remain. For the moment one sees this cup, one says: Ah, this we brought from Amalek; one sees this animal and says: These are Amalek's animals. And again Amalek is mentioned, and again he is recalled. And the Torah says "you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens" - that even his name shall not be remembered. Therefore He commanded to destroy everything.
וַיְשַׁמַּע שָׁאוּל אֶת־הָעָם וַיִּפְקְדֵם בַּטְּלָאִים מָאתַיִם אֶלֶף רַגְלִי וַעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים אֶת־אִישׁ יְהוּדָה׃ - And Shaul summoned the people and counted them with lambs: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Yehuda.
"Vayeshama" is an expression of proclamation: Shaul proclaims and announces to everyone, gathering the entire nation. And regarding "vayifkedem batela'im" there are two interpretations. One interpretation: he counted them in a place called Tela'im, like "vayifkedem beVazek" which refers to a place called Vazek. A second interpretation: he counted them by means of lambs, for one does not count Israel by heads; it is forbidden to count people head by head lest the matter lead to danger. Therefore he told each one to take a lamb from the king's flock, and in the end they counted the lambs. And so too they explain "vayifkedem beVazek" according to another interpretation: he gave each one a shard of pottery ("bezek" refers to pottery shards), and in the end they counted the shards and thereby the number of men became known. And so were found two hundred thousand foot soldiers plus ten thousand men of Yehuda.
The Malbim asks: Why does the prophet detail this entire matter for us? He gives two answers, and both come to magnify Shaul's sin. First, so that we should not think that Shaul truly feared the people, as he excuses himself later that he was afraid of the people and that they were the ones who decided to take. For it is written "and Shaul summoned the people" - the entire nation was subject to his command; when you called them all came and presented themselves, you had authority over them. And if you had authority over them, why did you not tell them not to take from the flock and cattle? Second, perhaps you might think Shaul would have another excuse: we had no flock or cattle, the economic situation was terrible, and so we took from Amalek to increase our herds. To this the verse tells you that he counted them with lambs - he had at least two hundred and ten thousand lambs, belonging to Shaul himself. This was not a poor kingdom, and you had no need to take from the spoils and bring it with you.
וַיָּבֹא שָׁאוּל עַד־עִיר עֲמָלֵק וַיָּרֶב בַּנָּחַל׃ - And Shaul came as far as the city of Amalek and contended in the valley.
Rashi explains: he fought with them in the valley. And Chazal expound: over matters of a valley. Where do we find that a heifer is brought down to a valley for its neck to be broken? When a man is found slain and it is not known who the murderer is. Shaul said: Master of the Universe, for one man who is slain and it is not known who struck him, a heifer is brought down to a valley, and the Sanhedrin comes from Jerusalem and all the people come and make such a great commotion - and here the Torah commands to kill so many souls? A heavenly voice went forth and said to him: Shaul, "do not be overly righteous."
And afterward, when Shaul pursued David, and Achimelech son of Achituv the priest gave David bread to eat, and Doeg the Edomite came and reported this to Shaul, Shaul went to Nov, the city of the priests, and said: How did you do such a thing and give aid to one who rebels against the king? Achimelech said to him: We did not know, this is what David told us, that he was on your mission. And what did Shaul command? To kill all of Nov, the city of the priests, righteous priests, all of them. A heavenly voice went forth and said to him: "and do not be overly wicked." One who sets out to be overly righteous may also become overly wicked. The correct path is the middle path.
And therefore, when Shaul went out to fight Amalek, he sought a pretext and a reason - this is "and he contended in the valley." He said to them: This valley, this ravine, is ours. And they said: What do you mean, it is ours. And out of the quarrel a reason was created for him, and then he opened war against them. Says the Malbim: This is yet another of Shaul's sins. For if Hashem sends you to fight, why do you look for reasons? Why am I going out to fight? Because Hashem told me to blot out the memory of Amalek. And not to say: it is unpleasant, they will say we are going into battle just to kill people for no reason, so we will create momentum from which a war will develop, and in the course of the war we will say that we killed them. "Do I not hate those who hate You, Hashem, and quarrel with those who rise up against You? With utmost hatred I hate them, they have become my enemies" - thus you should have conducted yourself with Amalek. This is Hashem's enemy, and I am going to eradicate him, without reasons, without excuses, without seeking favor in the eyes of the nations or of anyone. This is Hashem's will. And this was another mistake of Shaul.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־הַקֵּינִי לְכוּ סֻּרוּ רְדוּ מִתּוֹךְ עֲמָלֵקִי פֶּן־אֹסִפְךָ עִמּוֹ וְאַתָּה עָשִׂיתָה חֶסֶד עִם־כָּל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּעֲלוֹתָם מִמִּצְרָיִם וַיָּסַר קֵינִי מִתּוֹךְ עֲמָלֵק׃ - And Shaul said to the Keini: Go, turn aside, depart from among the Amalekite, lest I sweep you away with him, for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt. And the Keini turned aside from among Amalek.
The Kenites are the descendants of Yitro, from the family of Chever the Kenite, who lived close to Amalek. Shaul asks them to leave from there, lest they be swept up together with Amalek and killed by mistake during the war - "and you did kindness with all the children of Israel", and I do not want to repay you evil for good. And what was that kindness? Rashi cites Chazal that Moshe, Aharon and all the elders of Israel benefited from Yitro's meal, for when Yitro came he made a feast, and it is credited to him as though he did kindness with all of Israel. The Radak explains that the kindness was the advice Yitro gave - "provide for yourselves wise and knowledgeable men", officers of thousands, officers of hundreds, officers of fifties and officers of tens. Your grandfather did kindness with us, and it would not be fair for us to be ungrateful and kill you. And a third explanation: Yitro told his daughters "call him that he may eat bread", and although he intended to marry one of his daughters to him, the very fact that he gave Moshe bread to eat when he fled to Midyan was an act of kindness. And Chazal say that whoever does kindness with the greatest of Israel, it is as though he did kindness with all of Israel; and here he did kindness with Moshe Rabbeinu, as though he did a favor with each and every one of us.
Let us emphasize: the Kenites converted, and it is not written here that they were gentiles. They dwelled near Amalek only because they had no portion in the inheritance of the land; and members of the family of Chever the Kenite sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone.
וַיַּךְ שָׁאוּל אֶת־עֲמָלֵק מֵחֲוִילָה בּוֹאֲךָ שׁוּר אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי מִצְרָיִם׃ - And Shaul struck Amalek from Chavilah as you come to Shur, which is opposite Egypt.
From Chavilah until the place called Shur which is opposite Egypt - this entire region was populated by Amalekites. Historians say that the Amalekites were nomadic desert tribes, fierce of spirit, and depictions and reliefs from that period present them as warriors with beards and wrappings, and that was their distinctive mark.
וַיִּתְפֹּשׂ אֶת־אֲגַג מֶלֶךְ־עֲמָלֵק חָי וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעָם הֶחֱרִים לְפִי־חָרֶב׃ - And he captured Agag king of Amalek alive, and he utterly destroyed all the people by the edge of the sword.
וַיַּחְמֹל שָׁאוּל וְהָעָם עַל־אֲגָג וְעַל־מֵיטַב הַצֹּאן וְהַבָּקָר וְהַמִּשְׁנִים וְעַל־הַכָּרִים וְעַל־כָּל־הַטּוֹב וְלֹא אָבוּ הַחֲרִימָם וְכָל־הַמְּלָאכָה נְמִבְזָה וְנָמֵס אֹתָהּ הֶחֱרִימוּ׃ - And Shaul and the people had pity on Agag and on the best of the sheep and the cattle and the fatlings and on the lambs and on all that was good, and they were not willing to destroy them; but everything that was despised and worthless, that they destroyed.
Notice that the prophet emphasizes "and Shaul and the people had pity" - Shaul first. In this he anticipates and hints to you that Shaul's excuse later, that it was the people who took, will not be accepted.
The Malbim says: there are three verbs that appear synonymous - chamal (to spare out of compassion), chas (to spare) and richem (to have mercy) - and as is well known, the Torah has no true synonyms; rather each verb expresses something different. "Mercy" applies only from one person to another: he cannot bear to see his fellow in distress, he cannot bear to see his ruin and his pain, and therefore he has mercy on him. "To spare" (chas) and "to have pity" (chamal) apply to anything, not specifically to human beings - also to objects, to the inanimate and to the living.
And what is the difference between "chas" and "chamal"? "Chas" is over something a person needs: I spared this cup because I said maybe I will need it tomorrow, I spared the table and did not want to burn it because maybe I will have use for it. This is always the meaning of "chas" - like a person who spares his money, because he will need it. "Chamal", by contrast, is not out of need but out of an inner feeling, that it pains me to see the thing destroyed: I do not need this, and I will not need this, but it is a pity to destroy it, a pity to ruin it, perhaps someone will benefit from it, perhaps there will be a need for it in the future.
And behold, says the Malbim, "chamal" is an intellectual matter: you weigh it logically and say, why destroy it? This thing is a good thing, why lose it? And Shaul was explicitly warned "and do not have pity on him". Had Shaul had mercy (richem), it could be understood: mercy is an emotional matter, and one cannot control one's feelings; emotionally it is hard for a person to see men, women and children die, and that is understandable. But "chamal" is the application of logic against His blessed will - and that is something unacceptable. Had Shaul understood that this was the will of Hashem, he would have understood that there was no room at all to have pity, and no room to ask "why destroy it" regarding Amalek, for this is how it must be. This was his great sin, and this is the reason for the punishment.
In the language of the pasuk: "וְהַמִּשְׁנִים" comes from the root meaning double, animals that were doubly fleshy and fat. "הַכָּרִים" are fat sheep. "וְכׇל הַמְּלָאכָה נְמִבְזָה וְנָמֵס" - the despised and loathsome property, that which is not precious and not important, they destroyed, while the rest they took for themselves.
וַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל לֵאמֹר׃ - And the word of Hashem came to Shmuel, saying:
נִחַמְתִּי כִּי־הִמְלַכְתִּי אֶת־שָׁאוּל לְמֶלֶךְ כִּי־שָׁב מֵאַחֲרַי וְאֶת־דְּבָרַי לֹא הֵקִים וַיִּחַר לִשְׁמוּאֵל וַיִּזְעַק אֶל־יְהֹוָה כָּל־הַלָּיְלָה׃ - I regret that I made Shaul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not fulfilled My words. And Shmuel was distressed, and he cried out to Hashem all night.
The Malbim asks: how can "נִחַמְתִּי," regret, apply to the Holy One, blessed be He, when Scripture states "He is not a man that He should regret"? When a person says "I regret," he means: what foolishness did I do yesterday, and he is remorseful. With the Holy One, blessed be He, regret does not apply, for one cannot say that today He became aware of something He did not know yesterday; with flesh and blood this is so, but with the Creator of the world it is not. Therefore the Malbim states a rule: wherever you find the expression "נִחַמְתִּי" regarding Hashem, the intention is not remorse over the past but the nullification of the matter from here onward.
To understand this, we will bring what the Chaver says to the Kuzari: there is a difference between the creation of the Creator of the world and the creation of flesh and blood. When a person makes a cup, once he has finished making it the maker can depart from the world, the cup exists and he is no longer needed for it. But when the Creator of the world created the world, He cannot, as it were, disappear from the world, for the world at every second and every moment needs the sustaining breath of the Creator of the world. One moment that He removes His will from the world, and the world returns to chaos and void. To what may the matter be compared: to the difference between a flashlight that runs on batteries and one that runs on a dynamo. A flashlight with batteries, you insert the batteries and it lights; a flashlight with a dynamo, you must generate the current constantly, and if you stop for one moment it goes out. Every day and every moment the Holy One, blessed be He, renews His will in the world.
According to this, when the Holy One, blessed be He, says "נִחַמְתִּי," it means: from this moment My will has ceased. And since the will has ceased, it is as though the matter never came into the world, and it is nullified. That is: from this moment the kingship was taken away from Shaul. And why? Because here there was a lack of faith, a deficiency of emunah. This was not an emotional sin nor a sin of stumbling, but a sin of lack of faith. Later we will see the difference between David and Shaul: why David did not lose the kingship because of his sins, whereas Shaul lost it and was given no further opportunities.
The Metzudat David explains: in and of itself there is no change and no regret with the Holy One, blessed be He, but rather with respect to the recipient - "נִחַמְתִּי." As long as you are worthy, I intend to give; the moment you are no longer worthy, I decide, with respect to you, not to continue giving. With respect to you it appears as though I regretted the giving, but in truth the very fact that you are not worthy from here onward is what causes you not to continue receiving.
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם שְׁמוּאֵל לִקְרַאת שָׁאוּל בַּבֹּקֶר וַיֻּגַּד לִשְׁמוּאֵל לֵאמֹר בָּא־שָׁאוּל הַכַּרְמֶלָה וְהִנֵּה מַצִּיב לוֹ יָד וַיִּסֹּב וַיַּעֲבֹר וַיֵּרֶד הַגִּלְגָּל׃ - And Shmuel rose early to meet Shaul in the morning, and it was told to Shmuel, saying: Shaul came to Carmel, and behold, he is setting up a monument for himself, and he turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.
Shmuel rises early to meet Shaul in order to convey the message to him and to see what happened and how it happened. And they tell him that Shaul had already arrived at Carmel, "and behold, he is setting up a monument for himself." What is "מַצִּיב לוֹ יָד"? Several explanations have been offered. The Radak says: he was preparing a place for the encampment of the army and for the division of the spoils, and so too the Targum renders "preparing a place to divide the spoils." The Midrash says: he built himself an altar to offer upon it a thanksgiving offering to Hashem, and this is the altar mentioned regarding Eliyahu, "and he repaired the ruined altar of Hashem" - which altar? The one that Shaul built on Carmel. The Ralbag explains: a place to sit and to serve Hashem and to give Him thanks for all the good He had done for Israel. And the Malbim explains: he set up a marker as a sign of the victory, and upon it the shape of a hand - in our terms, a monument, like "Yad Avshalom" and similar monuments that people were accustomed to erect.
In this chapter Shaul is sent to wipe out Amalek, and Shmuel prefaces this with a personal warning: "Hashem sent me to anoint you" - for Shmuel's very life depended on the fulfillment of this mitzvah. The Torah strips Amalek of every one of the five accepted reasons for waging war, teaching that there was nothing here but pure hatred of the Creator of the world, like the folly of that fool who leaped into a scalding bath in order to cool it. Therefore the command is absolute: to destroy everything, souls and property alike, because of Amalek's sorcery and so that no trace of its name would remain. But Shaul sought pretexts for the war - "and he contended in the valley" - and said "do not be overly righteous" instead of simply obeying the word of Hashem. In the end "Shaul and the people took pity", and pity, as the Malbim explains, is an intellectual matter: the exercise of human reasoning against His will. This is why it says "I regret that I made Shaul king", which is not remorse but the cessation of the will and the annulment of the kingship from this point onward: a sin of lack of faith, and not an emotional stumbling.