1 Samuel 15 — Dead Sea Scrolls
2 attestation entries • 0 variants • 4QSamᵃ family
Manuscript Overview
Summary
1 Samuel 15 narrates Saul's failure to execute the herem against Amalek and Samuel's rejection oracle ('to obey is better than sacrifice'). 4QSamᵃ preserves portions with some agreements with LXX in the rejection-oracle wording.
Notable Variants
Minor variants. The famous declaration in v. 22 ('to obey is better than sacrifice') tracks MT in substance.
Manuscripts
4QSamᵃ (4Q51)
Scroll Condition
Fragmentary attestation.
Samuel said, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice; to listen is better than the fat of rams.
'To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams' tracks MT — one of the great prophetic-cult formulations, echoed at Hos 6:6, Mic 6:6–8, Mark 12:33.
fragmentary
Moreover, the Enduring One of Israel does not lie and does not relent, for he is not a human being, that he should relent."
'The Glory of Israel will not lie or repent, for he is not a man, that he should repent' tracks MT — striking statement of divine immutability in tension with v. 35 ('the LORD repented that he had made Saul king'). The DSS does not resolve the tension.
fragmentary