---
title: "1 Samuel 15:22-23"
description: "Saul carried out most of God's command but spared the king and the best livestock 'because the people' demanded it — partial, consensus-driven obedience. God called it rebellion and rejected him. Abolitionists cast the incrementalist as Saul: obeying God up to the point the culture allows is…"
type: "scripture"
book: "1 Samuel"
chapter: 15
verses: "22-23"
translation: "NASB"
refutes: "Pro-life incrementalism"
affirms_abolition: true
themes:
  - "partial obedience"
  - "fear of the people"
  - "rebellion"
  - "consensus vs command"
  - "Saul and Samuel"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/scripture/1-samuel-15-22-23.html"
---

# 1 Samuel 15:22-23

Book of 1 Samuel · Chapter 15

## The text

> Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”
> — 1 Samuel 15:22-23, NASB

**The claim this verse counters:** "Partial obedience, adjusted to the will of the people, still counts as obedience."

## The argument

Saul carried out most of God's command but spared the king and the best livestock 'because the people' demanded it — partial, consensus-driven obedience. God called it rebellion and rejected him. Abolitionists cast the incrementalist as Saul: obeying God up to the point the culture allows is disobedience, not strategy.

## Context & notes

The speaker uses Saul vs. Samuel as the paradigm of incrementalism vs. immediatism: Saul capitulated to the 'stakeholders' (the people) and offered a religious rationale; Samuel finished the obedience Saul left undone. 'To obey is better than sacrifice' undercuts the idea that good outcomes excuse partial obedience.

## Themes

- partial obedience
- fear of the people
- rebellion
- consensus vs command
- Saul and Samuel

## Discussion questions

1. Saul obeyed most of the command and spared the rest 'because the people' wanted it. God called that rebellion — why?
2. How is 'we can only go as far as the culture allows' like Saul's excuse?
3. What does 'to obey is better than sacrifice' say about strategies that trade obedience for results?

## Source transcript

Drawn from The Sin of Pro-Life Incrementalism (T. Russell Hunter) — Extended exposition of 1 Samuel 15 as the immediatist (Samuel) vs. incrementalist (Saul) paradigm..

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Micah 6:8](micah-6-8.md)
- [Proverbs 29:25](proverbs-29-25.md)
- [2 Corinthians 4:2](2-corinthians-4-2.md)
- [James 4:17](james-4-17.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [Immediatism — dealing with sin fully and now — is the biblical pattern; gradual toleration is not](../arguments/arg-immediatism-biblical.md)
- [“Public opinion won't support total, immediate abolition (especially criminalization), so…”](../arguments/def-culture-not-ready.md)
- [“Reasonable Christians can disagree on strategy; calling pro-life incrementalism 'sin' is…”](../arguments/def-incrementalism-not-sin.md)

## Attribution

Verse text is quoted from the NASB. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org