1 Samuel 15:14
And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
a. NASB 1995: But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]
b. NKJV: But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]
c. Classic Amplified Bible: And Samuel said, What then means this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]
d. The Rubin Edition, The Early Prophets: 1 & 2 Samuel, Rabbinic Commentary: [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES/RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: SAMUEL Ⓒ Copyright 2002 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]
e. ESV: And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]
f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible
1. “And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
a. [And] Samuel [Strong: 8050 Shᵉmûwʼêl, sehm-oo-ale'; from the passive participle of H8085 and H410; heard of God; Shemuël, the name of three Israelites:—Samuel, Shemuel.]
b. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]
c. What [meaneth then] [Strong: 4100 mâh, maw; or מַה mah; or מָ mâ; or מַ ma; also מֶה meh; a primitive particle; properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses:—how (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.]
d. this [Strong: 2088 zeh, zeh; a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:—he, × hence, × here, it(-self), × now, × of him, the one...the other, × than the other, (× out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, × thus, very, which.]
e. bleating [Strong: 6963 qôwl, kole; or קֹל qôl; from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound:—+ aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, (pro-) claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder(-ing), voice, + yell.]
f. [of the] sheep [Strong: 6629 tsôʼn, tsone; or צאוֹן tsʼôwn; (Psalm 144:13), from an unused root meaning to migrate; a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats); also figuratively (of men):—(small) cattle, flock (+ -s), lamb (+ -s), sheep(-cote, -fold, -shearer, -herds).
g. [in mine] ears [Strong: 241 ʼôzen, o'-zen; from H238; broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in man):— advertise, audience, displease, ear, hearing, show.]
h. [and the] lowing [Strong: 6963 qôwl, kole; or קֹל qôl; from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound:—+ aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, (pro-) claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder(-ing), voice, + yell.]
i. [of the] oxen [Strong: 1241 bâqâr, baw-kawr'; from H1239; a beeve or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing); collectively, a herd:—beeve, bull (+ -ock), + calf, + cow, great (cattle), + heifer, herd, kine, ox.]
j. which [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]
k. I [Strong: 595 ʼânôkîy, aw-no-kee'; sometimes, אָנֹכִי ʼânôkîy; a primitive pronoun; I:—I, me, × which.
a. hear [Strong: 8085 shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]
1). Samuel was responding to the ridiculous statement of Saul when he said he had performed the commandment of the LORD. The commandment of the LORD was clear.
a). 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.