שמואל א ט״ו:ד׳-ט׳

וישמע שאול. לשון הכרזה, כמו (לעיל יד כ): ויזעק שאול:

Shaul summoned. An expression of announcing [meaning the same] as in .³Above 14:20.וַיִזָּעֵק שָׁאוּל

ויפקדם בטלאים. אמר לכל אחד ואחד, שיקח טלה מצאנו של מלך, ואחר כך מנה את הטלאים, לפי שאסור למנות את ישראל, שנאמר בם (בראשית לב יב): לא יספר מרוב:

And he counted them with lambs. He told each one to take a lamb⁴According to Targum this occurred just before Pesach, and the lambs were Pascal sacrifices. from the king's flocks, and afterwards he counted the lambs, because it is forbidden to count Jewish people.⁵ See Maseches Yoma 22b which states that in order to avoid counting the Bnei Yisroel directly which is forbidden by the Torah, each man took a lamb from the king’s flock and the lambs were then counted. See also Kli Yokor in Bamidbar 1:2 who discusses the exceptions to this rule. for it is stated concerning them, '[which] are too numerous to count.'⁶Bereishis 32:12.

וירב בנחל. וילחם בנחל ורבותינו אמרו (יומא כב ב): על עסקי נחל רב ודן את עצמו, ומה בשביל נפש אחת אמרה תורה ערוף עגלה בנחל, בשביל כל הנפשות האלו לא כל שכן, אם אדם חטא, בהמה מה חטאה:

And he fought in the valley. [Meaning the same as] וַיִלָּחֵם בַּנַּחַל [=and he fought in the valley]. Our Rabbis said, concerning the valley, he argued and concluded, that if for the sake of one life, the Torah said to decapitate a calf in the valley,⁷See Devarim 21:4. how much more for the sake of all these lives.⁸Shaul rationalized that he will spare the animals to use as sacrifices to atone for the Amoleikites that were killed. For additional arguments presented by Shaul and their consequences, see Maseches Yoma 22b. If man has sinned, what have the animals sinned?

אל הקיני. בני יתרו, שהיו יושבין במדבר יהודה בנגב ערד, שהלכו אצל יעבץ ללמוד תורה, וערד הוא עמלק, הכנעני מלך ערד, עמלק היה, שנאמר (במדבר כא א): יושב הנגב, ועמלק יושב בארץ הנגב (שם יג כט):

To the Kenites. Who were Yisro's descendants,⁹See Shoftim 1:16. who were residing in the wilderness of Yehudah, in the south of Arod, who went to Ya'aveitz to learn Torah, Arod being Amoleik. The Canaanite king of Arod was Amoleik, for it is stated [about him]; "who lived in the South,"¹⁰Bamidbar 21:1. and, "Amoleik dwells in the southern part of the land."¹¹Ibid., 13:29.

עם כל בני ישראל. שנהנו מסעודתו משה ואהרן וכל זקני ישראל, והרי מעלה עליו כאלו עשה חסד עם כל בני ישראל:

To all the Bnei Yisroel. Who partook from his [Yisro's] meal, Moshe, Aharon and all the elders of Yisroel.¹²See Shemos 18:12. It is considered as though he acted kindly with all the Bnei Yisroel.¹³It may also refer to Yisro’s hospitality of welcoming Moshe into his home when he escaped from Paroh [Shemos 2:20-21]. Based on this event R. Nechemyah in Maseches Berachos 63b states ‘how great is the reward for one who invites a Torah scholar into his house, gives him to eat and drink, and shares his possessions with him.’ Others believe that the act of kindness with all the Bnei Yisroel refers to the good advice that Yisro gave to Moshe with regard to setting up a system of judges [Shemos 18:14-26], because this benefitted the entire nation.

והמשנים. אין לו דמיון, והם הבריאים ואומר אני: לשון 'משנים', כמו (בראשית מג יב): כסף משנה, על שם שהוא כפול בבשר ובשומן, וכן (שופטים ו כה): ופר השני שבע שנים:

The fattened cattle. This word has no likeness [in Scripture]. These are the fattened cattle;¹⁴According to Mahri Kra מִשֽׁנִים are thoroughbred horses. and I say that the expression of מִשְׁנִים is like וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה [meaning double money],¹⁵Bereishis 43:12. because they are doubled over with flesh and fat. Similarly, 'And the ox which was fattened [הַשֵּׁנִי] seven years.'¹⁶Shoftim 6:25.

נמבזה ונמס. כמו נבזה, והמ"ם טפילה בו:

Undesirable and inferior. Meaning the same as נִבְזֶה; and the 'מ' is superfluous.