1 Samuel 15:32
Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
This verse stands within the account of Saul's command to destroy Amalek. The Amalekites had assaulted Israel in the wilderness and had continued in hostility toward God. The judgment pronounced against them had been delayed for four hundred years, and was now to be executed.
Agag himself had been especially guilty and merciless, hating Israel, seeking its destruction, and strongly promoting idolatry. When brought to Samuel he came forward with false confidence that the danger of death was past. Samuel's putting of Agag to death in the next verse publicly vindicated the honor of God and rebuked Saul's course. In this same chapter Saul denied wrongdoing until the facts left him no room for denial, yet he refused to confess his sin and regarded himself as mistreated, a pattern repeated when confronted wrongdoers deny charges and make no confession.