And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak.

And Samuel saith unto Saul, 'Desist, and I declare to thee that which Jehovah hath spoken unto me to-night;' and he saith to him, 'Speak.'

Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Permit me, and I will reveal to you what the Lord has said to me this night." And he said to him, "Speak."

Samuel now acquiesces in the wisdom and justice of the sentence which 1-Samuel 15:11 he had so strenuously resisted at first. What before was known only to the Searcher of hearts, had now been displayed to Samuel by Saul himself.

Then Samuel said unto Saul, stay,.... Stop a little, do not be in haste to be gone, as he might seem to be, fearing a reproof, and that something would be said to him not very agreeable; or "suffer" (c) me, that is, to speak, give me leave to say a few words; for Saul being a king, Samuel treats him as such, and asks audience of him, or leave of him to deliver what he had to say to him:
and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night; and since it was not anything from himself, but from the Lord, he had to say, he might expect the rather to be heard, and especially since it was what had lately, even that very night, been told him:
and he said unto him, say on; he gave him leave, perhaps hoping he should hear something said in his praise, commending him for what he had done in destroying the nation of Amalek, see Luke 7:40. There is a double reading of this clause, the Cetib or textural reading is, "and they said unto him"; meaning Saul, and the elders with him; the Keri, or marginal reading is, which we follow, "and he said unto him"; meaning Saul, as Kimchi notes.
(c) "permitte", Pagninus, Montanus; "sine me", V. L. so Abarbinel.

Samuel therefore bade him be silent. הרף, "leave off," excusing thyself any further. "I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night." (The Chethibh ויּאמרוּ is evidently a copyist's error for ויּאמר.) "Is it not true, when thou wast little in thine eyes (a reference to Saul's own words, 1-Samuel 9:21), thou didst become head of the tribes of Israel? and Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel, and Jehovah sent thee on the way, and said, Go and ban the sinners, the Amalekites, and make war against them, until thou exterminatest them. And wherefore hast thou nor hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and hast fallen upon the booty," etc.? (תּעט, see at 1-Samuel 14:32.)
Even after this Saul wanted to justify himself, and to throw the blame of sparing the cattle upon the people.