For I feared the people, and I yielded to them (I Sam 15, 24): Is saul's guilt attenuated or intensified?

he A. aims to demonstrate that Saul's apology, ...for I feared the people, and I yielded to them (I Sam 15:24), serves as a boomerang against himself, since it actually intensifies his guilt layer by layer. In itself this belated apology looks as a kind of yes, but..., and thus it contrasts with the way in which David recognizes his guilt. The significance of that fear receives emphasis by looking back at the command of the war against Amalek in Deut 25:17-19. The analogy suggested between Saul and Pharaoh further reduces the value of Saul's confession and raises the theme of the timeless clash between prophet and king