After he hacked Agag to pieces.
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
1 Samuel 15:35 KJV
When Saul prophesied naked
And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
1 Samuel 19:24 KJV
Hacked in pieces?
It seems that the prophet Samuel was a rather cruel individual: He “hacked Agag in pieces”, we read. Yes, if that would be the only information we get from this episode we might think so. However, it is always the special art of deceivers to turn things upside down. What did Samuel say before he killed Agag? “As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women.” (KJV) Agag was the king of the Amalakites and of old they had the inferior mode of warfare to first attack women and children to demoralize their opponents (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). To do that in the most horrible way was part of their lifestyle, by hacking them in pieces. As a righteous judge Samuel punished Agag according to his own standards. We have to understand also the moral dilemma Samuel was in. He couldn’t give an order to any soldier to execute the punishment, that was Saul’s mandate. In order to prevent Samuel from not being obeyed by the soldiers, he probably took the sword to act himself. And Samuel understood pretty well that from that moment on he had brought down Saul’s pride as king so that any further personal contact between the two had become fruitless.
Circumstances
Shortly after Saul’s appointment as king he came into war with the Amalakites. Saul didn’t completely fulfil the commandment that was given by the prophet Samuel. He didn’t punish (capital punishment) Agag for his crimes.
After this careless act of Saul, Samuel turned away from him. He didn’t have much hope anymore for Saul and he didn’t visit him anymore to teach him God’s will, and all this while Saul sank away into depression.
There was only one occasion hereafter when they met each other. When David was on the run from Saul he went to Samuel, and Saul running after David also arrived at Samuel. There Saul came under the power of the Holy Spirit while David fled further.
“Naked” as in the text can have two meanings: (1) without clothes: Ecclesiastes 5:15, (2) with only one covering clothing: Isaiah 20:2-4. The second meaning seems the most convenient here.
Contradiction?
Now the critic sees a contradiction in the fact that Samuel didn’t go anymore to Saul until Saul’s death and the occasion of the later meeting between Saul and Samuel. However, this is no contradiction! Samuel didn’t come to Saul anymore (1 Samuel 15:35), but Saul came to Samuel in the last case (1 Samuel 19:24).
No Bible Contradiction