There is a rabbinic tradition that Saul protested when God instructed him to exterminate the Amalekites (the biblical account is found in 1 Samuel 15). First, the king pointed out, Torah requires a purification rite in the case of even one murder; one can only imagine what it would say about a genocide. Moreover, the king continued, for what purpose were the women and children, and the animals for that matter, supposed to die? A response came in the form of a voice from heaven: “Be not overly righteous.”