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Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.”
The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”
1 Samuel 11:1-3 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.”
The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”
Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.”
The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash: 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.'
And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them: 'On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.'
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him: 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to deliver us, we will come out to thee.'
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–2 After that Saul was chosen king: for fear of…
After that Saul was chosen king: for fear of whom they asked a king, as 1 Sam. 12:12.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–3 1Sa 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and…
1Sa 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
Ver. 1. Then Nahash the Ammonite came up.] After long preparations, {1Sa 12:12} and for the old hatred, {Eze 25:15} and upon the old claim, {Jdg 11:13} as also to revenge the overthrow then given them by Jephthah.
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And encamped against Jabeshgilead.] Because it lay near to their country, and had been much weakened by that cruel slaughter of their men, {Jdg 21:6} and not like to be relieved, because the Israelites were ill-agreed among themselves about the choice of their new king. {1Sa 10:27}
Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.] Take us for thy confederates, and not for thy slaves. This was to make as good terms for themselves as they could; but they should not have made any with that accursed nation. {Deu 23:3}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Then, i.e. about that time; this particle being used…
Then, i.e. about that time; this particle being used in some latitude, as is frequent; for that this happened before, and was the occasion of their desire of a king, may seem from 1Sa 12:12; although it is possible that Nahash’s preparation, and declared intention of warring against them, might cause that desire, and that Nahash did not actually come against them (which is here related) till their king was chosen.
Nahash the Ammonite; either the same with him, 2Sa 10:2, or his father and predecessor.
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Came up to war, probably to revenge and to recover their former great loss by Jephthah, Jdg 11:33. Jabesh-gilead was beyond Jordan, and near the Ammonites, who dwelt in part of Arabia.
Make a covenant with us, to wit, upon good conditions, so as we shall enjoy our religion and properties.
We will serve thee; in other things we will be thy subjects and tributaries. The occasion of this offer was, that they saw no likelihood of relief from their brethren the Israelites in Canaan, who were remote from them, and then weak and divided, and scarce able to defend themselves from the Philistines.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 The Ammonites were bad neighbours to those tribes of…
The Ammonites were bad neighbours to those tribes of Israel that lay next them, though descendants from just Lot, and, for that reason, dealt civilly with by Israel. See Deu 2:19. Jephthah, in his time, had humbled them, but now the sin of Israel had put them into a capacity to make head again, and avenge that quarrel. The city of Jabesh-Gilead had been, some ages ago, destroyed by Israel's sword of justice, for not appearing against the wickedness of Gibeah (Jdg 21:10); and now being replenished again, probably by the posterity of those that then escaped the sword, it is in danger of being destroyed by the Ammonites, as if some bad fate attended the place. Nahash, king of Ammon (Ch1 19:1) laid siege to it. Now here,
I. The besieged beat a parley (Sa1 11:1): "Make a covenant with us, and we will surrender upon terms, and serve thee." They had lost the virtue of Israelites, else they would not have thus lost the valour of Israelites, nor tamely yielded to serve an Ammonite, without one bold struggle for themselves. Had they not broken their covenant with God, and forsaken his service, they needed not thus to have courted a covenant with a Gentile nation, and offered themselves to serve them.
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II. The besiegers offer them base and barbarous conditions; they will spare their lives, and take them to be their servants, upon condition that they shall put out their right eyes, Sa1 11:2. The Gileadites were content to part with their liberty and estates for the ransom of their blood; and, had the Ammonites taken them at their word, the matter would have been so settled immediately, and the Gileadites would not have sent out for relief. But their abject concessions make the Ammonites more insolent in their demands, and they cannot be content to have them for their servants, but, 1. They must torment them, and put them to pain, exquisite pain, for so the thrusting out of an eye would do. 2. They must disable them for war, and render them incapable, though not of labour (that would have been a loss to their lords), yet of bearing arms; for in those times they fought with shields in their left hands, which covered their left eye, so that a soldier without his right eye was in effect blind. 3. They must put a reproach upon all Israel, as weak and cowardly, that would suffer the inhabitants of one of their chief cities to be thus miserably used, and not offer to rescue them.
III. The besieged desire, and obtain, seven days' time to consider of this proposal, Sa1 11:3. If Nahash had not granted them this respite, we may suppose the horror of the proposal would have made them desperate, and they would rather have died with their swords in their hands than have surrendered to such merciless enemies: therefore Nahash, not imagining it possible that, in so short a time, they should have relief, and being very secure of the advantages he thought he had against them, in a bravado gave them seven days, that the reproach upon Israel, for not rescuing them, might be the greater, and his triumphs the more illustrious. But there was a providence in it, that his security might be his infatuation and ruin.
IV. Notice is sent of this to Gibeah. They said they would send messengers to all the coasts of Israel (Sa1 11:3), which made Nahash the more secure, for that, he thought, would be a work of time, and none would be forward to appear if they had not one common head; and perhaps Nahash had not yet heard of the new-elected king. But the messengers, either of their own accord or by order from their masters, went straight to Gibeah, and, not finding Saul within, told their news to the people, who fell a weeping upon hearing it, Sa1 11:4. They would sooner lament their brethren's misery and danger than think of helping them, shed their tears for them than shed their blood. They wept, as despairing to help the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and fearing lest, if that frontier-city should be lost, the enemy would penetrate into the very bowels of their country, which now appeared in great hazard.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against…
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead,.... A month after, as in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, that is, a month after Saul was chosen king; so Josephus (p): this prince was preparing for war against Israel before, which they hearing of, requested they might have a king to go before them in battle, Sa1 12:12 but now he actually marched from his own country, and besieged Jabeshgilead, a city in the land of Gilead, from whence it had its name, and lay in the half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side Jordan, see Jdg 21:8. It lay near to the Ammonites, and was part of the country they laid claim to in the times of Jephthah, which they now renewed, and attempted to gain it by force. This Nahash was king of the Ammonites, as he is called in the Targum, and by Josephus (q), and so in the Arabic version, see Sa1 12:12.
and all the men of Jabeshgilead said unto Nahash, make a covenant with us; they desired to be his allies and confederates, live in peace and friendship with him, and enjoy their religion and liberties on certain conditions they were willing to come into; and this was the sense of them all, or at least the greatest part, which showed a mean and abject spirit in them, to make no defence of themselves, but as soon as besieged to move for a capitulation. This doubtless arose from a sense of their weakness, not being able to hold it out long, and from an apprehension that their brethren the Israelites, on the other side Jordan, could give them no assistance, being in an unsettled condition, having chosen a king, and he scarcely on the throne, and the Philistines having great power over them:
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and we will serve thee; not as slaves, but as tributaries; they were willing to pay a yearly tax to him.
(p) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 1. (q) Ibid.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The distress of Jabesh-gilead, ver. 1-3. Saul's readiness to…
The distress of Jabesh-gilead, ver. 1-3. Saul's readiness to relieve them, and success, ver. 4-11. His tenderness to them that opposed him, ver. 12-13. He is confirmed in his kingdom, ver. 14- 15.
Then - That is, about that time; for that this happened before, and was the occasion of their desire of a king, may seem from chap. xii, 12, although it is possible, that Nahash's preparation, might cause that desire, and that he did not actually come 'till their king was chosen. Will serve - The occasion of this offer was, that they saw no likelihood of relief from their brethren in Canaan.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Nahash, king of the Ammonites, besieges Jabesh-gilead; and
CHAPTER XI
Nahash, king of the Ammonites, besieges Jabesh-gilead; and
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proposes to its inhabitants the most degrading conditions of
peace, 1, 2.
They apply to their brethren for help, 3, 4.
Saul hears of their distress; takes a yoke of oxen, hews them
in pieces, and sends them throughout the coasts of Israel, with
the threat that all who did not come to his standard should
have his cattle served in like manner; in consequence of which
he is soon at the head of an army of three hundred and thirty
thousand men, 5-8.
He sends to Jabesh-gilead, and promises help, 9, 10.
Saul attacks the Ammonites next morning, and gives them a total
overthrow, 11.
The people are greatly encouraged, and propose to put to death
those who are opposed to Saul's government: but this he
prevents, 12, 13.
Samuel leads the people to Gilgal: they offer sacrifices, and
renew the kingdom to Saul, 14, 15.
NOTES ON CHAP. XI
Verse 1. Nahash the Ammonite] In the Vulgate this chapter begins thus: Et factum est quasi post mensem, "And it came to pass about a month after." This addition appears also in the principal copies of the Septuagint; though it is wanting in the Complutensian edition, both in the Greek and Latin, and is not acknowledged by any of the Oriental versions. But it is in Josephus, and probably was inserted from him into some copies of the Septuagint, and thence into the Vulgate. It appears to be of very little authority.
We know little about Nahash; there was a king of this name among the Ammonites in the time of David, 2Sa 10:2, but probably not the same person. Nahash might have been a common name of the Ammonitish kings.
Make a covenant with us] They found they were in no condition to risk a war; and they wish to have peace, and desire to know his conditions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–3 1Sa 11:1. Then — That is, about that time;…
1Sa 11:1. Then — That is, about that time; for that this happened before, and was the occasion of their desire of a king, may seem from 1Sa 12:12; although it is possible that Nahash’s preparation might cause that desire, and that he did not actually come till their king was chosen. Will serve — The occasion of this offer was, that they saw no likelihood of relief from their brethren in Canaan.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Nahash was king of the children of Ammon, as…
Nahash was king of the children of Ammon, as appears from 1Sa 12:12. He seems to have been connected with the family of David, since Abigail, David’s sister, was “the daughter (perhaps granddaughter) of Nahash” 2Sa 17:25; 1Ch 2:16-17; and, perhaps, in consequence of this connection, he and his family were very friendly to David 2Sa 17:27.
Jabesh-Gilead must have been re-populated after its destruction (see marginal reference). The Ammonites and Moabites resented the possession of Gilead by the Israelites Jdg 10:6-18; 11.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1–3 After this. So far is omitted in the Hebrew,…
After this. So far is omitted in the Hebrew, &c., but we find it in most editions of the Septuagint and in Josephus. (Calmet) --- Fight. He had threatened an invasion before, and had perhaps (Haydock) attacked some of the tribes on the east side of the Jordan, and treated them with the same cruelty as he intended for those of Jabes, which was a city of the first consequence. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] vi. 5.) --- Naas, "a serpent." There was a king of this country of the same name, in the days of David. The people had been quiet since Jephte had made such havoc among them, about ninety years before. (Judges xi.) (Calmet) --- Covenant. They were willing to pay him tribute. But it seems they had offered him some insult, which made the king resolve to punish them more severely. They make no mention of Saul, as they did not wish to let the king know of his election; (Salien) and perhaps had no great confidence in him, (Haydock) as he was not yet fully confirmed in his dignity, (Calmet) and had let a whole month pass without taking any measures for the deliverance of his country, though it was on that pretext that he was elected. (Haydock) --- They considered what had passed as of no consequence, chap. xii. 12.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Confirmation and General Recognition of the Kingdom under Saul
THIRD SECTION
Confirmation and General Recognition of the Kingdom under Saul
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1 Samuel 11-12
I. Saul’s Victory over the Ammonites. 1Sa_11:1-15
1Then [And]1 Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against2 Jabesh-Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said unto [to] Nahash, Make a covenant with 2us, and we will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite answered [said to] them, On this condition will I make a covenant3 with you, that I may thrust4 out 3all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. And the elders of Jabesh said unto [to] him, Give5 us seven days respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts6 of Israel, and then [om. then] if there be no man to save 4us, we will come out to thee. Then came the messengers [And the messengers came] to Gibeah of Saul,7 and told the tidings8 in the ears of the people; and all people lifted up their voices and wept.
5And behold, Saul came after the herd [oxen] out of [from] the field. And Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of 6the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those 7[these] tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces9, and sent them10 throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto [to] his oxen. And the fear of the Lord [Jehovah] fell on the people, and they came out with one consent [as one man].
8And when [om. when] he numbered them in Bezek, [ins. and] the children of 9Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.11 And they said unto [to] the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto [to] the men of Jabesh Gilead, To-morrow, by that [the] time the sun be hot,12 ye shall have help. And the messengers came and showed [announced] it to the men of Jabesh; and 10they were glad. Therefore [And] the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out unto [to] you, and ye shall do with [to] us all that seemeth good unto 11[to] you. And it was so [came to pass] on the morrow that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning-watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day, and it came to pass that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
12And the people said unto [to] Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over 13us?13 bring14the men that we may put them to death. And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day the Lord [Jehovah] hath wrought 14salvation in Israel. Then said Samuel [and Samuel said] to the people, Come, and 15let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they [om. they] made15 Saul king before the Lord [Jehovah] in Gilgal, and there they [om. there they] sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings [ins. there] before the Lord [Jehovah]; and there Saul16 and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Sa_11:1-4. The siege of Jabesh by Nahash, king of the Ammonites.
1Sa_11:1. The need of a vigorous single leadership in war against the surrounding hostile peoples, especially in the first instance for the war threatened by the Ammonites (1Sa_12:12), had occasioned the people’s desire for a strong regal government like that of those nations. God had yielded to their desire, and through Samuel given them a king. But this king, after having been publicly presented and greeted as king, had with-drawn into seclusion. For a part of the people were unwilling to accept the new order of things under Saul’s kingly authority, not believing that he could rescue the people from the threatening danger. It was, therefore, all-important that Saul should, by some deed of deliverance, show himself to be the king, who could lead Israel to victory over their enemies. A waiting the moment when he could display his strength with the Lord’s help as his Anointed, he had kept silence before the contempt of his enemies, and had retired to the quiet of his accustomed rural occupations. And not long after the day of Mizpah came the peril, in view of which the demand had been made for a king to lead the people to battle. Nahash, the Ammonite, advanced with an army, and began the war against Israel with the siege of Jabesh-Gilead. The Sept. inserts at the beginning of this verse from the preceding (1Sa_10:27) the words: “and it came to pass after a month,”17 and is followed by Ew. and Then, though all other ancient translations agree with the mas. text, only the Vulg. adds to the translation of the text the words: et factum est quasi post mensem, an addition originating probably in the Itala, which follows the Sept. The statement of time is evidently an interpretation of the translation.18 It is the less necessary for the connection by reason of the looseness of the chronology here. According to 1Sa_12:12 the threatened war with the Ammonites was the immediate occasion of the demand for a king. Naturally, therefore, Nahash, having before made his preparations, entered the Israelitish territory soon after the king was chosen and confirmed. If it had been intended to give this datum of time the word “one” must necessarily have been inserted.—On Nahash,19 king of the Ammonites, see on 2Sa_10:2. We have here a renewal of the war with the Ammonites, which (according to Jdg_10:11) Israel had victoriously carried on under Jephthah. No doubt Nahash made the same charge against Israel—claiming the territory east of the Jordan which, it was alleged, Israel had taken from the Ammonites—which was then made by the king and repelled by Jeph. (Jdg_11:13 sq.). Comp. Jos_13:25. Jephthah’s victory had not permanently broken the power of the Ammonites. Jabesh lay in northern Gilead, and belonged to the half-tribe of Manasseh. According to Joseph. (Ant. 6, 5, 1), it was the capital of Gilead; according to the Onom., “six Roman miles from Pella on the way to Gerasa,” and is conjectured by Robinson (III. 319) and van der Velde (Mem., p. 323) to be the same with the present ruins of Ed-Deir,20 on the south side of the Wady Jabis, in which word is not improbably contained the name of the old Jabesh. Jabesh was the only city (Jdg_21:9) which did not take part in the war of extermination against Benjamin; its virgins were carried off for the Benjamites (Jdg_21:6 sq.). For the important connection of Jabesh with Saul’s end see 1Sa_31:11-13 and 2 Samuel 4, 5.—The inhabitants of Jabesh are willing to come to an agreement with Nahash, and submit on reasonable conditions. This shows their entire defencelessness against the enemy, and characterizes Israel’s weakness in consequence of the lack of firm and permanent union among its parts. Instead of accepting their humble proposal, Nahash offers the Jabeshites the extremest insult by the threat that, unless they surrendered unconditionally,21 he would put out the right eyes of all of them.22 On cruel conduct towards conquered enemies see Rüetschi, Herz. R. E. VIII. 87 [also Arts. War in Dicts. of Smith and Fairbairn, and Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, II. 506.—Tr.]. Nahash will lay this as a reproach “on all Israel,” not because they had not courage to help them (Bunsen), but with the intention of undertaking war against all Israel, and avenging the insult offered by Jephthah. Josephus’ remark, that he threatened to do this “in order that, their left eyes being concealed by their shields, they might be wholly unserviceable,” is correct only on this supposition, that he in fact designed to conquer first the city and then Gilead.
1Sa_11:3. Nahash grants the desired seven days, in which they are to send messengers into every part of Israel; in this time he thought to finish his preparations for the conquest of the city, in order, in the existing division of the Israelitish tribes and forces, the more surely to attain his end. The Jabeshites promised to yield themselves, if no one came to their rescue. The assumption of this as possible, and the fact that they sent to every region of Israel shows that in this transition-period from the Judges to the kingdom, in spite of what Samuel had done towards securing unity of action, the old division of powers in tribal isolation and the consequent weakness against enemies still continued. That the messengers (1Sa_11:4) go nevertheless not separately to the various tribes, but all together first23 to Gibeah of Saul, is doubtless according to instructions given them. And the reason could be only that this was the residence of the elected king, and the centre of the whole people. We are not to conclude (with Then.), from the fact of their going not to Saul, but to the people, that they knew nothing of his election as king; they presented their case before the people, and not Saul, because (as appears from what follows) he was not in Gibeah, and did not return from his ordinary occupation till after their statement was made.—The weeping of the people points to the greatness of the danger and the painful consciousness of helplessness. Perhaps Saul was held in least esteem in his native city.
1Sa_11:5-7. Saul’s first royal deed. He gathers the people together, so that they rise as one man against the Ammonites, and the hitherto-existing disunion is at an end.
1Sa_11:5. When the messengers arrive, Saul is in the field engaged in agricultural labors. He is called from the plough, as Gideon from the threshing-floor (Jdg_6:11 sq.), to do great deeds for his people. “After the oxen” refers to his walking behind the oxen, with which he had ploughed, and which are called in 1Sa_11:7 “a yoke of oxen.”
1Sa_11:6. When he hears the cause of the people’s lamenting and weeping, the Spirit of God lays hold of him mightily. The great moment had come when the fire of mighty wrath, inflamed by God’s Spirit, kindled at the reproach inflicted by the enemy on his people, and he, in fulfillment of his royal calling to be the deliverer of his people, was to step forth according to the will of the Lord.
1Sa_11:7. The cutting up of the oxen alone would not have exhausted the meaning which (as appears from the context) this symbolical action was meant to have. There was necesssary also the sending of the pieces into every region of Israel, that is, to every tribe, as in the similar procedure in Jdg_19:29. The meaning of Saul’s sharp words by the messengers: Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen, is only fully expressed by the pieces which are sent along with them. Though the “pieces” are not expressly mentioned in the text, as in Jdg_19:29 (Then.), yet they must be understood from the connection. As there the pieces of the shamefully murdered woman’s body, so here the pieces of the hewed oxen are the factual summons of the individual parts of the people to a common warfare, which was to avenge the wrong done them. Along with this similarity, however, between the two actions and their aims, there is an essential difference between them. In the former case the pieces represented the crime of the violated rights of hospitality and the expiation which was demanded. Here Saul sets forth the punishment to be expected by every one who should not join the campaign against the enemy; he threatens the exercise of his judicial power, which is a function of his royal office. The subject [i.e. executer] of the threat is neither the people of the recusant person (Josephus), nor the invading enemy, but it is he, the king of Israel, who is thoroughly conscious of his authority to summon the whole people to war against the enemy, under the impulse of the Spirit of God, which has come upon him. Saul here steps forth, in the name of the Lord, who has chosen him to save His people from their foes, with an act of sovereign theocratic royal power. As possessor of this power he names himself first as leader of Israel, and then Samuel second. That, however, he does connect the latter’s name with his, shows Samuel’s high position as prophet and watchman of the kingdom and (with the retention of his judicial authority) as leader of the people along with Saul, and proves also Samuel’s approval of this assumption of royal authority before the people. His symbolical action and the accompanying threat, which is to rouse the people from division to unity, and from lethargy to a common enterprise, is thus stamped with the prophetic and judicial authority of Samuel, under which Saul’s royal authority stands.—Clericus excellently remarks: “This was a symbolical action which, by the exhibition of the pieces of the oxen, struck the mind more than words alone would have done.” The action belongs to the category of symbolical acts, which set forth corporally and vigorously the content of the following words, in order to strengthen their impression. See 1Ki_11:30; 1Ki_22:11; 2Ki_13:18. Comp. the symbolical actions in the prophetic writings.—The powerful impression made by Saul’s appearance and act is indicated in a two-fold way: 1) The fear of Jehovah fell on the people. Clericus: “Either fear sent or in some peculiar way infused into men’s minds by God, or fear lest they should offend God, if they refused to obey the command of the king and the prophet.” The second explanation is to be preferred; for Saul’s appearance is theocratic; he speaks in the name and under the commission of the Lord, whose instrument he, as well as Samuel, is. The people, impressed by his act and his words, recognize the holy and mighty will of their God, and are seized by a wholesome fear before the Lord, which leads them to recognize the obligation to fulfil his command revealed through Saul. “The fear of the Lord” is here, therefore, not a “panic fear” (Thenius, Böttcher); for Jehovah is not=Elohim, as Keil well remarks;24 the reference is to the relation of the people to their covenant-God, who anew reveals Himself; 2) And they came out as one man. The effect of Saul’s appearance and message to the whole people was that they rose out of division into a firm unity of parts (tribes) and powers. The Spirit of the Lord, which impelled Saul to this noble and vigorous action, so strangely contrasted with his former quiet life behind the plough, laid hold at the same time on the whole nation, so that it was suddenly lifted up, as it were involuntarily, in the uniting and strengthening power of this Spirit from above, to a new life before God (in His fear) and within itself (in unity and union) against the enemies of the theocracy.
1Sa_11:8-11. Saul’s deed of deliverance by victory over the Ammonites. The summoning of the people and the gathering of the hosts goes swiftly on. The latter is presupposed in the phrase “numbered or mustered them.” This took place in Bezek, in the Tribe of Issachar, in the plain of Jezreel, not far from Bethshean, at about as great an elevation as Jabesh, according to the Onom. 1725 Roman miles north of Neapolis (Nablus), on the road to Scythopolis. This place must not be confounded with the Bezek in the Tribe of Judah, where the Canaanites and Perizzites under their king Adonibezek were beaten by Judah and Simeon, Jdg_1:3-4. In respect to the separate mention of Israel and Judah [1Sa_11:8] Clericus remarks: “this smacks of the times that followed the division of the Israelites into two kingdoms.” See the same distinction made in 1Sa_17:52; 1Sa_18:16; 2Sa_2:9 sq.; 1Sa_3:10; 1Sa_5:1-5; 1Sa 19:41 sq.; 1Sa_20:24. That the large and powerful tribe of Judah has the relatively small number (30,000) of warriors over against the 300,000 of Israel, is due to the fact that a large part of its territory was in the possession of the Philistines, as to whose further advance more care had to be taken, now that the northeastern frontier of the country was threatened by the Ammonites. The large numbers are explained by the general levy of the people (a sort of militia).
1Sa_11:9. The messengers from Jabesh are now dismissed with the answer that help would be brought them the next day by the time the sun was hottest. So confident is Saul with his army in the power of the prophetic spirit, that the Lord will through them bring help. Bold assurance of faith which, in a great undertaking, anticipates its success as an accomplished fact. The messengers from Jabesh had the same confidence of faith.
1Sa_11:10. “To-morrow,” that is, one day after the messengers had returned to Jabesh. This message of the Jabeshites to the Ammonites must, according to 1Sa_11:3, have led the latter to believe that they wished to treat of terms of surrender. It was a stratagem which made the Ammonites all the more confident.
1Sa_11:11. They are overpowered by surprise. The time of the “morning-watch” is from 3 to 6 o’clock in the morning, when the night is darkest. As Saul’s army was not a disciplined one, but hastily gathered from the whole people, he could only hope to gain a complete and decisive victory by attacking the confident Ammonites in their camp from three sides during their soundest sleep. The army, divided into three parts, came “into the midst of the camp” from different directions. The victory was complete “by the heat of the day;” the enemy’s army is utterly scattered. “Two were not left together.”
1Sa_11:12-15. Saul’s renewed confirmation and general recognition as king.
1Sa_11:12. This bold deed of deliverance, performed under the immediate impulse of the Spirit from above at the head of the nation, legitimizes Saul before all Israel as their God-appointed king. It is quite in keeping with the enthusiasm with which he had inspired the people that they wished to punish his contemptuous opposers (1Sa_10:27) with death as traitors. The words: “Saul should reign over us” are to be taken either as exclamation or as question.
1Sa_11:13. In respect to this demand Saul appears in a yet nobler light. His heart is full of humble piety; he gives the glory to God alone, saying, “To-day Jehovah hath wrought salvation in Israel.” The victory over the foe is to him nothing but a saving act of God Himself. He regards himself as simply the instrument of God. This is the ground (כִּי, “for”) of the rejection of the demand; none should die that day. It is the utterance of royal generosity towards his enemies, whose hearts it must have won. Thereby he gained another victory: 1) over himself—he restrains himself in the exercise of a right, 2) over the anger of those who demanded that justice be executed, 3) over his former opponents, who now clearly see that which, under the influence of haughty contempt, they had doubted, and 4) over the whole people, who must have been carried along by him on the path of noble moral conduct, and lifted above themselves to the height on which he stood. The enthusiastic recognition of Saul by the whole nation as divinely appointed king was factually (in contrast with 1Sa_10:27) completed.
1Sa_11:14-15. Then follows, under Samuel’s direction, the formal and solemn renewal of the kingdom. Samuel orders an assembly of the people at Gilgal in the Jordan-valley; from the scene of victory the people, led by Saul and Samuel, go to that holy spot. The object of the gathering he declares to be the renewal of the kingdom with reference to the election of king at Mizpah, 1Sa_10:17 sq. What the “renewal of the kingdom” means must be learned from the following words: There they made Saul king before Israel.—The word וַיַּמְלִכוּ [“made king”] cannot be rendered “they anointed him,” because that is not its meaning, and because the act of anointing could have been performed, not by the people, but only by Samuel in the name of Jehovah. For the rest, if there had been a second anointing, it would, on account of its importance, have been expressly mentioned, as in David’s case, 2Sa_2:4; v. 3. The translation of the Sept.: “Samuel anointed Saul” is obviously an interpretation, they stumbling at the strange word of the original (וַיַּמְלִכוּ), which seemed to contradict 1Sa_10:17 sq., and adopting, as the best expedient, the supposition of a second anointing (with reference to 1Sa_10:1), having in mind the double anointing of David. All the other ancient translations follow the Masoretic text. Starting from the unfounded assumption that an anointing is here spoken of, Thenius wrongly argues that here is a sign of different authorship for chap. 11 and 1Sa_10:1-16, since a double anointing is hardly supposable. It is in itself quite supposable, since it actually occurred in David’s case, though then for a definite reason. But the text gives no support to this supposition. For the words “they made him king before Jehovah” mean nothing else than the solemn announcement and presentation of Saul before the nation as divinely appointed king in consequence of the divine legitimation given by his brilliant exploit against the Ammonites. [What is above said by Dr. Erdmann may serve also as answer to Wellhausen’s critical remarks on this paragraph. He holds that chap. 11 attaches itself naturally to 1Sa_10:16, since Saul in 1Sa_11:1-11 is not king, though he knows that he will be, and his whole procedure corresponds psychologically with exactness to the tone of mind naturally induced by the signs 1Sa_10:9-12. But this is no less true according to the present arrangement of the text. There is historical motive for the double declaration as king, and there is no external evidence to show that 1Sa_10:17-27 and 1Sa_11:12-14 are interpolations.—Tr.] The “before the Lord” (Clericus: “calling on God’s name and offering sacrifices to Him”) indicates the essential difference between this act and the proclamartion and homage at Mizpah, marking the religious act of installation sealed with a solemn offering (before the Lord), by which Saul was formally and solemnly consecrated to his office by the invisible God-king with renewed homage and recognition of the whole nation, and another pledge to keep the divine law. It is Saul’s solemn inauguration. The previous facts in the history of his call are the ascending steps to this acme—the solemn beginning of his royal rule.—“What had been done for Saul himself on the day of his anointing, and for the people at the election of king had now in Gilgal been publicly renewed and confirmed for the whole kingdom.” Schlier, Saul, p. 22. The “peace-offerings” which were sacrificed “before the Lord” expressed joy and gratitude before the Lord, the peaceful, joyful relation between Him and His people. Along with this religious side of joy the connected sacrificial meal represented its human side. Thus was celebrated at Gilgal by king and people a festival of great joy. There Samuel performs the functions of priest, and, as prophet and priest, is and remains the organ of the word and blessing of God, under which king and people equally stand, and by which the two are to form the indissoluble theocratic unity and fellowship, which from now on must be the foundation of the whole theocratic life.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
See the Exegetical explanations. In addition the following remarks may be made:
1. The deeper the ignominy and the greater the need of God’s people under the threats of the powerful foe, so much the more glorious was the deliverance, so much the more overwhelming the manifestation of the glory and the faithfulness of the covenant-God. The weeping of the people in view of the powerlessness of the ununited tribes and of the scornful pride of the enemy, expressed at the same time the humble, penitent spirit in which they sought the Lord’s help, as, in the time of the Judges, after defection and alienation from God, they ever turned penitently to the Lord when their need was greatest.
2. Saul’s call, in accordance with the occasion which led to the demand for the kingdom, and in accordance with the historical relations of the people to the surrounding heathen nations, was a military one. And so the prelude to his assumption of the government and his public solemn confirmation as king of Israel is this military deed, whose theocratic significance is indicated by the fact, that its source and origin is said to be the laying hold and filling of Saul by the power of the Spirit of God (1Sa_11:6). For the military work of the theocratic king must be sanctified, guided, accomplished by God directly through His Spirit, in order that the outer and inner conditions of the farther development of the theocracy in Israel may be secured.
3. The “coming of the Spirit of God” on Saul (1Sa_11:6), and on the organs of the theocracy generally, is not to be volatilized into an intensifying of their spiritual life, an uplifting of themselves to words and deeds in the service of God, but must be held to be a real, supernatural entrance of the Spirit of God into their inner life. This, however, is accomplished here (1Sa_11:5-6) as in 1Sa_10:10, not without an external, natural occasion and human instrumentality. The Spirit of God advances along the path marked out by the divine wisdom.
4. There is a holy anger, justified before God, like that which seized Saul (1Sa_11:6). Its origin is the Spirit from above, whose flame kindles it; its object is the power of sin, the shame and ignominy inflicted on God’s people and name, the enemies of God; its aim is the honor of God and the furtherance of the ends of His kingdom.
5. The power of the Spirit of God, which filled and impelled Saul showed itself, in its comprehensive, penetrating power over the national life, by the twofold effect, which was decisive for the first joint action of king and people, and also full of typical meaning for their whole history as people of God: the fear of the Lord in the relation of the people to their God, and the unity of their different parts (“the people went out as one man”); the innermost, the fear of Jehovah, was the source of their conjunction to a firm unity. To awaken and nourish the fear of God in the people by energetic, divinely-guided government, and to set the people as one man in their theocratic fellowship over against the heathen peoples as the people of the Lord, was the task and calling of the theocratic monarchy. These two aims contain the roots of the love of God and one’s neighbor as the twofold fundamental law of the kingdom of God. Mat_22:37-40; Deu_6:5 sq.; Lev_19:18.
6. When Saul, at his election as king and the partial homage which he received, maintained silence towards his scornful enemies and practiced self-denial in quietness and patience, he performed (over against the demand to visit deserved punishment on the despisers of the Lord’s Anointed) under the guidance of God’s Spirit an act of love to enemies, letting them go unpunished, and setting aside the demand to visit strict justice on them by pointing to the grace and salvation wherein God had just revealed Himself to the whole nation. A prelude of the disposition of forbearing, merciful love, which finds its fulfilment in the New Testament according to the word of the Lord (Mat_5:44), and through the Spirit from above (Luk_9:55), and has its ground in personal experience of the merciful love of God (Luk_6:36).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa_11:1-11. On what depends the help and deliverance of a people in times of great distress? 1) They must lift their voices imploringly to God (1Sa_11:4). 2) The men whom God has raised up as their helpers, they must receive with confidence as the Lord’s instruments (1Sa_11:5-7). 3) They must be subject in obedience and fidelity to the rulers given them by God. 4) They must place themselves under the discipline and guidance of God’s Spirit, in order, a) in true fear of God to be well-pleasing to the Lord, and b) in true unity of love to be as one man.
1Sa_11:1-5. What is meant by the question in a king’s mouth: What aileth the people that they weep? 1) A father’s faithful observation of his people’s weal and woe. 2) A brother’s sympathizing compassion for their distress. 3) A king’s magnanimous readiness to help.
[1Sa_11:5-11. Henry (altered): The spirit and conduct of Saul (comp. 1Sa_10:9): 1) His humility—anointed king, but following the oxen. 2) His concern for his neighbors (1Sa_11:5). 3) His zeal for the safety and honor of Israel (1Sa_11:6). 4) The authority and power he exerted, upon this important occasion. 5) His faith and confidence (1Sa_11:9). 6) His industry and close application to this business (1Sa_11:8; 1Sa_11:11). 7) His success.—Tr.]
1Sa_11:6-11. The holy communion in which king and people should stand, through the Spirit of the Lord: 1) In righteous anger against all that is hostile to God’s kingdom (1Sa_11:6); 2) In true fear of God, which unites king and people inwardly before the Lord; 3) In faithful love, wherein a) the people are heartily obedient to the king’s will, which aims at the common welfare, and b) under his guidance they rise up as one man against the common enemy, and to help the suffering fellow-citizens (1Sa_11:7); 4) In firm, confident faith in the Lord’s support, which does not suffer his people to be put to shame (1Sa_11:8-11).
1Sa_11:8-9. The messages, To-morrow ye shall have help: 1) A testimony of helpful, active brotherly love; 2) A promise of prompt, hastening help; 3) A trustworthy assurance of fortunate success; 4) A source of great joy (“ rejoiced greatly ”).
1Sa_11:12-15. To-day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel: 1) A jubilee-cry, praising the Lord’s honor; 2) A warning cry, reminding of guilty offences against forgiving and compassionate love; 3) An awakening cry, demanding the presentation of thank-offerings before the Lord; 4) A joyous cry, calling to be glad in the Lord.
J. Disselhoff: The first kingly deed. The two noblest ornaments of a servant of God are united in it: 1) Burning, holy zeal in the cause of God and the brethren; 2) Corresponding gentleness in one’s own cause.
[1Sa_11:4-6. Scott: The Lord, in providence, will make way for those whom He has designed and prepared for usefulness; nor shall any repent of humbly waiting in obscurity and honest industry, till He is pleased to call them forth; for pride and impatience alone can conclude, that the only wise God has lighted a candle to leave it under a bushel.—Tr.]
1Sa_11:6. Starke: Official wrath is unforbidden. [Compare “Historical and Theological,” No. 4. Anger is sometimes lawful, sometimes a duty. It is difficult, but not impossible, to “be angry and sin not” (Eph_4:26). Our Lord was at the same time angry and grieved (Mar_3:5).—Tr.] S. Schmid: It is the Spirit of God alone that works good in men, whether in an ordinary or an extraordinary manner. Disselhoff: Without this zeal no anointed one may be found. For this word will always hold good: “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord slothfully” [so Luther in Jer_48:10. Eng. A. V., “deceitfully,” but margin, “negligently,” which better suits the connection.—Tr.]—But in truth zeal alone is not yet the right ornament of the warriors of Christ. Prove thy zeal, whether it is not perhaps mixed with flesh and blood, or even proceeds altogether from this fountain; and know that zeal for the Lord’s cause should not flow from mere excitability, from a momentary ebullition of natural compassion, or from being overcome by human displeasure and anger. Not the strange fire which the sons of Aaron took, but the fire from the holy altar, the Spirit of God—let us learn it from Saul!—must overmaster, inflame, inspire us.
1Sa_11:7. Berl. Bible: There are two sorts of fear. One is a selfish, reward-seeking fear. In this we are caring for ourselves, and it is self-interest that excites, and that is properly human fear. But there is also a fear of the Lord, the fear that one has for His sake alone, when one fears lest the Lord has been grieved through our own sins, or those of others, or lest we or others should not have sufficiently glorified Him in ourselves.—Disselhoff: This can one man accomplish in the people of God, when he is driven by a holy, fiery zeal. The fear of God goes forth from him, and falls upon all to whom he comes. As soon as the fear of the Lord drives an army, a people, to the conflict, no need of being uneasy as to the result.—One cowardly, surly soldier of Christ, afraid of suffering, easily makes a hundred cowards, for cowardice is contagious.
1Sa_11:12. Starke: As in God, so in His deputies, mercy and justice should be inseparable; wheresoever these two go asunder, government follows them into distraction, and ends in ruin.26—Disselhoff: Such a saying (1Sa_11:13) is the fairest ornament of God’s warriors, lion-like zeal against the enemies of God, against sin and all its out-breaks, a lamb-like disposition towards individual sinners, for they are not to be destroyed, but to be saved through the same salvation that has fallen to our lot.—Berlenb. Bible: Saul’s answer instructs the people in two things at once: first, that we must not ascribe victory to man, but to God; secondly, that we must not be too swift in judging those who through ignorance have rejected God’s guidance, and that the salvation which God has, in so glorious a manner, given to Israel, would be mighty enough to bring back again those who have wandered away.—God wills not the death of the sinner, etc. Excessive strictness rather repels sinners, than brings them right again.
1Sa_11:14-15. Cramer: The best bond between authorities and subjects is that they intend to be mutually faithful.—Disselhoff: When one does even something great for his Lord, and does not shrink from much toil and trouble for His sake, can his heart abide in very great joy if he forgets gentleness and patience towards his neighbor, becomes provoked against him, bitter and ill-mannerly?
Footnotes:
[1][1Sa_11:1. On reading of Sept. and Vulg. see Expos.—Tr.]
[2][1Sa_11:1. Or, laid siege to.—Tr.]
[3][1Sa_11:2. The word “covenant” is not in the Heb. but is involved in the verb. The insertion of the word in the Heb. text is therefore unnecessary. Throughout this passage the Sept. has explanatory additions, which need be regarded only as the freedoms of a translator.—Tr.]
[4][1Sa_11:2. Rendered “pick out” by Eng. A. V. in Ps. 30:17.—Tr.]
[5][1Sa_11:3. הֶרֶף Hiph. Impv. Apoc. of רפה. Ges. Heb. Gr., §75, Rem. 15.—Tr.]
[6][1Sa_11:3. Or, into every region.—Tr.]
[7][1Sa_11:4. Sept. has incorrectly “to Gibeah to Saul;” it is evident that the message was not brought to Saul. Syr. “the hill of Saul,” Arab. “the city of Saul,” but the word is a proper name.—Tr.]
[8][1Sa_11:4. Lit. “spake the words (or things).” In 1Sa_11:5 it is: “related the words (or things).”—Tr.]
[9][1Sa_11:7. Comp. Exo_29:17; Lev_1:6; Jdg_20:6.—Tr.]
[10][1Sa_11:7. Some render: “sent (word) etc., saying.”—Tr.]
[11][1Sa_11:8. The Sept. gives for Israel 600,000, and for Judah 70,000, about double the numbers in the Heb. text—an illustration of the tendency to magnify numbers.—Tr.]
[12][1Sa_11:9. Lit. “in (Qeri, at) the heat of the sun;” see similar pharse in 1Sa_11:11.—Tr.]
[13][1Sa_11:12. Sept., Chald., Syr., Arab., insert a negative: “Saul shall not reign over us;” Chald., “is not fit to reign,” Vulg. as Heb. This neg. doe not necessarily imply a different text, yet a לֹא may easily have fallen out of the Heb., the preceding word ending with ל. The sense is the same in both readings.—Tr.]
[14][1Sa_11:12. This word is plu. in Heb., Chald., Vulg., Arab., but sing. in Sept. and Syr.; the former, as the more difficult reading (since the address was to Samuel), is to be preferred.—Tr.]
[15][1Sa_11:15. Sept: anointed—as interpretation.—Tr.]
[16][1Sa_11:15. Sept.: Samuel (instead of Saul)—more probably error of transcription than attempt to make Samuel conspicuous.—Tr.]
[17][Reading בְּמֵחדֶשׁ instead of כְּמַחֲרִישׁ.—Tr.]
[18][Not if he had a different text before him.—Tr.]
[19][On the relation between this Nahash and the person mentioned in 2Sa_17:25 as father of Abigail, and for discussion of 1Ch_2:16, see Arts. Abigail, Zeruiah, Nahash, in Smith’s Bib. Dict. and the Commentaries in loco, and comp. 2Sa_17:27.—Tr.]
[20][“On the mountains in full view of Beisan.” Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 174.—Tr.]
[21][This is not the exact expression of the text; rather the putting out of the eyes was the condition of surrender and treaty offered in savage pleasantry by Nahash.—Tr.]
[22] בְּזות, “in this,” that is, on this condition. The suff. הָ in שַׂמְתִּיהָ is to be taken as neuter, referring to the putting out of the eyes.
[23][It is not said, that they went first to Gibeah.—Tr.]
[24][The word Elohim or El (God) is apparently sometimes used in the Old Testament in a superlative sense=“very great or high,” as in Psa_36:7 (6), which is literally “mountains of El,” Psa_68:16 (15), 1Sa_14:15, or with Prep. ל (to) as in Jon_3:3. But in the former cases the true meaning of the word “God” is always kept in the foreground, though the adjectival conception “great” naturally attaches to it.—Tr.]
[25][The German has incorrectly 7. Bezek is differently located by different writers. See the dictionaries of Winer, Fairbairn, and Smith, s. v.—Tr.]
[26][As Starke has borrowed this (apparently without acknowledgment) word for word from the English Bishop Hall, we have not re-translated, but given the original. And so in numerous subsequent eases.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–3 thrust out all your right eyes--literally, "scoop" or "hollow…
thrust out all your right eyes--literally, "scoop" or "hollow out" the ball. This barbarous mutilation is the usual punishment of usurpers in the East, inflicted on chiefs; sometimes, also, even in modern history, on the whole male population of a town. Nahash meant to keep the Jabeshites useful as tributaries, whence he did not wish to render them wholly blind, but only to deprive them of their right eye, which would disqualify them for war. Besides, his object was, through the people of Jabesh-gilead, to insult the Israelitish nation.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–3 SAUL’S VICTORY OVER THE AMMONITES, 1Sa_11:1-11.
SAUL’S VICTORY OVER THE AMMONITES, 1Sa_11:1-11.
The fact that Saul was permitted to return again to private life after all Israel’s clamour for a king, and notwithstanding the enthusiasm that prevailed at his election at Mizpeh, shows that there was considerable disaffection and disappointment among the people over his appointment. The salutations of royalty that at first greeted him on that proud occasion soon died away. There was, probably, a feeling that he was too obscure a person, and of insufficient age and experience, to be suddenly advanced to the head of the nation. But we must not judge the tastes and ideas of that more simple age altogether by the standard of our own times. In the old Roman Republic it is said that Cincinnatus was called from the plough to lead the army against the enemy, and, after having conquered, and having held the dictatorship only sixteen days, he returned to his farm again. It was no easy matter to establish a monarchy over a people that had never hitherto been subject to a human king; and, to do it successfully, it was necessary that he who was to be ruler should signalize his martial prowess and heroic daring by going out before the people and fighting for them victorious battles against their enemies. An attempt of the Ammonites to avenge themselves of the defeat they had suffered at the hands of Jephthah (Jdg_11:33) gave to the regal Saul an opportunity to secure for himself a more worthy recognition.
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1. Nahash the Ammonite — From 1Sa_12:12, we learn that he was king of the children of Ammon, and also that a knowledge of his warlike intentions was one reason of Israel’s urgent request for a king to fight their battles for them. For the origin of the Ammonites see Gen_19:38; and for their subsequent history, Jdg_11:4-33.
Jabesh-gilead — Gilead was the mountainous tract east of the Jordan bounded on the north by Bashan and on the south by the land of the Ammonites. Of this district Jabesh was the chief city, and is first mentioned Jdg_21:8, in connexion with the vengeance wrought on its inhabitants for not participating in the tribal war against Benjamin. It was situated on the Wady Yabes, some six or eight miles east of the Jordan.
The inhabitants must have been at this time in a very defenceless condition, as is manifest from their desire to make a covenant with the invaders.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Ch. 1Sa_11:1-11. Saul’s victory over the Ammonites
Ch. 1Sa_11:1-11. Saul’s victory over the Ammonites
1. Then] Simply And. There is nothing in the Hebrew text to mark whether the interval was long or short. The Sept. however omits the words “But he held his peace” at the close of ch. 10, and begins this chapter “And it came to pass after about a month that Nahash, &c.” This rendering represents a very slight variation in the consonants of the Hebrew text, and possibly preserves the original reading. At any rate we may gather from ch. 1Sa_12:12 that an Ammonite attack was threatened before Saul’s election, and probably the actual invasion took place not long after.
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Nahash] The king of the Ammonites (ch. 1Sa_12:12). This Nahash can hardly have been the Nahash who “shewed kindness to David” during his wanderings (2Sa_10:2), but probably his father or grandfather. According to Josephus he was slain in the battle.
the Ammonite] South and East of the Israelite settlements on the Eastern side of the Jordan dwelt the powerful tribes of the Ammonites and Moabites. The limits of their respective territories cannot be exactly defined, but the Ammonites appear to have lived north and the Moabites south of the Arnon. The Ammonites were a fierce marauding tribe: the Moabites a settled and civilised nation. United by the tie of common descent from Lot, they were generally in alliance against Israel. Twice during the period of the Judges they “oppressed Israel” (Jdg_3:12-14; Jdg_10:11), and even crossed the Jordan and occupied Jericho (1Sa_3:13, 1Sa_10:9). After their defeat by Jephthah, the Ammonites are not mentioned until the present occasion. During the early part of David’s reign they were on friendly terms with him, but the studied insult offered by Hanun to his ambassadors (2Sa_10:1 ff.) led to a war which resulted in the capture of their metropolis Rabbah (2Sa_12:26). In the reign of Jehoshaphat they once more invaded Judah in conjunction with the Moabites (2 Chronicles 20), but were signally defeated, and became tributary to Uzziah and Jotham (2Ch_26:8; 2Ch_27:5). Even after the Return their old hostility survived (Neh_4:7-8). Judas Maccabaeus found them “a mighty power,” and “fought many battles with them until at length they were discomfited before him” (1Ma_5:6-7).
Jabesh-Gilead] i.e. Jabesh in Gilead, the extensive district lying immediately E. of the Jordan between Bashan on the N. and Moab and Ammon on the S. and S. E. To the southern portion of this district the Ammonites laid claim (Jdg_11:13). A terrible vengeance had been executed on Jabesh for its neglect to join the levy of Israel in the war against Benjamin (Jdg_21:8 ff.), but from this blow it had recovered, and Nahash now attacked it as the capital of Gilead, and the key to the possession of the country. The name of Jabesh still survives in the Wady Yâbis, which runs down into the Jordan valley a few miles below Beth-shan. It is a lovely valley, full of straggling old olives, patches of barley, and rich pasture. Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 556.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 (1) Nahash the Ammonite.—Nahash was king of the children…
(1) Nahash the Ammonite.—Nahash was king of the children of Ammon (see 1Sa_12:12). This royal family was in some way related to David (see 2Sa_17:25; 1Ch_2:16-17). At the time of David’s exile owing to the rebellion of Absalom, a son of Nahash the Ammonite is specially mentioned as showing kindness to the fugitive king. Jabesh-gilead was a city situated in Northern Gilead, in the territory assigned to Manasseh. Josephus states that it was the capital of the country of Gilead. The Ammonites were a kindred race to the Moabites, being descended from the same ancestor, the patriarch Lot. They asserted that a portion of their territory had been taken from them by Israel, and in the days of the judges sorely harassed the people. The Judge Jephthah attacked and defeated them with great slaughter.
It was, no doubt, to avenge the disgrace they had suffered at the hands of Jephthah that their warlike monarch, Nahash,—deeming the opportunity a favourable one, owing to the old age of the reigning judge, Samuel,—invaded the Israelitic country bordering upon his kingdom, and besieged the city of Jabesh-gilead.
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Make a covenant with us.—The citizens of Jabesh-gilead, feeling their isolation and comparative remoteness from the chief centre of the people, were willing to pay a tribute to the Ammonite king, and made him overtures to this effect.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 THE DEFEAT OF THE AMMONITES (vers. 1-13).
THE DEFEAT OF THE AMMONITES (vers. 1-13).
Vers. 1, 2. Nahash the Ammonite. The same name is found in 2Sa_10:2 as that of the father of Hanun, who treated David"s ambassadors so shamefully, and probably they mean the same person. He is there said to have shown kindness to David; and as we read in, 2Sa_17:25 that Abigal (so the Hebrew, not Abigail as the A.V, who was David"s wife) Amasa"s mother, was the daughter of Nahash, and as Abigal was the sister or half-sister of Zeruiah, David"s aunt, there seems to have been some relationship between them. The Ammonites were old enemies of the Israelites, alleging that Israel had taken possession of territory east of the Jordan which rightfully belonged to them; (Jud_1:11:13) but after their defeat by Jephthah their power was so broken that they allowed a century to elapse before they ventured again to assert their claim. Nahash, apparently after other invasions, (1Sa_12:12) now attacks Jabesh-Gilead, a city in the half-tribe of Manasseh, which had been cruelly treated by the Israelites, (Jud_1:21:10) but apparently had risen again from its ruins. Its inhabitants were willing humbly to submit to Ammonite rule; but Nahash will grant them no other terms than that they should let him thrust out Hebrew, bore throughall their right eyes, not from any special spite against them, but as an insult to all Israel. No better proof could be given of the disorganisation of the nation than that a petty despot should venture to show his contempt for it in so offensive a way.
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Vers. 1-3.
The relative power of evil and, good.
The facts are
1. The Ammonites, in pursuit of the enterprise previously arranged for (see 1Sa_12:12; cf. 8:5), threaten Jabesh-Gilead.
2. The inhabitants in terror seek to make a covenant with their enemy.
3. This being insolently refused, a respite of seven days is granted, duringwhich external aid is to be sought. The narrative is evidently designed to trace the circumstances under which the discontent and base insinuations of "men of Belial" (1Sa_10:27) were practically shown to be baseless. This was a war of revenge undertaken by the strong against the weak, and the facts as a whole set forth three important truths of general interest.
I EVIL IS STRONG RELATIVELY TO THE FAITHFULNESS OR UNFAITHFULNESS OF GOD"S PEOPLE. Ammon was Israel"s ancestral (Deu_23:4; Jud_1:11:4) The prosperity of one seemed incompatible with that of the other. When, under the inspiring leadership of Jephthah, the Ammonites were utterly smitten, their strength was brought down to its proper proportions. Had Israel continued faithful in the improvement of privileges enjoyed as the chosen race, their moral and political strength would have proportionately advanced in harmony with the promises given through Moses. (Deu_28:1-14) The relative position of the representatives of good and evil had entirely changed when Nahash in pride of strength threatened Jabesh-Gilead. Even the partial reformation effected through Samuel had not yet placed Israel beyond the fear of well organised foes. God"s people are strong when holy, true, and diligent in use of the advantages of their position. The truth thus taught is exemplified in Church history, in modern society, in private and domestic life.
1. Church history testifies that the energy of evil and its range have been proportionate to the faithfulness of the Church to its lofty mission as conserver of God"s truth and witness for Christ among men. The Ammonites have multiplied, become insolent, and have awakened fear only when the Christian Israel have lost their first love and failed to keep their solemn vows.
1. Modern society feels that the growth of evil is another form ofweakened spiritual grace. There may be, in the unseen sphere of spiritual "principalities and powers," seasons when energetic spontaneous exertions are made to overcome the influence of the gospel. But to speak of the portentous growth of spiritual ignorance, disregard of religion, infidelity, and open vice, especially in large centres of population, is but another way of saying that the professed followers of Christ have not been as earnest and united in effort as he would have them to be. It is in the nature of light to get rid of darkness, of salt to remove corruption. The grave problem of
2. the age may require many elements social, sanitary, educational, political for its solution, but men feel that the chief requirement is higher spiritual power in Christians.
3. In private and domestic life the power of evil depends on personal fidelity to what God has given and imposed. The remnants of sin in our nature lose force in so far as we faithfully seek cleansing by the indwelling of the Spirit, and keep a strong hand on the first uprising of unholiness. The force of external temptation diminishes in so far as our cultured holiness of disposition furnishes it with no affinity within. And as domestic life is but the first social form of the life cultured in private, its spiritual evils become formidable or feeble in so far as the soul is true to its God.
II DANGERS IMPENDING FROM THE GROWTH OF EVIL MAY INDUCE RECOURSE TO THE TRUE SOURCE OF DELIVERANCE. The dangers threatening Jabesh-Gilead sprang from the action of a spiritual law. Israel never had been in real peril during any seasons of obedience to God. In the present instance the danger, which was brought on by a train of sad defections in years gone by, was very real, and became so pressing that, in utter desperation, the people turn their thoughts towards the king. The miseries consequent on past sins aroused a cry for the lawful deliverer. This was one of the results of the partial reformation. Much is gained when men are impelled to have recourse to the agencies and sources of power which God has specifically ordained for their help. There are illustrations of this in life.
1. The soul is often driven, in desperation, to Christ for help. Men do awake to the fact that destruction awaits them. The jailor"s cry to the Apostle Paul has been repeated by thousands. Sin and judgment are terrible realities. But often men, when oppressed with fear of coming doom, endeavour to find relief by various expedients. At last, half in despair and half in hope, they turn to him who is the Anointed One to secure redemption to Israel.
2. In the spiritual conflict a sense of need impels to a use of Divine aids.
Some men, trusting too freely to merely human wisdom, find that disaster comes in the Christian conflict. Principles become gradually weaker, and there is a risk of a loss of place in the commonwealth of Israel; but after a bitter experience they remember and recognise the means of defence and freedom. Weary, sad, conscious of inability to cope with the foe, they seek closer fellowship with Christ, and a more earnest use of the sword of the Spirit.
3. The modern Church is driven by the sheer magnitude of social dangers to have recourse more fully to the radical cure of all ills the gospel. Thoughtful Christians see that no mere social reforms and sanitary arrangements, or scientific discoveries, will avail to arrest the real dangers of human nature. The evil is great, the risks desperate; the full gospel, presented with all the energy and self-denial and love which the Christian spirit can call forth, is the only means of spiritual deliverance. The material and social will follow. Whatever others may do, the Church must betake herself with apostolic zeal to the ancient lines of action.
III EVENTS IN THE NATURAL ORDER OF PROVIDENCE AFFORD OPPORTUNITY FOR THE VINDICATION OF GOD"S SERVANTS. It is instructive to notice how long lines of intricate events, and working out collateral purposes, converge in securing for the anointed king an opportunity of answering by deeds the aspersions and insinuations of disaffected men. The growth of Ammon"s power for evil consequent on Israel"s religious defection, and the gradual reformation that had for some years been progressing in Israel, these with all their subsidiary events, created occasion for an appeal to Saul. He "held his peace" when "menof Belial" reviled, but Providence was working in his behalf. There are "wheels within wheels." The same order is ever going on. The Saviour"s earthly life and subsequent resurrection is a case in point. Righteous men, whose motives have been misinterpreted and characters maligned, have committed themselves in silence to God, and he has brought forth their "righteousness as the light," and their "judgment as the noonday." And, also, all events are converging to the vindication of Christ"s claim to be King of kings and Lord of lords.
General considerations:
1. What may be the special causes of the relative progress of irreligion in different localities?
2. To what extent the prevalence of irreligion and of influences adverse to the gospel are traceable to the unfaithfulness of the Church in generations gone by, and how best to counteract the effect of such historic unfaithfulness on the public mind.
3. In how many ways do professing Christians sometimes endeavour tocompromise with their natural enemy?
4. What opportunites does Providence naturally open for the vindication of our personal claim to be true servants of Christ?
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1-15. (GIBEAH, BEZEK, JABESH.)
Saul"s first victory.
Although Saul had been privately anointed and publicly chosen king, he did not immediately assume royal state. Guided, doubtless, by the counsel of Samuel, and perceiving from the disaffection of certain men (1Sa_10:27) that the nation was not yet quite prepared for the change, he did not deem it prudent to do so. Returning to his former mode of life at Gibeah (ver. 5), he awaited some further indication of his call to be "captain over the Lord"s inheritance." "Nothing but true, royal action for the welfare of the state, alike bravely undertaken and firmly carried out at the right moment, could win for him that real deference, that joyful, voluntary cooperation for state purposes from all his subjects, without which his sovereignty must ever remain most feeble and equivocal" (Ewald). It was not long ("a month," LXX) before the opportunity for such action occurred. He proved himself equal to the occasion, and his patience was justified and rewarded. His position as a military leader was fully vindicated by the result, and his sovereignty was heartily recognised by all the people. This is the chief historical significance of his warlike enterprise or campaign against the Ammonites for the relief of Jabesh-Gilead. Observe that it was
I UNDERTAKEN IN A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE (vers. 1-4). If ever war is justifiable (and it seems impossible that it should be altogether avoided), it is when undertaken, as in this case
1. To repel hostile aggression. The Ammonites were old enemies (Deu_2:19 Deu_23:3, Deu_23:4; Jud_1:3:13 10:7 11:5) They were a nomadic, predatory, cruel, and idolatrous people. For some time Nahash, animated by the desire of war and conquest, "the malady of princes," had assumed a threatening attitude, (1Sa_12:12) and now laid siege to the capital of Gilead, a part of the Israelitish territory belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh, beyond the Jordan. His aggression was
(1) Without adequate ground. He probably revived a claim previously asserted and refuted. (Jud 11:12-15) But men readily find pretexts for a course to which they are disposed. "From whence come wars?". (Jam_4:1)
(2) Revengeful. He wished to avenge the defeat long before inflicted by Jephthah. Hatred between nations tends to perpetuate itself, and to become intensified; and successes in war often sow "dragon"s teeth" that produce a subsequent harvest of strife and misery.
(3) Proud, boastful, and cruel (ver. 2).
1. To aid imperilled brethren. Between the people of Jabesh and the Benjamites, especially, there was an intimate connection. (Jud 21:12-14) Their condition was now degraded, fearful, wretched; and although it was due to their want of patriotism, faith, and courage, yet it did not deprive them of a claim upon the sympathy of their brethren, but was a powerful appeal to their compassion. The appeal of the poor, the oppressed, the slave cannot be unheeded without sin. (Pro_24:11, Pro_24:12)
2. To avert a common danger. The siege of Jabesh was evidently intended as the first step in an attack upon all Israel. The distress of the people of Gibeah arose not merely from sympathy with their brethren, but also from fear for themselves, and a sense of helplessness against so powerful an adversary. Saul"s enterprise was thus one of self-defence.
3. To maintain the Divine hour. The Ammonites worshipped Moloch (Molech, or Milcom), "the abomination of the children of Ammon", (1Ki_11:7) and sought his honour in opposition to that of Jehovah. It was a part of the calling of Israel to extirpate idolatry, and it was commanded them concerning the Ammonites, "Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever". (Deu_23:6) In their wars with the heathen they acted under a Divine commission. The religious wars which have been waged under the Christian dispensation have sometimes been undertaken from lofty motives, but they have not had the same justification, and the honour of God ought to be sought by other and more effectual means.
II WAGED WITH HOLY ENTHUSIASM (vers. 5-11). Enthusiasm God in us. It was
1. Inspired by the Divine Spirit. On returning from the field, and learning the cause of the people"s distress, "the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and.his anger was kindled greatly." There is an anger which is not sinful (Mar_3:5; Eph_4:26) The feeling of resentment is a weapon put into our hands by God against injury, injustice, and cruelty of every kind.
(1) The anger of Saul was incited by the same spirit as previously constrained him to utter Divine praises.
(2) It was a feeling of wrath and burning zeal against wrong.
(3) It was directed towards the welfare of his people and the honour of God.
(4) It qualified him for a great enterprise; led him to assume the leadership of the nation to which he had been appointed, and to summon the tribes to rally around him. The gifts of the Spirit of God are various, and adapted to the requirements of the age.
2. Shared in by all the people.
(1) "The fear of Jehovah fell on the people," i.e. a fear inspired by him. "In Saul"s energetic appeal the people discerned the power of Jehovah, which inspired them with fear and impelled them to immediate obedience" (Keil). That power is able to fill a whole nation, as well as an individual, with new emotions and impulses.
(2) Under its influence "they came out as one man" (with one consent).
(3) Mustered under the leadership of Saul in Bezek, near to Bethshan. A common danger often draws men into closer union and cooperation than peace and prosperity.
1. Expressed in a confident assurance of help. "Tomorrow, by the time the sun be hot, ye shall have help" (ver. 9). Faith looks upon that which is believed as if it were already an accomplished fact.
2. Manifested in energetic action. His promise was not in words merely, but was followed up by deeds (ver. 11). "It was night when Saul and the armed multitude which followed him broke up from Bezek. Little did he know how well the brave men of Jabesh would requite the service. (1Sa_31:8-13) Strange that Saul"s first march should have been by night from Bethshan to Jabesh, the same route by which at the last they carried his dead body at night" (Edersheim).
III ATTENDED WITH EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS.
1. The defeat of the enemy sudden, unexpected, and complete. "Two of them were not left together," and their king, Nahash, was slain (Josephus). "Those that walk in pride he is able to abase". (Dan_4:37)
2. The deliverance of the oppressed, who were not afterwards wanting in gratitude or courage.
3. The cessation of disaffection (vers. 12, 13).
4. The united and joyful devotion of all Israel (vers. 14, 15).
Observe
1. We have other enemies to encounter than those of flesh and blood. (Eph_6:12)
1. We must contend against them not simply for our own safety, but for thegood of our fellow men.
2. It is only by the help of the Lord that we can prevail. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up.
1Sa_11:1-11
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up.
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The immediate consequences of a national rejection of God
In the opening verses of this chapter we see the result of disobedience. Instead of happiness for Israel; we fear that the invasion of which we now read, is but too prophetic of those awful retributions which Samuel declared should come upon their wilful rejection of the Divine Being. We take these words as illustrative of the consequences of a national rejection of God.
I. That when a nation rejects God it may very naturally expect to be troubled by enemies. There appears to have existed an old land quarrel between these two peoples, which had occasioned the battle just mentioned, and which at this time they strive to revenge and recoverse In the light of this history we gather that--
1. They were enemies of long standing. It was a deep seated hatred that time had almost rendered chronic. It is easy to settle the dispute of yesterday, but when years have passed they make the breach almost impassable. Thus God rendered dark the hops of Israel through enemies of the longest standing and the most dreaded.
(1) Would be bitter enemies.
(2) Would be despotic enemies.
2. They were enemies that had been previously defeated. They had been most severely routed by Jephthah. The relatives, friends, and companions of these warriors now threatening Israel with invasion were slain in that conflict. Truly, Israel had need to fear such a foe.
3. These enemies were most opportune in their attack upon Israel.
(1) As regards the place. It was near to their own country, and was also extremely weak.
(2) As regards the time of this threatened invasion. Israel was in a most unsettled condition. The people were in a transition state, just changing an old form of government for a new one, consequently were very much occupied with their own affairs. There were new arrangements to make adapted to the changed condition of things. All the strength, skill, and time that the nation could command was required to be expended upon itself, to give it permanency, and to give freedom from civil faction. Hence the Israelites were totally unprepared for woe, and especially with so powerful a foe.
II. That when a nation rejects God its degradation is certain to follow. Nahash assumes the weakness of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and their consequent inability to defend themselves from his army. He therefore commences at once to propose the most painful and humiliating condition of peace. A condition indeed which would involve the whole nation in disgrace.
1. These people are about to degrade the noble achievements of their ancestors. And this is a true characteristic of a nation that has rejected God. When they have rejected Him, the next thing to do is to throw away all the sacred memories of the past, and to nullify their meaning.
2. These people are far more careful about their own comfort than the memories of their past history. They would a great deal rather undo the achievements of their ancestors than lose their own eyes.
3. These people were willing to degrade themselves by the breaking of a Divine Law. They wanted to make a covenant with the Ammonites, which bad been strictly forbidden by God. This is just what we might have expected. It is only natural that, after they had dethroned the Divine Being, they should infringe His law.
4. These people are degraded by doubting the bravery of their country. When citizens lose confidence in their defenders it is a sure sign that elements of weakness are mining the society prejudicial to its welfare. May we never lose faith in the heroism of our country!
III. These enemies and this degradation came immediately after the nation had rejected God in proclaiming the new king.
1. As a reminder. To make the Israelites very careful in their revolution, and to give them to feel that although they had got a king, he could not remove them from the touch, nor could he shelter them from the displeasure of God.
2. As a prognostication. That notwithstanding their rejoicing at the public recognition of the new king, the future history of the nation could not be altogether smooth and glad. It was the calm before the tempest, and the invasion by the Ammonites was the first peal of thunder announcing the nearing storm. Lessons--
(1) For a nation to reject God is for it, truly to forsake its best welfare--political, social, and moral.
(2) That a nation rejecting God is sure to meet with numerous difficulties.
(3) That a nation by rejecting God introduces into its history the true element of its ruin.
(4) This national destruction or sorrow may be delayed, but it is certain. (Joseph S. Exell, M. A.)
The relic of Jabesh-Gilead
Primitive though the state of society was in those days in Israel, we are hardly prepared to find Saul following the herd in the field after his election as king of Israel. We are compelled to conclude that the opposition to him was far from contemptible in number and in influence, and that he found it expedient in the meantime to make no demonstration of royalty, but continue his old way of life. Human life was of so little value in those Eastern countries, and the crime of destroying it was so little thought of, that if Saul had in any way provoked hostility, he would have been almost certain to fall by some assassins hand. It was therefore wise of him to continue for a time his old way of living, and wait for some opportunity which should arise providentially, to vindicate his title to the sceptre of Israel. Apparently he bad not to wait long--according to Josephus, only a month. The opportunity arose in a somewhat out-of-the-way part of the country, where disturbance had been brewing previous to his election (1Sa_12:12). Very probably the Ammonites had never forgotten the humiliation inflicted on them by Jepthah, when he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and till thou come to the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Naturally the Ammonites would be desirous both to avenge these defeats and to regain their cities, or at least to get other cities in lieu of what they had lost. The history of the Israelites in time of danger commonly presents one or other of two extremes: either pusillanimous submission, or daring defiance to the hostile power. In this case it was pusillanimous submission, as indeed it commonly was when the people followed the motions of their own hearts, and were not electrified into opposition by some great hero, full of faith in God. But it was not mere cowardice they displayed in offering to become the servants of the Ammonites; there was impiety in it likewise. For of their relation to God they made no account whateverse By covenant with their fathers, ratified from generation to generation, they were Gods servants, and they had no right voluntarily to transfer to another master the allegiance which was due to God alone. And it was not a case of necessity. Instead of humbling themselves before God and confessing the sins that had brought them into trouble, they put God altogether aside, and basely offered to become the servants of the Ammonites. How often do men virtually say to the devil, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee! Men and women, with strong proclivities to sin, may for a time resist, but they get tired of the battle; they long for an easier life, and they say in their hearts, We will resist no longer; we will become your servants. They are willing to make peace with the Ammonites, because they are wearied of fighting. Anything for a quiet life! They surrender to the enemy, they are willing to serve sin, because they will not surrender the ease and the pleasures of sin. But sin is a bad master; his wages are terrible to think of. The terms which Nahash offered to the men of Jabesh-Gilead combined insult to injury. On this condition will I make a covenant with thee: that I, may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach unto all Israel. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. But Nahash was comparatively merciful. He was willing to let the men of Jabesh off with the loss of one eye only. But as if to compensate for this forbearance, be declared that he would regard the transaction as a reproach upon all Israel. All the people lifted up their voices and wept. It was just the way in which their forefathers had acted at the Red Sea; and again, it was the way in which they spent that night in the wilderness after the spies brought back their report of the land. But, as in the two earlier cases, there was a man of faith to roll back the wave of panic. As we are thinking how well Saul has acted on this occasion, we perceive that an old friend has come on the scene who helps us materially to understand the situation. Yes, he is all the better of Samuels guidance and prayers. The good old prophet has no jealousy of the man who took his place at the bead of the nation. But knowing well the fickleness of the people, he is anxious to turn the occasion to account for confirming their feelings and their sins. Seeing how the king has acknowledged God as the Author of the victory, he desires to strike while the iron is hot. Come, he says, let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
Practical royalty
1. It is often true in life that circumstances drive us to make approaches which are not congenial. Men are driven by stress of health or poverty, or some form of perplexity not easily to be named in words, to offer to nut themselves into relations with people whom under other circumstances they would never treat with. Such facts in life we are bound to recognise. And it would betoken a poor quality of nature on our part to associate with such recognitions too severe a moral condemnation. Our common proverb is to the effect that adversity has strange bedfellows. The men of Jabesh-Gilead, therefore, must be regarded as persons who are under oppressive circumstances, and who are willing to make the best of conditions which are very galling and humiliating.
2. No language is too severe to condemn the barbarous cruelty of Nahash; at the same time he only shows what we might be under circumstances of equal temptation and pressure. When we see how man can treat man, we are enabled to reason upwards, and to see how possible it is for man to treat God profanely and blasphemously. When man loves God he loves his neighbour also; but when man ceases to love his neighbour, and then passes from mere displeasure to positive and cruel hatred, it is easy for him to carry the spirit of hostility further and to include in its base action even all that is heavenly and Divine. The moment we can treat a man unjustly and cruelly we have disqualified ourselves for true prayer and real communion with Heaven. Let there be no mistake about this matter. We cannot give up our philanthropy and retain our Christianity.
3. Saul was engaged in his usual pursuits. The King of Israel was actually discharging offices with the herd in the field, attending to the wants of his cattle, and otherwise going about his business soberly and quietly. No intimation of unusual circumstances seems to have reached him. How unconscious we sometimes are of the circumstances which are nearest to us--unconscious, that is to say, of their real import and deepest meaning! When we think all is proceeding as usual we may be within touch of some occurrence that will determine all the remaining actions of our life The commonplace and the marvellous often lie closely together. The picture, then, is that of a great man attending to simple daily duties, and it will be a sad day for any people who imagine that simple daily duties are not worthy of the dignity even of the greatest man. Society has a right to expect great things from great men. No greater tribute could be paid to Saul than that; threatened and despairing men should appeal to him in the time of their agony. The men who shouted, God save the king, did not pay Saul so fine a tribute as the men who came to him in their extremity and asked for his sympathy and assistance. No sooner had Saul heard the condition proposed by the King of Ammon than he burned with anger. We can best describe a certain quality of anger by tracing it to the direct action of the Spirit of God. Truly, there is a holy indignation. The sublime enthusiasm of Saul kindled the faith of the people. A modern commentary, referring to this passage, has the following illustrative remarks:--It was owing to some influence of a similar nature that, with scanty numbers, ill-armed, and ill-trained, the Swiss won for their land centuries of freedom on memorable fields like Laupen and Morat, though the proudest chivalry of Europe was arrayed against them. It was the same spirit which impelled the peace-loving traders of the marshes of Holland to rise as one man, and to drive out forever from their loved strip of Fenland the hitherto invincible armies of Spain. No oppressor, though backed by the wealth and power of an empire, has over been able to resist the smallest people in whose heart has burned the flame of the Divine fire of the fear of the Lord All these circumstances would be of little or no concern to us if they did not point to a great spiritual reality. Tremendous foes besiege us on every side. What is our defence in such time of assault? It is the fear of the Lord, the Spirit of God, the Divine energy. God delights in humbling the boastful and vainglorious He that exalteth himself shall be abased. Presumption is always self-defeating; it is so in business, in war, in statesmanship, and in every act and department of rational life.
4. Notice that this was not entered upon without preparation. There was no rush or haste in the matter. Sometimes we proceed most swiftly when we seem to advance most slowly. There should be a time for gathering strength together, measuring the situation in all its dimensions, consulting Divine decrees, and putting the soul into right relations with God. After such preparation everything will go rapidly. Every stroke will be a victory.
5. A fit ending to a tragical process Gilgal was a sanctuary. After great doings on the field of battle we must return to the house of prayer, we must, indeed, return to the place where we began. We should enter upon no conflict until after we have been in the sanctuary, and having completed the conflict we should return to the altar. Enter upon nothing that cannot be sanctified at holy places and by holy names. There is nothing too insignificant to be associated with the most solemn acts of worship; or if we are conscious of such insignificance, we should not undertake the affairs which admit of its application. Learn the useful lesson that Saul did not thrust himself into prominence, and that even after he was appointed king of Israel he went about his usual avocations until there was something worthy of kingliness to be publicly done. Let us be rebuked in so far as we have supposed that we were released from duty until some great and critical occasion arose. Having obtained our literary prize, let us go home and take up the business of life in a quiet way. Do not think that anything which nature or society requires at us is below our dignity because we have achieved this or that popular success. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
CHAPTER X V.
THE RELIEF OF JABESH-GILEAD.
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1Sa_11:1-15.
PRIMITIVE though the state of society was in those days in Israel, we are hardly prepared to find Saul following the herd in the field after his election as king of Israel. We are compelled to conclude that the opposition to him was far from contemptible in number and in influence, and that he found it expedient in the meantime to make no demonstration of royalty, but continue his old way of life. If we go back to the days of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, we get a vivid view of the awful crimes which even an Israelite could commit, under the influence of jealousy, when other persons stood in the way of his ambitious designs. It is quite conceivable that had Saul at once assumed the style and title of royalty, those children of Belial who were so contemptuous at his election would have made away with him. Human life was of so little value in those Eastern countries, and the crime of destroying it was so little thought of, that if Saul had in any way provoked hostility, he would have been almost certain to fall by some assassin's hand. It was therefore wise of him to continue for a time his old way of living, and wait for some opportunity which should arise providentially, to vindicate his title to the sceptre of Israel.
Apparently he had not to wait long - according to Josephus, only a month. The opportunity arose in a somewhat out-of-the-way part of the country, where disturbance had been brewing previous to his election (comp. 1Sa_12:12). It was not the first time that the inhabitants of Gilead and other dwellers on the east side of Jordan came to feel that in settling there they had to pay dear for their well-watered and well-sheltered pastures. They were exposed in an especial degree to the assaults of enemies, and pre-eminent among these were their cousins, the Ammonites. Very probably the Ammonites had never forgotten the humiliation inflicted on them by Jephthah, when he smote them ''from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and till thou come to the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter." Naturally the Ammonites would be desirous both to avenge these defeats and to regain their cities, or at least to get other cities in lieu of what they had lost. We do not know with certainty the site of Jabesh-Gilead, or the reasons why it was the special object of attack by King Nahash at this time. But so it was; and as the people of Jabesh-Gilead either knew not or cared not for their real defense, the God of Israel, they found themselves too hard bestead by the Ammonites, and, exhausted probably by the weary siege, proposed terms of capitulation.
This is the first scene in the chapter before us. ''The men of Jabesh said to Nahash, king of the Ammonites, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee." The history of the Israelites in time of danger commonly presents one or other of two extremes: either pusillanimous submission, or daring defiance to the hostile power. In this case it was pusillanimous submission, as indeed it commonly was when the people followed the motions of their own hearts, and were not electrified into opposition by some great hero, full of faith in God. But it was not mere cowardice they displayed in offering to become the servants of the Ammonites; there was impiety in it likewise. For of their relation to God they made no account whatever. By covenant with their fathers, ratified from generation to generation, they were God's servants, and they had no right voluntarily to transfer to another master the allegiance which was due to God alone. The proposal they made was virtually a breach of the first commandment. And it was not a case of necessity. Instead of humbling themselves before God and confessing the sins that had brought them into trouble, they put God altogether aside, and basely offered to become the servants of the Ammonites. Even the remembrance of the glorious victories of their own Jephthah, when he went to war with the Ammonites, in dependence on the God of Israel, seems to have had no effect in turning them from the inglorious proposal. We see here the sad effect of sin and careless living in lowering men's spirits, sapping courage, and discouraging noble effort. Oh, it is pitiable to see men tamely submitting to a vile master! Yet how often is the sight repeated! How often do men virtually say to the devil, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee"! Not indeed in the open way in which it used to be believed that one of the popes, before his elevation to the papal chair, formally sold his soul to the devil in exchange for that dignity. Yet how often do men virtually give themselves over to serve a vile master, to lead evil or at least careless lives, to indulge in sinful habits which they know they should overcome, but which they are too indolent and self-indulged to resist! Men and women, with strong proclivities to sin, may for a time resist, but they get tired of the battle; they long for an easier life, and they say in their hearts, "We will resist no longer; we will become your servants." They are willing to make peace with the Ammonites, because they are wearied of fighting. ''Anything for a quiet life!" They surrender to the enemy, they are willing to serve sin, because they will not surrender the ease and the pleasures of sin. But sin is a bad master; his wages are terrible to think of. The terms which Nahash offered to the men of Jabesh-Gilead combined insult and injury. ''On this condition will I make a covenant with you: that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach unto all Israel." "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." There is nothing in which the pernicious influence of paganism was more notorious in ancient times - and indeed, we may say, is more notorious in all times - than in the horrible cruelties to which it led. Barbarity was the very element in which it lived. And that barbarity was often exemplified in cruelly depriving enemies of those members and organs of the body which are most needful for the comfort of life. The hands and the eyes were especially the victims of this diabolical feeling. Just as you may see at this day in certain African villages miserable creatures without hands or eyes who have fallen under the displeasure of their chief and received this revolting treatment, so it was in those early times. But Nahash was comparatively merciful. He was willing to let the men of Jabesh off with the loss of one eye only. But as if to compensate for this forbearance, he declared that he would regard the transaction as a reproach upon all Israel. The mutilated condition of that poor one-eyed community would be a ground for despising the whole nation; it would be a token of the "humiliation and degradation of the whole Israelite community. These were the terms of Nahash. His favour could be purchased only by a cruel injury to every man's body and a stinging insult to their whole nation. But these terms were just too humiliating. Whether the men of Jabesh would have been willing to lose their eyes as the price of peace we do not know; but the proposed humiliation of the nation was something to which they were not prepared at once to submit. The nation itself should look to that. The nation should consider whether it was prepared to be thus insulted by the humiliation of one of its cities. Consequently they asked for a week's respite, that it might be seen whether the nation would not bestir itself to maintain its honour.
If we regard Nahash as a type of another tyrant, as representing the tyranny of sin, we may derive from his conditions an illustration of the hard terms which sin usually imposes. "The way of transgressors is hard." Oh, what untold misery does one act of sin often bring! One act of drunkenness, in which one is led to commit some crime of violence that would never have been dreamt of otherwise; one act of dishonesty, followed up by a course of deceit and double-dealing, that at last culminates in disgrace and ruin; one act of unchastity, leading to loss of character and to a downward career ending in utter darkness, how frightful is the retribution! But happy is the young person, when under temptation to the service of sin, if there comes to him at the very threshold some frightful experience of the hardness of the service, if, like the men of Jabesh-Gilead, he is made to feel that the loss and humiliation are beyond endurance, and to betake himself to the service of another Master, whose yoke is easy, whose burden is light, and whose rewards are more precious than silver and geld!
With the activity of despair, the men of Jabesh now publish throughout all Israel the terms that Nahash has offered them. At Gibeah of Saul a deep impression is made. But it is not the kind of impression that gives much hope. ''All the people lifted up their voices and wept." It was just the way in which their forefathers had acted at the Red Sea, when, shut in between the mountains and the sea, they saw the chariots of Pharaoh advancing in battle array against them; and again, it was the way in which they spent that night in the wilderness after the spies brought back their report of the land. It was a sorrowful sight - a whole mass of people crying like babies, panic-stricken, and utterly helpless. But, as in the two earlier cases, there was a man of faith to roll back the wave of panic. As Moses at the Red Sea got courage to go forward, as Caleb, the faithful spy, was able to resist all the clamour of his colleagues and the people, so on this occasion the spirit that rises above the storm, and flings defiance even on the strongest enemies, came mightily on one man - on Saul. His conduct at this time is another evidence how well he conducted himself in the opening period of his reign. "The Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul when he heard the tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly." The Spirit of the Lord evidently means here that spirit of courage, of noble energy, of dauntless resolution, which was needed to meet the emergency that had arisen. His first act was a symbolical one, very rough in its nature, but an act of the kind that was best fitted to make an impression on an Eastern people. A yoke of oxen was hewn in pieces, and the bloody fragments were sent by messengers throughout all Israel, with a thundering announcement that any one failing to follow Saul would have his own oxen dealt with in a similar fashion! It was a bold proclamation for a man to make who himself had just been following his herd in the field. But boldness, even audacity, is often the best policy. The thundering proclamation of Saul brought an immense muster of people to him. A sufficient portion of them would set out with the king, hastening down the passes to the Jordan valley, and having crossed the river, would bivouac for the night in some of the ravines that led up towards the city of Jabesh- Gilead. Messengers had been previously pushed forward to announce to the people there the approach of the relieving force. Long before daybreak, Saul had divided his force into three, who were to approach the beleaguered city by different roads and surprise the Ammonites by break of day. The plan was successfully carried out. The assault on the Ammonite army was made in the morning watch, and continued till midday. It was now the turn for the Ammonites to fall under panic. Their assailants seem to have found them entirely unprepared. There is nothing with which the undisciplined ranks of an Eastern horde are less able to cope than an unexpected attack. The defeat was complete, and the slaughter must have been terrific; and "it came to pass that they which remained of them were scattered, so that two of them were not left together." The men of Jabesh-Gilead, who had expected to spend that night in humiliation and anguish, would be sure to spend it in a very tumult of joy, perhaps rather in a wild excitement than in the calm but intensely relieved condition of men of whom the sorrows of death had taken hold, but whom the Lord had delivered out of all their distresses.
It is no wonder though the people were delighted with their king. From first to last he had conducted himself admirably. He had not delayed an hour in taking the proper steps. Though wearied probably with his day's work among the herd, he set about the necessary arrangements with the utmost promptitude. It was a serious undertaking: first, to rouse to the necessary pitch a people who were more disposed to weep and wring their hands, than to keep their heads and devise a way of escape in the hour of danger; second, to gather a sufficient army to his standard; third, to march across the Jordan, attack the foe, confident and well equipped, and deliver the beleaguered city. But dangers and difficulties only roused Saul to higher exertions. And now, when in one short week he has completed an enterprise worthy to rank among the highest in the history of the nation, it is no wonder that the satisfaction of the people reaches an enthusiastic pitch. It would have been unaccountable had it been otherwise. And it is no wonder that their thoughts revert to the men who had stood in the way of his occupying the throne. Here is another proof that the opposition was more serious and more deadly than at first appears. These men were far from contemptible. Even now they might be a serious trouble to the nation. Would it not be good policy to get rid of them at once? Did they not deserve to die, and ought they not at once to be put to death? It is not likely that if this question had been mooted in the like circumstances in any of the neighbouring kingdoms, there would have been a moment's hesitation in answering it. But Saul was full of a magnanimous spirit - nay, it seemed at the time a godly spirit. His mind was impressed with the fact that the deliverance of that day had come from God. And it was impressed at the same time with the grandeur and sublimity of the Divine power that had been brought into operation on behalf of Israel. Saul perceived a tremendous reality in the fact that ''the Lord was their defense; the Holy One of Israel was their King." If Israel was encircled by such a garrison, if Israel's king was under such a Protector, what need he fear from a gang of miscreants like these children of Belial? Why dim the glory of the day by an act of needless massacre? Let forbearance to these misguided villains be another proof of the respect the nation had to the God of Jacob, as the Defender of Israel and Israel's King, and the certainty of their trust that He would defend them. And so "Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death, this day; for to-day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel."
O Saul, Saul, how well for thee it would have been hadst thou maintained this spirit! For then God would not have had to reject thee from being king, and to seek among the sheepfolds of Bethlehem a man after His own heart to be the leader of His people! And then thou wouldest have had no fear for the security of thy throne; thou wouldest not have hunted thy rival like a partridge on the mountains; and never, never wouldest thou have been tempted, in thy difficulties, to seek counsel from a woman with a familiar spirit, on the plea that God was departed from thee!
As we are thinking how well Saul has acted on this occasion, we perceive that an old friend has come on the scene who helps us materially to understand the situation. Yes, he is all the better of Samuel's guidance and prayers. The good old prophet has no jealousy of the man who took his place as head of the nation. But knowing well the fickleness of the people, he is anxious to turn the occasion to account for confirming their feelings and their aims. Seeing how the king has acknowledged God as the Author of the victory, he desires to strike while the iron is hot. "Come," he says, ''let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there." Gilgal was the first place where the people had encamped under Joshua on crossing the Jordan. It was the place where the twelve stones taken from the empty bed of the river had been set up, as a testimony to the reality of the Divine presence in the midst of them. In some aspects, one might have thought that Samuel would invite them to Ebenezer, where he had set up the stone of help, and that he would add another testimony to the record that hitherto the Lord had helped them. But Gilgal was nearer to Jabesh-Gilead, and it was memorable for still higher traditions. To Gilgal accordingly they went, to renew the kingdom. "And there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal, and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly."
The first election of Saul had been effected without any ceremonial, as if the people had been somewhat afraid to have a public coronation when it was obvious they had carried their point only by Divine sufferance, not by Divine command. But now, unequivocal testimony has been borne that, so long as Saul pays becoming regard to the heavenly King, the blessing and countenance of the Almighty will be his. Let him then be set apart with all due enthusiasm for his exalted office. Let his consecration take place in the most solemn circumstances - let it be "before the Lord in Gilgal;" let it be accompanied with those sacrifices of peace-offerings which shall indicate respect for God's appointed method of reconciliation; and let it be conducted with such devout regard to Him and to His law, that when it is over, the Divine blessing shall seem to fall on Saul in the old form of benediction, "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine on thee and be gracious to thee; the Lord lift up His countenance on thee and give thee peace." Let the impression be deepened that "the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people." Saul himself will not be the worse for having these feelings confirmed, and it will be of the highest benefit to the people.
And thus, under Samuel's guidance, the kingdom was renewed. Thus did both Saul and the people give unto the Lord the glory due to His name. And engaging in the ceremonial as they all did in this spirit, ''both Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly." It was, perhaps, the happiest occasion in all the reign of Saul. What contributed the chief element of brightness to the occasion was - the sunshine of Heaven. God was there, smiling on His children. There were other elements too. Samuel was there, happy that Saul had conquered, that he had established himself upon the throne, and, above all, that he had, in a right noble way, acknowledged God as the Author of the victory at Jabesh-Gilead. Saul was there, reaping the reward of his humility, his forbearance, his courage, and his activity. The people were there, proud of their king, proud of his magnificent appearance, but prouder of the super-eminent qualities that had marked the commencement of his reign. Nor was the pleasure of any one marred by any ugly blot or unworthy deed throwing a gloom over the transaction.
For one moment, let us compare the joy of this company with the feelings of men reveling in the pleasures of sin and sensuality, or even of men storing a pile of gold, the result of some successful venture or the legacy of some deceased relative. How poor the quality of the one joy compared to that of the other! For what is there outside themselves that can make men so happy as the smile of God? Or what condition of the soul can be so full, so overflowing with healthy gladness, as when the heart is ordered in accordance with God's law, and men are really disposed and enabled to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and to love their neighbours as themselves?
Is there not something of heaven in this joy? Is it not joy unspeakable and full of glory?
One other question: Is it yours?
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 1Sa_11:1. “Nahash.” He was king of the children of…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.—
1Sa_11:1. “Nahash.” He was king of the children of Ammon, as appears from 1Sa_12:12; 2Sa_10:1-2; 2Sa_17:27. He seems to have been connected with the family of David, since Abigail, David’s sister, was the daughter (perhaps meaning grand-daughter), of Nahash (2Sa_17:25; 1Ch_2:16-17), and perhaps, in consequence of this connection, was very friendly to David. Even after the destructive war with his son Harun, in which Uriah fell, and when David was in flight and banishment, we find another son of Nahash, Shobi, showing him marked kindness, (Biblical Dictionary.) “According to 1Sa_12:12, the threatening war with the Ammonites was the immediate occasion of the demand for a king. Naturally therefore, Nahash, having before made his preparations, entered the Israelitish territory soon after the king was chosen and confirmed.” (Erdmann.) “Jabesh-Gilead.” According to Josephus, this city was the capital of Gilead, and was probably on the site of the present ruins of El-Deir, on the south side of the Wady Jabis, not far to the north of Helaweh, near the ancient road that leads to Beisan. The Ammonites had long claimed the right to the possession of Gilead, and had been subdued by Jephthah.
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1Sa_11:2. “On this condition,” etc. “The left eye would be covered with the shield in battle: the right eye was needed for aiming the spear; they would therefore be no better than blind if they lost their right eye.” (Wordsworth,) “Lay it for a reproach,” etc. “He sought to avenge upon the people of Israel the shame of the defeat which Jephthah had inflicted on the Ammonites.” (Kiel.)
1Sa_11:3. “If there is no one who saves us.” “The assumption of this as possible, and the fact that they sent to every region of Israel, shows that in this transition-period from the Judges to the King-dom, in spite of what Samuel had done to inspire unity of action, the old division of powers in tribal isolation and the consequent weakness against enemies still continued. (Erdmann.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_11:1-3
THE AMMONITE INVASION OF JABESH-GILEAD
I. Times of weakness are times of undesired visitation, When a man is commercially weak, and when he has least desire to see the face of those who will add to his embarrassments, then is the time when they are most certain to visit him. A visit from his creditors would not affright him if he had wherewith to meet their demands, but the very fact that his resources are inadequate makes them more likely to visit him. Especially if he has a creditor who is unkindly disposed towards him, that creditor’s visit will be most undesired; but a visit from him may be most certainly looked for. So there are times when the soul is depressed—when many things seem to combine to make a man morally weak, and that is the time when he may most certainly expect a visit from his great spiritual adversary. The tempter, by bringing up all his forces to assault the soul at such a time, reveals his watchful subtlety and his power to measure the resources of the human soul. In times of mental weakness from weakness of body, or from especially harassing circumstances, we feel least of all to desire to have to do battle with a strong temptation; yet then is the time when it is almost certain to assault us. The devil came to Christ when He was physically weak from forty days’ fasting, and when, without doubt, His human soul was depressed in consequence (Mat_4:2). And again, when He hung upon the cross in great pain of body and sorrow of soul, he tempted Him through his emissaries with the taunt, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save; if Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mar_15:30). The geographical position of Jabesh-Gilead made its inhabitants at all times less able to defend themselves from the common national enemies than the people on the other side of Jordan. Being so far from the centre of government, they were at all times peculiarly exposed to danger. They do not appear at this time to have taken part in the national movement towards unity which had drawn together and strengthened the great mass of the Israelitish nation, and they were consequently much less able to defend themselves than most of their fellow-countrymen. As a natural consequence, their enemies chose this time to invade them and to insult them. At a time when, by reason of their tribal isolation as well as their defenceless geographical position, they had most to dread from a visit of the Ammonites, at this time the visit was made.
II. Times of weakness subject men to the insolence of their enemies. A consciousness that we are strong, either physically or in our circumstances, has a wonderful tendency to make men treat us civilly. A consciousness that we are spiritually strong will tend to make our spiritual and invisible enemies less daring in their assaults. A pugilist, in the presence of one who is his equal in strength and stature, restrains his natural insolence. If he meets a man who is bigger and stronger than himself, he becomes quite deferential. But bring him face to face with a man of half his own size and strength, and he will probably insult him. And so it is with the strength and weakness of social position. The wise man says that “the rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Pro_10:15), and in this he often shelters himself as in a fortress, and shoots forth arrows of scornful contempt and insolence upon those who are socially dependent upon him, and who are consequently too weak to retaliate. And what is true in relation to individuals is true also of nations. The strong nations of the earth are, alas! often found insolently regardless of the rights of those who are too weak to defend their own liberties. Nahash would not have confronted the men of Jabesh-Gilead with so insolent an air, and proposed to them terms so humiliating, if they had not been in his eyes in so defenceless a condition.
III. Times of visitation from insolent enemies should drive us to the strong for help. It was wise of the men of Gilead not to attempt to meet their enemies in their own strength. It is most unwise of men to be too proud to acknowledge their own weakness. While it is unmanly to be always depending upon others for help—while a man is bound to exert himself to the utmost to free himself from difficulties—a refusal to seek help from a stronger fellow-creature is sometimes sinful. God has ordained that the strength of some should supplement the weakness of others, and the inequality of men in this respect is intended to bind them to each other. When, therefore, a man in distress from which he cannot extricate himself, chooses ruin rather than the aid of a stronger arm than his own, he refuses to fall in with a Divine ordination. And this truth can be extended to the help which can come only from an arm which is stronger than the arm of flesh. Times of especial trial and temptation should make men feel their dependence upon Omnipotent strength, and if they do not drive them to seek help from the strong God, they fail to fulfil the design of Him who either sent them for that purpose, or permitted them to happen that He might be glorified in delivering those who call upon Him in distress.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_11:2. In spiritual things this is precisely what is done by the Bishop of Rome. He is a “Nahash the Ammonite” in the Catholic Church of Christ. He requires of all Christians to make a surrender of their reason, conscience, and their will (which belong to their Master, Christ) as the price of communion with himself. If we are willing to allow him to “thrust out our right eyes,” then he will allow us to communicate with himself, but not otherwise.—Wordsworth.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Saul subdues the Ammonites
Saul subdues the Ammonites
This chapter is entirely in the spirit of the narratives in Judges; from 1Sa_11:15, it seems to be independent of 1 Samuel 10 but 1Sa_11:12 points back to 1Sa_10:27, which is perhaps distinct from 1Sa_10:17-24 even the ceremony at Grilgal may have been a' renewal' (1Sa_11:10), in the renewed popular enthusiasm, of the ceremony at Mizpeh. But see on 1Sa_12:12.
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1. Nahash] It is very doubtful if this is the Nahash of 2Sa_10:2.
3. Come out] a usual term for 'surrender.'
5. So Cincinnatus was found by the messengers of the State with his oxen.
6. Cp. Jdg_6:34; Jdg_11:29; Jdg_14:6, etc., used of a sudden access of fierce patriotic zeal. Both cause and effect are slightly different in 1Sa_10:10.
7. Fear of the Lord] i.e. a dread inspired by the Lord; RM 'a terror from the Lord.'
9. i.e. before noon: cp. 1Sa_11:11.
10. Their object was to make the attack come on the Ammonites as a complete surprise.
13. Saul possessed many good and generous impulses (1Sa_24:17; 1Sa_26:21).
15. They made Saul king] see prefatory note.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 4. The King’s First Victory and the Renewal of…
4. The King’s First Victory and the Renewal of the Kingdom at Gilgal
CHAPTER 11
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1. The victory over Ammon (1Sa 11:1-11)
2. The kingdom renewed (1Sa 11:12-15)
Nahash the Ammonite encamped against Jabesh-gilead. Nahash means “the serpent.” This invasion took place before Saul had been made king. From chapter 12:12 we learn that it really was the occasion why Israel demanded a king. In despair the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead offered to make a covenant with this old foe of Israel, whom Jephthah had so successfully fought. Ammon represents typically the enemy of God’s people characterized by evil doctrines and perversions of the truth of God. How often compromise is made with the most subtle errors which emanate from Nahash, the serpent! But he makes his condition, their right eyes are to be plucked out. We speak of the eye of faith, and typically we may apply it in this way. All errors and false doctrines blind the eyes of faith and rob God’s people of their true vision.
Then Saul acts for the first time. However his actions are characteristic of his spiritual condition. We read nothing of prayer; he did not seek the presence of the Lord. It is true, the Spirit of God came upon him, but that does not mean that he was right with God. The Spirit of God came also upon Balaam to prophesy. Even so the Spirit came upon King Saul with external power in the same sense as He came upon the Judges. The anger which he manifested, the methods he employed to stir up the people, the threat he makes and his leaning on Samuel for authority (verse 7) all show again the lack of true faith. He is but the man in the flesh who knows not the Lord.
At Gilgal the kingdom is renewed. The people are united and suggest the killing of the sons of Belial mentioned in the previous chapter. Saul forbids it and acknowledges that the Lord had wrought salvation that day. But there is no real outburst of praise. They were at Gilgal, the place which typifies death to the flesh. Here Saul is made king before the Lord. But while Saul and the people rejoiced nothing is said of Samuel’s joy. The man of God looked deeper, for he knew that all was only skin deep and that the Lord, whom they had rejected from being king over them, could not be pleased with their outward joy.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Summoning of the People
The Summoning of the People
v. 1. Then Nahash, the Ammonite, the king of the children of Ammon living in the territory east of Jordan, came up, undertook a campaign of war, very likely with the object of avenging his people for the defeat administered to them by Jephthah, Jdg 11:32, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead, in the valley east of Jordan, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea; and all the men of Jabesh, who were apparently suffering with the same lack of courage which caused their fathers to stay away from the campaign against Benjamin, Jdg 21:8-9, said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. They wanted to have some reasonable conditions under which they could become tributaries to the Ammonites. This answer is characteristic of Israel’s weakness, of the utter lack of a conscious and permanent union between the various tribes. It was a very loose confederacy indeed where such conditions were possible.
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v. 2. And Nahash, the Ammonite, with the arrogant cruelty which was characteristic of heathen conquerors, answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, for this price he was willing to accept their complete submission, that I may thrust out all your right eyes and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel, to revenge the disgrace which Jephthah had brought upon the Ammonites and to give the entire nation a sample of the treatment awaiting all its members as soon as Nahash should have gained the supremacy.
v. 3. And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, so much time of grace he should mercifully grant them, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel, throughout the boundaries, that is, the territory, of the tribes; and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee, forced to submit to his inhuman condition.
v. 4. Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, the residence of the elected king, who, however, at the time of their arrival, was not in the city, and told the tidings in the ears of the people, Saul’s fellow-citizens; and all the people lifted up their voices and wept, in helpless sorrow over the fate which seemed to be threatening the people of Jabesh.
v. 5. And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field, driving home the yoke of oxen with which he had been engaged on his farm during the day; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
v. 6. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, as upon the Judges in the preceding period of Israel’s history, and his anger was kindled greatly, it flared up in mighty wrath at the reproach inflicted by the enemy of his people.
v. 7. And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, according to the manner in which sacrificial animals were dissected, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, to every tribe, as in Jdg 19:29. saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, due honor thus being given to the authority of Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. This punishment Saul could threaten in the exercise of his judicial power, as a function of his royal office. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, namely, a dread lest they should offend God by refusing to obey the command of the king and of the prophet; and they came out with one consent, as one single man, in perfect unity of thought and action.
v. 8. And when he, Saul, numbered them in Bezek, in the Plain of Jezreel, not far from the best northern ford over the Jordan, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, that is, the northern tribes, which afterward formed a nation for themselves, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. A holy courage and zeal which knows no fear should be found in all those whom the Lord has called to be the leaders and pastors of His people.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 This is a man from Ammon, a descendent of…
Nahash
This is a man from Ammon, a descendent of Lot, Abraham's nephew. (See: How to Translate Names)
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Jabesh Gilead
This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)
I gouge out
"I cut out" or "I pluck out"
bring disgrace on
"bring shame on" or "bring a bad reputation to"
translationWords
Ammon
siege
Gilead
servant
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–3 11:1-15 Saul’s kingship was confirmed through a military victory,…
11:1-15 Saul’s kingship was confirmed through a military victory, the very reason the people wanted a king (8:20).
11:1 Ammon (see Gen 19:38), located on the east side of the Jordan, represented a threat to Israel similar to the Philistines to the southwest (see also Judg 10:6–11:33). • Make a treaty with us: Cp. Josh 9; 2 Sam 10:19.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.