1 Samuel 11:1

1 About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us, and we'll be your servants."

1 Samuel 11:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:1

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 ^F16: 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, ( 1 Samuel 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 ( Judges 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 ^F17, and so in the Arabic version, see ( 1 Samuel 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:

and we will serve thee;
not as slaves, but as tributaries; they were willing to pay a yearly tax to him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 1.
F17 Ibid.

1 Samuel 11:1 In-Context

1 About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us, and we'll be your servants."

2 "I will make a treaty with you on one condition: that everyone's right eye be gouged out!" Nahash the Ammonite said to them. "That's how I bring humiliation on all Israel."

3 The elders of Jabesh replied to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so we can send messengers thoughout Israel's territory. If there's no one to save us, then we'll surrender to you."

4 When the messengers reached Gibeah where Saul lived, they reported the news directly to the people there. Then they all wept aloud.

5 At just that moment, Saul was coming back from keeping the cattle in the fields. "What's wrong with everybody?" he asked. "Why are they crying?" Saul was then told what the men from Jabesh had said.

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS (4QSama), LXX; MT lacks About a month later.