1 Samuel 11:10

10 Then the men of Jabesh said to [Nahash], "Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want^[a] to us."

1 Samuel 11:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:10

Therefore the men of Jabesh said
To Nahash the Ammonite:

tomorrow we will come out unto you;
meaning if they had no help, which they were well assured they should have; but this condition they expressed not, which they were not obliged to, but left him to conclude they had no hope of any, the messengers being returned, and the next being the last of the seven days' respite; and by this artifice the Ammonites were secure, and not at all upon their guard against an approaching enemy:

and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you;
make shows of them, pluck out their eyes, or put them to death, or do what they would with them.

1 Samuel 11:10 In-Context

8 Saul counted them at Bezek. There were 300,000 Israelites and 30,000 men from Judah.

9 He told the messengers who had come, "Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: 'Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.' " So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.

10 Then the men of Jabesh said to [Nahash], "Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us."

11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

12 Afterwards, the people said to Samuel, "Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Give us those men so we can kill them!"

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit do what is good in your eyes