1 Samuel 11:9

9 And they said to the messengers who had come, "Thus shall you say to the men of Ja'besh-gil'ead: 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.'" When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.

1 Samuel 11:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:9

And they said unto the messengers that came
From Jabeshgilead, that is, Saul and Samuel said to them, as follows:

thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead:
when they returned unto them, as they were now upon the departure:

tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot;
when it smites with the greatest heat, as at noon: this morrow seems not to be the next from their return home, or going from Saul, but the morrow after they were got home, and should deliver the message to those that sent them, ( 1 Samuel 11:10 ) and so Josephus ^F26 says, it was on the third day the assistance was promised them:

ye shall have help;
Saul with his army by that time would come and raise the siege: and the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; what Saul had promised, and what a numerous army he had raised, and had now upon the march for their relief, and tomorrow would be with them:

and they were glad;
it was good news and glad tidings to them; it cheered their hearts, and gave them spirit.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 3.

1 Samuel 11:9 In-Context

7 He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!" Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

9 And they said to the messengers who had come, "Thus shall you say to the men of Ja'besh-gil'ead: 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.'" When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.

10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you."

11 And on the morrow Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and cut down the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.