1 Samuël 11:1

1 Toen toog Nahas, de Ammoniet, op, en belegerde Jabes in Gilead. En al de mannen van Jabes zeiden tot Nahas: Maak een verbond met ons, zo zullen wij u dienen.

1 Samuël 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 Samuël 11:1 In-Context

1 Toen toog Nahas, de Ammoniet, op, en belegerde Jabes in Gilead. En al de mannen van Jabes zeiden tot Nahas: Maak een verbond met ons, zo zullen wij u dienen.

2 Doch Nahas, de Ammoniet, zeide tot hen: Mits dezen zal ik een verbond met ulieden maken, dat ik u allen het rechteroog uitsteke; en dat ik deze schande op gans Israel legge.

3 Toen zeiden tot hem de oudsten Jabes: Laat zeven dagen van ons af, dat wij boden zenden in al de landpalen van Israel; is er dan niemand, die ons verlost, zo zullen wij tot u uitgaan.

4 Als de boden te Gibea-Sauls kwamen, zo spraken zij deze woorden voor de oren van het volk. Toen hief al het volk zijn stem op, en weende.

5 En ziet, Saul kwam achter de runderen uit het veld, en Saul zeide: Wat is den volke, dat zij wenen? Toen vertelden zij hem de woorden der mannen van Jabes.