1 Samuel 11:10

10 The men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you and you may do to us {whatever seems good to you}."

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 He mustered them at Bezek; the {Israelites} [were] three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah [were] thirty thousand.

9 They said to the messengers who had come, "Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: 'Tomorrow deliverance for you will come {when the sun is hot}.'" When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced.

10 The men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you and you may do to us {whatever seems good to you}."

11 {And the} next day Saul placed the people [in] three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp {at the early morning watch} and struck down {the Ammonites} until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered {so that no two among them remained together}.

12 Then the people said to Samuel, "Who [is] the one who asked, 'Will Saul reign over us?' Give the men to us that we may kill them."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "as all [of] the good [that is] in your eyes"