1 Samuel 11:9

9 They said to the messengers who had come, "Tell the people at Jabesh Gilead this: 'Before the day warms up tomorrow, you will be saved.'" So the messengers went and reported this to the people at Jabesh, and they were very happy.

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 So he took a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. Then he gave the pieces of the oxen to messengers and ordered them to carry them through all the land of Israel. The messengers said, "This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel." So the people became very afraid of the Lord. They all came together as if they were one person.

8 Saul gathered the people together at Bezek. There were three hundred thousand men from Israel and thirty thousand men from Judah.

9 They said to the messengers who had come, "Tell the people at Jabesh Gilead this: 'Before the day warms up tomorrow, you will be saved.'" So the messengers went and reported this to the people at Jabesh, and they were very happy.

10 The people said to Nahash the Ammonite, "Tomorrow we will come out to meet you. Then you can do anything you want to us."

11 The next morning Saul divided his soldiers into three groups. At dawn they entered the Ammonite camp and defeated them before the heat of the day. The Ammonites who escaped were scattered; no two of them were still together.