Shmuel Alef 11:13

13 And Sha’ul said, There shall not an ish be put to death this day; for today Hashem hath wrought Teshuah (Salvation) in Yisroel.

Shmuel Alef 11:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:13

And Saul said
Preventing Samuel from giving an answer, being ready to forgive injuries; as it was in his power as a king, and him only, to pardon those persons that treated him in so ill a manner, and it was policy so to do, especially in the beginning of his reign; and it plainly appears that this temper did not always continue with him; though there is no reason to believe otherwise, that this was now owing to his lenity as well as his prudence:

there shall not be a man put to death this day;
who by their appearance to his summons had testified their obedience, and by their courage and valour had showed their attachment to him, and to the interest of their country. Ben Gersom takes the sense to be, that it might be right after, but not on this day to put them to death; or that this was an artifice of Saul to deliver those men out of the hands of the Israelites, suggesting as if it was his intention hereafter to put them to death, though not now, for the following reason:

for today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel;
he does not ascribe the victory to the quick dispatch he made, to his wisdom and prudence in forming the scheme he did, and to his valour and courage, and that of his troops, but to the power and goodness of God.

Shmuel Alef 11:13 In-Context

11 And it was so on the next day, that Sha’ul set HaAm into shloshah rashim (three companies); and they came into the midst of the machaneh in the ashmoret haboker (morning watch), and slaughtered Ammon until the chom (heat) of the yom; and it came to pass, that they which survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

12 HaAm said unto Shmuel, Who is he that said, Shall Sha’ul reign as melech over us? Bring the anashim, that we may put them to death.

13 And Sha’ul said, There shall not an ish be put to death this day; for today Hashem hath wrought Teshuah (Salvation) in Yisroel.

14 Then said Shmuel to HaAm, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the Meluchah (kingdom) there.

15 And kol HaAm went to Gilgal; and there they made Sha’ul Melech before Hashem in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed zevakhim of shelamim before Hashem; and there Sha’ul and kol Anshei Yisroel rejoiced with simchah me’od.