King James Version
1 Samuel 11
15 verses with commentary
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead : and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.</strong><br><br>Nahash ('serpent' in Hebrew) exemplifies the hostile forces arrayed against God's covenant people. His siege of Jabesh-gilead, a town in Transjordan with close ties to the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 21:8-14), creat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Nahash the Ammonite.**—Nahash was king of the children of Ammon (see 1Samuel 12:12). This royal family was in some way related to David (see 2Samuel 17:25; 1Chronicles 2:16-17). At the time of David’s exile owing to the rebellion of Absalom, a son of Nahash the Ammonite is specially mentioned as showing kindness to the fugitive king. Jabesh-gilead was a city situated in Northern Gilead, in t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Ruth the Moabitess ... have I purchased to be my wife--**This connection Boaz not only might form, since Ruth had embraced the true religion, but he was under a legal necessity of forming it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.</strong><br><br>Nahash's demand to gouge out every right eye served dual purposes: marking them permanently as conquered vassals and rendering them militarily useless, since ancient warriors held shields with their l...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **On this condition.**—The horrible cruelty of this scornful proposal gives us an insight into the barbarous customs of this imperfectly civilised age. Indeed, many of the crimes we read of in these books—crimes which, to modern ears, justly sound shocking and scarcely credible—are referable to the fact that civilisation and its humanizing influences had made but little way as yet among the na...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. all the people and the elders, said, We are witnesses--**A multitude, doubtless from curiosity or interest, were present on the occasion. There was no signing of deeds; yet was the transfer made, and complete security given, by the public manner in which the whole matter was carried on and concluded.
**the Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah--**This ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. Give: Heb. Forbear us
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.</strong><br><br>The elders' request for seven days reveals both their desperate straits and, remarkably, Nahash's overconfidence. That he grants this respite suggests his certainty that no help wou...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Give us seven days’ respite.**—This kind of proposal has always in time of war been a common one; such a request from a beleaguered fortress we meet with constantly, especially in mediæval chronicles. It was, no doubt, made by the citizens in the hope that Saul the Benjamite, in whose election as king they had recently taken a part, would devise some means for their rescue. Between Benjamin ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. let thy house be like the house of Pharez--**that is, as honorable and numerous as his. He was the ancestor of the Beth-lehem people, and his family one of the five from which the tribe of Judah sprang.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.</strong><br><br>The messengers arrive at Gibeah, Saul's hometown and the future capital of his kingdom. That the people 'lifted up their voices and wept' indicates both deep compassion for their kinsmen and fear of their own vulnerability. The cor...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Then came the messengers to Gibeah.**—In the preceding verse we read that it was resolved by the beleaguered city to send messengers to all the coasts of Israel, but we only hear of the action taken by Saul in Gibeah. It therefore may be assumed that this was the first city they sent to, not only on account of their ancient friendship with Benjamin, but because Gibeah was the residence of th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.</strong><br><br>The detail that Saul 'came after the herd out of the field' emphasizes his humble circumstances despite his anointing. He had not yet assumed royal duties but continued his ordinary agricultural work. This image of...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field.**—Saul was still busied with his old pursuits. At first this would seem strange, but it must be remembered that the regal authority was something quite new in republican Israel, and that the new king’s duties and privileges at first were vague, and but little understood; besides which, jealousies, such as have already been noticed (1Sam...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.</strong><br><br>The Spirit of God (<em>ruach Elohim</em>) coming upon Saul echoes the empowerment of the judges (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29). The phrase 'came upon' (<em>tsalach</em>) implies rushing or falling upon with overwhelming force. Notably, his anger 'was kindled greatly' - righteous...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **And the Spirit of God came upon Saul.**—Nothing, perhaps, could have moved Saul so deeply as this news respecting the distress of Jabesh-gilead; he was affected not merely by the disgrace to Israel over which the Eternal had so lately directed him to be anointed king, but by the sore peril which menaced the ancient friend and ally of his tribe. On Saul’s heart, thus prepared for action, the ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. with: Heb. as one man
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.</strong><br><br>Saul's dramatic action of cutting the oxen in pieces and sending...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **A yoke of oxen.**—In a moment all the great powers of Saul, hitherto dormant, woke up, and he issued his swift commands in a way which at once showed Israel that they had got a hero-king who would brook no trifling. In that self-same hour, striking dead the oxen standing before his plough, he hews them in pieces, and handing a bloody strip to certain of the men standing around him, weeping f...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.</strong><br><br>The mustering at Bezek, strategically positioned for the Jordan crossing to reach Jabesh-gilead, demonstrates effective military organization. The separate numbering of Israel (300,000) and Judah (30,000) foreshadows the eventual division of the king...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Bezek.**—Bezek was in the tribe of Issachar, in the plain of Jezreel, an open district, well adapted for the assembling of the great host which so promptly obeyed the peremptory summons of the war-signal of King Saul.
**The children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.**—It has been suggested that this verse was the addition of some late reviser of the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ru 4:13-18. She Bears Obed.
**17. Obed--**means "servant."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead , To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. help: or, deliverance
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.</strong><br><br>The confident message promising deliverance 'by that time the sun be hot' demonstrates faith transformed into action. What began as impossible...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **To morrow, by that time the sun be hot.**—That is, about noon the army of rescue will be at hand. The distance from Bezek to Jabesh was not much over twenty miles.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. these are the generations of Pharez--**that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.</strong><br><br>The men of Jabesh employ strategic deception, telling the Ammonites they will 'come out' to them - language implying surrender while actually preparing for coordinated military action with Saul's forces. This is not sinful lying but legitimate milit...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. these are the generations of Pharez--**that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.</strong><br><br>Saul's tactical brilliance appears in his three-company formation attacking during ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The morning watch.**—The morning watch was the last of the three watches, each lasting for four hours; this was the old Hebrew division of the night. Thus the first onslaught of the men of Israel under Saul would have taken place some time between two and six a.m. The battle, and subsequent rout of Ammon, continued evidently for many hours.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. these are the generations of Pharez--**that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
Jabesh-gilead delivered.
(1-11)
Saul confirmed in his kingdom.(12-15)
**Verses 1-11**
The first fruit of Saul's government was the rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. To save their lives, men will part with liberty, and even consent to have their eyes put out; is it then no wisdom to part with that sin which is as dear to us as our right eye...
Read full commentary →Saul Confirmed as King
And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.</strong><br><br>The people's demand to execute those who had questioned Saul's kingship (10:27) reveals the dangerous mixture of zealotry and mob mentality that military victory can produce. They seek to vindicate the new king through blood vengeance rather than mer...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **And the people said unto Samuel.**—The great weight and influence of the seer among the people is strikingly shown by this record of their turning to him, even in the first flush of this great victory of Saul’s. It was Samuel to whom the people looked to bring to punishment the men who had dared to question the wisdom of electing Saul as king. It should be remembered, too, that the royal su...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. these are the generations of Pharez--**that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-15**
They now honoured Saul whom they had despised; and if an enemy be made a friend, that is more to our advantage than to have him slain. The once despised Saviour will at length be acknowledged by all as the Lord's own anointed king. As yet, upon his mercy-seat, he receives the submission of rebels, and even pleads their cause; but shortly, from his righteous tribunal, he will c...
Read full commentary →And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.</strong><br><br>Saul's refusal to execute his critics represents his finest moment, demonstrating kingly restraint and theological insight. His reasoning - 'to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel' - correctly attributes victory to God rather than himself. The phras...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day.**—A wise, as well as a generous, decision; anything like a bloody vengeance would have been the commencement of future feuds and bitter heart-burnings between the new king and the powerful families of the other tribes, who misliked and opposed his election. Saul began his reign with wise discretion, as well as with heroic valour...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. these are the generations of Pharez--**that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-15**
They now honoured Saul whom they had despised; and if an enemy be made a friend, that is more to our advantage than to have him slain. The once despised Saviour will at length be acknowledged by all as the Lord's own anointed king. As yet, upon his mercy-seat, he receives the submission of rebels, and even pleads their cause; but shortly, from his righteous tribunal, he will c...
Read full commentary →Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.</strong><br><br>Samuel's call to 'renew the kingdom' at Gilgal indicates a recommitment ceremony, not a second coronation. Gilgal held profound significance as the site where Israel first camped after crossing the Jordan (Joshua 4:19) and where circumcision renewed the covenant (Joshua 5:2-9). By ch...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal.**—This was the well-known sanctuary of that name, and was selected as the place of solemn assembly, no doubt, because it was in the now royal tribe of Benjamin. It is situated in the Jordan Valley, not far from Jericho, and has been the scene of many of the most striking events in Israelitic history.
**And renew the kingdom ther...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-15**
They now honoured Saul whom they had despised; and if an enemy be made a friend, that is more to our advantage than to have him slain. The once despised Saviour will at length be acknowledged by all as the Lord's own anointed king. As yet, upon his mercy-seat, he receives the submission of rebels, and even pleads their cause; but shortly, from his righteous tribunal, he will c...
Read full commentary →And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.</strong><br><br>The chapter concludes with national celebration: sacrifices 'before the LORD,' the formal establishment of Saul as king, and rejoicing that unites the e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **And there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal.**—We must not understand with the LXX. Version that Saul was anointed afresh at Gilgal. The Greek Version reads, “and Samuel anointed Saul king there.” The Gilgal convention was nothing more than a solemn national confirmation of the popular election at Mizpeh. The words “before the Lord,” imply the presence of the Ark, or of the high...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-15**
They now honoured Saul whom they had despised; and if an enemy be made a friend, that is more to our advantage than to have him slain. The once despised Saviour will at length be acknowledged by all as the Lord's own anointed king. As yet, upon his mercy-seat, he receives the submission of rebels, and even pleads their cause; but shortly, from his righteous tribunal, he will c...
Read full commentary →