I Samuel 11, Saul Defeats Jahash

Saul has been anointed king. Very quickly he will be tested.

I Samuel 11: 1-3, Nahash attack Jabesh Gilead

Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, "Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you." 

But Nahash the Ammonite replied, "I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel."

The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you."

An Israelite city is besieged and in the brutal violence of the day, the people may surrender if they agree that each man will lose an eye!

In the Dead Sea Scrolls are copies of the Samuel scroll. In Cave 4 at Qumran is a scroll 4QSama which inserts, before the first verse of chapter 11, an explanatory paragraph: 

"Now Nahash king of the Ammonites oppressed the Gadites and Reubenites severely. He gouged out all their right eyes and struck terror and dread in Israel. Not a man remained among the Israelites beyond the Jordan whose right eye was not gouged out by Nahash king of the Ammonites, except that seven thousand men fled from the Ammonites and entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later,"

and then continues with our current text, "Nahash the Ammonite went up...."

The elders of Jabesh ask for a delay in their surrender. Nabash agrees, most likely because he is confident of victory and sees the delay as a chance to more deeply humiliate Israel.

I Samuel 11: 4-7, Appeal to Saul

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, "What is wrong with the people? Why are they weeping?" 

Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said. When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger. He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, "This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel." 

Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they turned out as one man.

The men of Jabesh appeal to Saul. Israel desired a king precisely because of brutal raids like this. Saul reacts to this crisis with righteous anger and, as king, immediately calls Israel together. 

Years earlier a woman had been raped and murdered in Gibeah (Judges 19) and her body dismembered and used to rally Israel. Here, in the same town, echoing that past gruesome event, Saul cuts up oxen and rallies Israel.

I Samuel 11: 8-9a, Deliverance promised

When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand. They told the messengers who had come, "Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, `By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be delivered.'" 

Saul gathers an army and assures the people of Jabesh Gilead that they will be delivered before noon of the following day. 

I Samuel 11: 9b-10, Jabesh fakes surrender

When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated.

They said to the Ammonites, "Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever seems good to you." 

The people of Jabesh Gilead assure the Ammonites that they will surrender the next day, setting up a surprise attack. 

I Samuel 11: 11, Victory

The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

While the Ammonites wait for Jabesh to surrender, Saul attacks just before dawn, scattering the Ammonites.

I Samuel 11: 12-15, Confirmation of Saul as king

The people then said to Samuel, "Who was it that asked, `Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring these men to us and we will put them to death."

But Saul said, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel."

Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship."

So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Saul has proved his right to be king.  In this victory, his supporters see a chance to also punish those Israelites who were opposed to Saul.  But Saul gives mercy.  No more killing today -- especially of Israelites!

Israel now has a king who is both powerful and compassionate.