1 Samuelchapter 11
15 verses · Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition · 10th century BC · History
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.
Introduction
Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition, History, 1 Samuel Overview.
This chapter comes from the account of how Israel received its first king, written for a people who lived under kings long after. Saul has been chosen, and many in Israel still doubt him. The chapter tests him on the far side of the Jordan, where Israel's eastern towns stood exposed to Ammon. Listen for who is named as the one acting, the king or the LORD. Watch also what Saul does with the men who once despised him. The town rescued here repays its debt at the very end of the book.
Context
- Who
- Israelites deciding whether this king was real
- What
- An account of Saul's rescue of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites and the renewal of his kingdom at Gilgal.
- Where
- Jabesh-gilead in Gilead east of the Jordan, the muster ground at Bezek, and Gilgal near the river.
- When
- About 1050 BC, within the first month of Saul's reign, on the traditional reckoning.
- Why
- To show the new king confirmed by a victory the LORD gave, and to set the standard his later reign is measured by.
Historical context
Saul is a month into his kingship and still working his father's land, coming in from the field behind the oxen when the news reaches him. Nahash is king of Ammon, and the elders of a walled town east of the Jordan send for help.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The time is about 1050 BC, inside the first month of the reign. The places are Jabesh-gilead in Gilead east of the Jordan, the muster ground at Bezek on the west side, and Gilgal near the river. The occasion is a siege and the terms offered with it.
A shield was carried on the left arm and covered the left eye, so removing the right eye left a man alive, working and useless in a battle line. Nahash states the second purpose himself, that it is a disgrace laid on all Israel. The seven days granted for messengers was a taunt, since a besieged town that could find no rescuer was expected to submit.
Cutting a yoke of oxen in pieces and sending them through the territory was a summons every household recognised, the same method used after the outrage at Gibeah in Judges 19. A longer form of this account in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls of Samuel says Nahash had already been doing this east of the Jordan, so the town expected no mercy.
Significance
Saul's best moment stands here, and part of it is what he refuses to do. When the people demand the death of the men who despised him, he answers that no man will die that day, because the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Gilgal, where they renew the kingdom, is the place where Israel first camped in the land, so the monarchy was planted where the covenant nation began. First hearers also knew the older tie: the women of Jabesh-gilead had repopulated Benjamin generations earlier, and Benjamin's king had now rescued them.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
In the synagogue the close of this chapter is heard as a Haftarah, the reading from the Prophets that follows the weekly Torah portion. The portion is Korach, the thirty-eighth of the year, Numbers 16:1 to 18:32, and the reading runs from 1 Samuel 11:14 to 12:22 (src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, line 172). Only two chapters of this book have a place in the yearly cycle, and both fall inside that reading. The entry carries no separate Sephardi reading, so the same passage is heard in both rites. Of this chapter the congregation hears the last two verses alone, the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal. Rashi says the kingdom needed renewing "Because at first there was opposition in the matter, but now they unanimously agreed" (Rashi on I Samuel 11:14:1). This repository does not record why the reading was set with Korach, and no work in the corpus for this chapter gives the reason, so this card states none.
How it is read
Rashi is the only commentator the corpus carries with text on this chapter, in the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., under CC-BY. On the demand made at Jabesh-gilead he says to "Explain it literally", as the right eye of every man (Rashi on I Samuel 11:2:1). He gives the Midrash Aggadah beside it, which reads the demand as a call to hand over the Torah scroll to be burned (same ref). On that reading Nahash pointed to the law barring an Ammonite from the assembly, and would have no peace while it stood (same ref). On the shame of the thing he gives one word, an insult (Rashi on I Samuel 11:2:2). On Saul coming behind the cattle he sets the hour as the time the cattle come in from the field (Rashi on I Samuel 11:5:1). On the oxen he cut in pieces he glosses the word as his animals (Rashi on I Samuel 11:7:1). The counting at Bezek draws the longest note of the chapter. Rashi gives the reading of the Rabbis first, that Saul counted the people using earthenware shards, citing Maseches Yoma 22b (Rashi on I Samuel 11:8:1). On that reading the word is a description of the means rather than a place name (same ref). He gives a second reading, that the word means with pebbles, each man handing in one to be counted (same ref). He sets the counting with lambs later in this book beside it, and gives the Midrash Yelam'denu on the two (same ref). On that saying the poor were counted with pebbles and the rich with lambs (same ref). He records a third reading, that Bezek is a place name, the one named in the book of Judges (same ref). On the call to execute the men who had despised Saul he reads their earlier words as derision (Rashi on I Samuel 11:12:1). Radak, Malbim and Metzudat David comment at sixteen verses, and one further comment of Rashi carries no English version, so all seventeen stand as citations. They are Radak on I Samuel 11:5:1, 11:6:1, 11:7:1, 11:9:1 and 11:11:1, and Malbim on I Samuel 11:1:1, 11:3:1, 11:4:1 and 11:10:1. Beside them stand Metzudat David on I Samuel 11:1:1, 11:3:1, 11:6:1, 11:10:1, 11:11:1, 11:13:1 and 11:15:1, and Rashi on I Samuel 11:8:2.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records sixteen rabbinic locators on this chapter, fourteen of them Midrash and two Talmud, each a locator without text. The siege of Jabesh-gilead draws Midrash Shmuel 14:7 and Yoma 22b:20, and verse 6 draws Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 25:2:2. The counting at Bezek draws eleven locators, the great part of this chapter's rabbinic material. They are Bamidbar Rabbah 2:11, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yoma 2:1, Ein Yaakov, Yoma 2:1, Midrash Aggadah, Exodus 30:13:1 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa 8:3. The rest are Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 9:2, Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Shelosha v'Arba'ah 3:19, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 2:8, Pesikta Rabbati 10:1, Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 386:6 and Yoma 22b:2. The making of Saul king at Gilgal draws Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayishlach 46. The corpus records one further locator on this chapter, Midrash Lekach Tov on Esther 1:19:2. The rabbis teach in these places, and this site reports them as their teaching rather than as a rule of the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on I Samuel 11:2:1, 11:2:2, 11:5:1, 11:7:1, 11:8:1, 11:12:1 and 11:14:1, the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., CC-BY; Radak, Radak on I Samuel 11:5:1, 11:6:1, 11:7:1, 11:9:1 and 11:11:1, cited only, no English version in the corpus; Malbim, Malbim on I Samuel 11:1:1, 11:3:1, 11:4:1 and 11:10:1, cited only; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on I Samuel 11:1:1, 11:3:1, 11:6:1, 11:10:1, 11:11:1, 11:13:1 and 11:15:1, cited only; MannaFest, the readings table, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, line 172, for the portion Korach and the Haftarah 1 Samuel 11:14 to 12:22, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Nahash demands the right eye of Jabesh
1 Samuel 11:1-2
Nahash besieges Jabesh-gilead though Israel already has the king chosen at chapter 10. Putting out the right eye left a soldier whose shield covered his left eye unable to fight, so the town would be blinded for war and marked for shame. Adam Clarke notes Josephus gives the same reason, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read Nahash’s claim on Gilead as reaching back past Jephthah at Judges 11.
1 Samuel 11:1
“Then Nahash the Ammonite came up--Nahash ("serpent"); (see Jud 8:3). The Ammonites had long claimed the right of original possession in Gilead. Though repressed by Jephthah (Jud 11:33), they now, after ninety years, renew their pretensions; and it was the report of their threatened invasion that hastened the appointment of a king (1Sa 12:12).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Samuel 11:1
“Nahash was king of the children of Ammon, as appears from 1Sa 12:12. He seems to have been connected with the family of David, since Abigail, David’s sister, was “the daughter (perhaps granddaughter) of Nahash” 2Sa 17:25; 1Ch 2:16-17; and, perhaps, in consequence of this connection, he and his family were very friendly to David 2Sa 17:27. Jabesh-Gilead must have been re-populated after its destruction (see marginal reference). The Ammonites and Moabites resented the possession of Gilead by the Israelites Jdg 10:6-18; 11.”
Nahash aims his condition past Jabesh at the whole nation. Adam Clarke calls the lost eye a badge of slavery, a mark every Israelite would see on the men of this town. The insult to all Israel is the charge Saul carries to every tribe at verse 7.
1 Samuel 11:2
“I may thrust out all your right eves - This cruel condition would serve at once as a badge of their slavery, and a means of incapacitating them from being effective warriors. Theodoret observes, “He who opposes his shield to the enemy with his left hand, thereby hides his left eye, and looks at his enemy with his right eye; he therefore who plucks out that right eye makes men useless in war.” Josephus gives the same reason.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 11:3-4
The elders ask for seven days, which Adam Clarke calls the standard form such offers took, and send messengers "throughout Israel" rather than to Saul by name. John Gill observes that this is the first place Scripture calls the town Gibeah of Saul, a name fixed to him before he has done anything to earn it.
1 Samuel 11:3
“Give us seven days respite - Such promises are frequently made by besieged places: “We will surrender if not relieved in so many days;” and such conditions are generally received by the besiegers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Gibeah of Saul: The messengers came to Gibeah, Saul's birthplace and home in Benjamin, as John Gill notes. Benjamin had taken its wives from Jabesh-gilead at Judges 21:12 to 14, when that tribe was nearly wiped out. The people who wept were kin.
1 Samuel 11:4
“Then came the messengers to Gibeah - It does not appear that the people of Jabesh-gilead knew any thing of Saul’s appointment to the kingdom, for the message is not directed to him but to the people. The people lifted up their voices and wept - They saw no hope of deliverance, and they expected that their reproach would be laid on all Israel.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 11:4
“Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul,.... Where he was born, and brought up, and now dwelt; and he being elected king, it brought an honour to the place; and from hence had this name, to distinguish it from the others, and this is the first time it was so called.”
1 Samuel 11:5-7
Saul comes in from the field behind his oxen, still a farmer, and the Spirit of God rushes upon him with an anger that for once brings deliverance. The cut oxen sent through Israel echo the Levite’s signal at Judges 19:29, now summoning Israel to rescue a city. It is "the terror of the LORD" that unites the people, not loyalty to a king who has not yet acted.
1 Samuel 11:5
“Saul came after the herd - He had been bred up to an agricultural life, and after his consecration he returned to it, waiting for a call of Divine providence, which he considered he had now received in the message from Jabesh-gilead. It has often been remarked, that mighty kings and accomplished generals have been chosen from among those who were engaged in agricultural concerns. In these observations one fact is lost sight of, viz., that in ancient times agriculture was the only employment.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Spirit rushes on Saul, and oxen are cut in pieces
The Spirit rushed upon Saul first, and the anger followed. Gregory the Dialogist took that order as a sign that anger stirred by the Spirit of the Lord is a strength. John Gill reports that the Targum calls it a spirit of fortitude from the Lord.
1 Samuel 11:6
“And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,.... And filled him with pity and compassion to the inhabitants of Jabesh, and with wisdom and prudence, and set his thoughts at work to contrive ways and means for their relief, and with fortitude, courage, and resolution, to attempt their deliverance; so the Targum,"the spirit of fortitude from the Lord dwelt on Saul:''and his anger was kindled greatly; against Nahash the Ammonite for insulting Israel, and threatening to use the inhabitants of Jabesh in such a cruel manner.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 11:6
“He was angry at the insolence of the Ammonites, angry at the mean and sneaking spirit of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, angry that they had not sent him notice sooner of the Ammonites' descent and the extremity they were likely to be reduced to. He was angry to see his neighbours weeping, when it was fitter for them to be preparing for war.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Saul sets Samuel's name beside his own. Albert Barnes reads it as the new king borrowing the prophet's standing for his own untried rule. Samuel goes with the troops, and at verse 12 the people speak to him about the men who opposed Saul's reign.
1 Samuel 11:7
“Though not expressly stated, it is doubtless implied that he sent the portions by the messengers to the twelve tribes, after the analogy, and probably in imitation, of Jdg 19:29. He made use of the revered name of Samuel to strengthen his own weak authority. Samuel accompanied Saul in the expedition 1Sa 11:12.”
1 Samuel 11:8-10
At Bezek the army numbers 300,000 from Israel and 30,000 from Judah, a count the Septuagint and Josephus each raise. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place Bezek on the road to the ford Israel must cross to reach Jabesh-gilead. The men of Jabesh promise Nahash to come out the next day, and Adam Clarke notes the promise was kept in a way the Ammonites did not expect.
1 Samuel 11:8
“The children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand - This was a vast army, but the Septuagint make it even more: “All the men of Israel were ἑξακοσιας χιλιαδας, Six Hundred thousand; and the men of Judah ἑβδομηκοντα χιλιαδας, Seventy thousand.” Josephus goes yet higher with the number of the Israelites: “He found the number of those whom he had gathered together to be ἑβδομηκοντα μυριαδας Seven Hundred thousand.” Those of the tribe of Judah he makes seventy thousand, with the Septuagint.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 11:8
“In this muster, it seems, Judah, though numbered by itself, made no great figure; for, as it was one tribe of twelve, so it was but an eleventh part of the whole number, 30,330, though the rendezvous was at Bezek, in that tribe.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Samuel 11:8
“Bezek--This place of general muster was not far from Shechem, on the road to Beth-shan, and nearly opposite the ford for crossing to Jabesh-gilead. The great number on the muster-roll showed the effect of Saul's wisdom and promptitude.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The promise is kept to the hour. Albert Barnes places the attack in the morning watch, between two and six in the morning, after a march from Bezek begun the night before. The slaughter ran until the hottest part of the day, the very time the messengers had named.
1 Samuel 11:9
“The distance from Bezek to Jabesh-Gilead would perhaps be about twenty miles.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 11:9
“This was good news to the besieged Gileadites, whose right eyes had wept themselves dry for their calamities, and now began to fail with looking for relief and to ache in expectation of the doom of the ensuing day, when they must look their last; the greater the exigence the more welcome the deliverance.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Nahash had granted the seven days of verse 3 on the chance that no help would come. The answer of Jabesh feeds that confidence, and Adam Clarke notes that the men kept back the news of Saul's coming. Saul struck that waiting camp at the morning watch.
1 Samuel 11:10
“To-morrow we will come out unto you - They concealed the information they had received of Saul’s promised assistance. They did come out unto them; but it was in a different manner to what the Ammonites expected.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Saul divides his force into three divisions and strikes in the morning watch, the tactic Gideon used against Midian, as Albert Barnes notes. The rout leaves no two Ammonites together, and Jabesh-gilead owes its life to this king. The debt outlives his reign, since at 31:11 to 13 the men of Jabesh-gilead travel through the night to take Saul’s body from the wall of Beth-shan.
1 Samuel 11:11
“The march from Bezek may have begun the night before. This disposition of the forces “in three companies” (imitating Gideon’s strategy, compare the marginal reference.) would not have been made until the morning when they were very near the Ammonitish forces. “The morning watch” was the last of the three watches, of four hours each, into which the night was anciently divided by the Hebrews. (See Jdg 7:19 note.) The time thus indicated would be between two and six in the morning.”
The kingdom renewed at Gilgal
1 Samuel 11:12-13
Victory turns the crowd toward blood against the worthless men who scorned Saul at 10:27. Saul answers in his own voice that "today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel," so no one will die that day. Albert Barnes matches this restraint to David’s later conduct toward Saul, and it is the one time Saul refuses the sword when both the crowd and the cause would allow it.
1 Samuel 11:12
“The calm and sagacious counsel of Samuel directed the popular feelings into a right channel, by appointing a general assembly of the militia, the really effective force of the nation, at Gilgal, where, amid great pomp and religious solemnities, the victorious leader was confirmed in his kingdom [1Sa 11:15].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Albert Barnes calls the ruling good policy and moderation. Saul credits the LORD with the salvation and spares the men who scorned him. At 14:45 the people use the same reasoning to rescue Jonathan from Saul's own oath, calling the day's deliverance the work of God.
1 Samuel 11:13
“There shall not a man ... - An instance of great moderation, as well as good policy, on the part of Saul. Compare David’s conduct (marginal reference).”
1 Samuel 11:14-15
Samuel calls Israel to Gilgal to renew the kingship, a public confirmation of what chapter 10 did in private. Adam Clarke notes Josephus records a second anointing here, and Albert Barnes notes the Septuagint reads the same way. Two chapters later Saul returns to this ground, offers the burnt offering himself rather than wait for Samuel, and loses the kingdom he is confirmed in here.
1 Samuel 11:14
“Renew the kingdom - The unction of Saul, in the first instance, was a very private act; and his being appointed to be king was not known to the people in general. He had now shown himself worthy to command the people; and Samuel takes advantage of this circumstance to gain the general consent in his favor. Josephus says that Saul was anointed a second time at this convocation.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Saul's kingship came in three steps. Samuel anointed him in private at 10:1, the lot fell on him at Mizpah at 10:21, and here the people confirm him before the LORD. John Gill notes that the people declared a king whom God alone had made.
1 Samuel 11:15
“Made Saul king - The Septuagint has another reading, “and Samuel anointed Saul king there.” The example of David, who, besides his original anointing by Samuel 1Sa 16:12-13, was twice anointed, first as king of Judah 2Sa 2:4, and again as king over all Israel 2Sa 5:3, makes it probable that Saul was anointed a second time; but this may be included in the word “made king” (see 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:5).”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 11:15
“Commentary on Chapter XI 1. Then - That is, about that time; for that this happened before, and was the occasion of their desire of a king, may seem from chap. xii, 12, although it is possible, that Nahash's preparation, might cause that desire, and that he did not actually come 'till their king was chosen.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Narrative prose in one deliverance, a siege and its terms, a muster, a night march and a renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The oxen followed and the oxen cut in pieces | Saul comes in from the field behind the oxen at verse 5, still farming after his coronation. At verse 7 he takes a yoke of oxen and cuts them in pieces to summon Israel. The same animals open the scene and close it, and the change in what they are for is the change in the man.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1708 to 1710, on 1 Samuel 11:5 to 7. | 1 Samuel 11:5, 1 Samuel 11:7 |
| The word sent out and the word sent back | The elders send messengers to all the borders of Israel at verse 3, asking for anyone who will save them. At verses 9 and 10 the messengers carry a word back, that help will come by the time the sun is hot. The two errands frame the muster between them, and the answer is given in the same form as the plea.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1810 to 1826, on 1 Samuel 11:3. | 1 Samuel 11:3, 1 Samuel 11:4, 1 Samuel 11:9, 1 Samuel 11:10 |
| The numbers counted out at the muster | Verse 8 counts the army at Bezek by its two parts, three hundred thousand from Israel and thirty thousand from Judah. Verse 11 then divides that force into three companies for the attack in the morning watch. The figures are the chapter's measure of what Saul could summon, and chapter 13 counts his army at six hundred.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Samuel 11:8. | 1 Samuel 11:8, 1 Samuel 11:11, 1 Samuel 13:15 |
| The LORD named as the one who acted | The Spirit of God comes on Saul at verse 6. The fear of the LORD falls on the people at verse 7, which is why they come out with one consent. At verse 13 Saul himself says the LORD has worked salvation in Israel, and refuses the executions the crowd is calling for. Three times in one chapter the actor named is God rather than the king.Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1834 to 1885, on 1 Samuel 11:13. | 1 Samuel 11:6, 1 Samuel 11:7, 1 Samuel 11:13 |
The structure
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Five units. The siege and the terms, verses 1 and 2. The seven days and the appeal to all Israel, verses 3 and 4. Saul in the field, the Spirit, and the summons by the hewn oxen, verses 5 to 8. The word sent back and the rout in the morning watch, verses 9 to 11. The refusal of vengeance and the renewal at Gilgal, verses 12 to 15.
The summons and the signal it echoes
Saul cuts a yoke of oxen in pieces and sends them through the country with a threat. Judges 19:29 records the same grim method, where a Levite sends the pieces of his concubine through Israel. The exposition on this chapter reads the echo carefully: the earlier signal called Israel to avenge one death in a civil war, and this one calls Israel to rescue a city.
The historical value
The chapter is the one place in Samuel where a Qumran scroll, Josephus and a modern English translation converge on a paragraph the Hebrew does not carry. That convergence is set out in the book's dossier under 4QSam-a, and it is the clearest window this book gives a reader onto how its text has come down.
Albert Barnes reads the night march and the division into three companies as the tactic Gideon used against Midian in the same general country a generation earlier.
What the chapter hands forward
The debt Jabesh-gilead owes Saul here is paid at 31:11 to 13, where the valiant men of that town travel through the night to take his body down from the wall of Beth-shan. It is the one loyalty that outlives his ruin, and it runs back to this chapter.
Gilgal is the ground of the renewal at verse 15 and the ground of the first recorded failure at 13:8 to 14. The same place carries the height of the reign and the beginning of its end.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1834 to 1885, on 1 Samuel 11; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1708 to 1710, on 1 Samuel 11:5 to 7 and the book page's own guide, src/components/book/guides/1-samuel/Book1SamuelGuide.tsx, the act entry for 8:1 to 15:35.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.