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1 Samuel 11:10

in 1 Samuel 11

Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

This verse in 1 Samuel 11

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

the children of Israel were three hundred thousand

on 1 Samuel 11:8-10

At Bezek the army numbers three hundred thousand from Israel and thirty thousand from Judah, a count the Septuagint and Josephus each raise higher still, a variant the exposition names without settling. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place Bezek near Shechem, on the road to the very ford Israel must cross to reach Jabesh-gilead, so the muster ground was chosen with the march ahead of it in view. The men of Jabesh are told help will come by the time the sun is hot, and they answer Nahash with a lie of omission, promising to come out to him the next day while hiding that an army is already moving. Adam Clarke notes the promise was kept, though in a manner very different from what the Ammonites expected.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And you shall do to us everything that pleases you. They said, being glad this night, although a conflict was approaching, those who knew most certainly that the morning of faith was approaching, would soon be pleasing to the enemies, not adverse to the punishments …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1 · Written before 604.

proposed

11. This indeed is because those who are already secure from nearby help grant a certain hope to the enemies whom they deceive by promising. In voice indeed they simulate weakness, but inwardly they preserve the strength of the promised help. Therefore they promise one thing, but believe another. For those who said: "Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do to us all that pleases you," were giving the enemies to believe that they would so deliver themselves into their hands that they could do to them whatever they wished.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Therefore the men of Jabesh said,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Tomorrow - Probably the last of the “seven days’ respite” 1Sa 11:3. Their words were spoken in guile, to throw the Ammonites off their guard.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

And the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems right in your sight.”
Targum · Targum Jonathan on I Samuel 11:10, via Sefaria, The Targum of Samuel; trans. E. van Staalduine-Sulman. Leiden: Brill, 2002

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַֽיֹּאמְרוּ֙and they said

    vaiyomeruH5595305 times

  • אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] men of

    ʾansheiH582566 times

  • יָבֵ֔ישׁJabesh

    yaveishH300324 times

  • מָחָ֖רtomorrow

    macharH427952 times

  • נֵצֵ֣אwill we go out

    netze'H33181067 times

  • אֲלֵיכֶ֑םto you

    ʾaleikhemH4135510 times

  • וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֣םand you will do

    vaasitemH62132628 times

  • לָּ֔נוּto <the> us

    lanu

  • כְּכָל־according to all

    kekhol-H36055413 times

  • הַטּ֖וֹבthe good

    hatovH2896538 times

  • בְּעֵינֵיכֶֽם׃ סin view your

    beeineikhemH5869887 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).