1 Samuel 11:2
in 1 Samuel 11But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
KJV
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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This verse in 1 Samuel 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseI 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.
This site's exposition
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up
on 1 Samuel 11:1-2
Nahash's siege falls on a nation that already has its king, chosen at chapter 10, yet Jabesh-gilead still stands defenseless until Saul acts on its behalf. The condition Nahash offers is calculated rather than random: putting out the right eye of every man left a shield-bearer's own shield covering his left eye and no eye left to fight with, so the town would be blinded for war as well as marked for shame. Adam Clarke notes Josephus gives the same military reasoning for the demand, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read Nahash's claim on Gilead as ninety years old, reaching back past Jephthah's victory at Judges 11.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1 · Written before 604.
proposed
1. When I wished to assert the profundity of this sacred history in the preface of this work, I maintained that it could be seen especially in the fact that it was written by prophets. They indeed were accustomed to speak mystical things not only in words but also in deeds — to set forth plain things, yet to signify deep things. For since the Holy Spirit spoke through them, what they themselves said, as mere men, was plain, but it was profound and mystical, because the supreme and uncircumscribed Spirit was supplying the speech to men.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them,....
The Gileadites were content to part with their liberty and estates for the ransom of their blood; and, had the Ammonites taken them at their word, the matter would have been so settled immediately, and the Gileadites would not have sent out for relief.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Each right eye. Explain it literally. 1 As a symbol of everlasting defeat. But the Midrash Aggadah [explains it figuratively, that he said,] "Bring me your Torah scroll which was given by the right hand [of God], 2 See Devarim:2.
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
17 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נָחָשׁ֙ | nachash | Nahash | H5176 → | 10 times |
| הָעַמּוֹנִ֔י | haamoni | the Ammonite | H5984 → | |
| בְּזֹאת֙ | bezot | by this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| אֶכְרֹ֣ת | ʾekhrot | I will make | H3772 → | 288 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| בִּנְק֥וֹר | binkor | by gouging out | H5365 → | |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵ֣ין | ʾein | eye of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יָמִ֑ין | yamin | [the] right [side] | H3225 → | 140 times |
| וְשַׂמְתִּ֥יהָ | vesamtiha | and I will make it | H7760 → | 584 times |
| חֶרְפָּ֖ה | cherpah | a reproach | H2781 → | 73 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֗םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
נָחָשׁ֙Nahash
nachashH5176 →10 times
הָעַמּוֹנִ֔יthe Ammonite
haamoniH5984 →
בְּזֹאת֙by this
bezotH2063 →603 times
אֶכְרֹ֣תI will make
ʾekhrotH3772 →288 times
לָכֶ֔םto <the> you
lakhem
בִּנְק֥וֹרby gouging out
binkorH5365 →
לָכֶ֖םof you
lakhem
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵ֣יןeye of
ʾeinH5869 →887 times
יָמִ֑ין[the] right [side]
yaminH3225 →140 times
וְשַׂמְתִּ֥יהָand I will make it
vesamtihaH7760 →584 times
חֶרְפָּ֖הa reproach
cherpahH2781 →73 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 4:25
Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- 1 Kings 4:20
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- 1 Kings 4:25
Through
1 Samuel 17:26David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:26
For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?
- 1 Samuel 17:36
Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- 1 Samuel 17:10
Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”
- 1 Samuel 14:6
Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD…
- Deuteronomy 5:26
Through
Jeremiah 39:7Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
it leads to
- Judges 16:21
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 12:13
But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and…
- Judges 16:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.