Summary: Nahash the Ammonite, a brutal tyrant, conquers an Israelite city and proposes a humiliating term of surrender: gouging out the right eye of every citizen (11:1-2). Distressed, the Hebrews send messengers for help. Saul, upon hearing this, is filled with righteous anger by the Spirit (11:6). He rallies the Israelites with a dramatic message, gathering 300,000 men who defeat the Ammonites decisively (11:8-11). This victory establishes Saul’s leadership and silences any doubts about his right to be king.
In one of the very early scrolls at Qumran (4QSama), we read a further addition that was lost in later scrolls in 10:27. There we read,
“[Na]hash king of the Ammonites sorely oppressed the Gadites and the Reubenites, and he gouged out a[ll] their right [e]yes and struck ter[ror and dread] in [I]srael. Not a man was left among the Israelites bey[ond Jordan who]se right eye was no[t go]uged out by Naha[sh king] of the [A]mmonites, except that seven thousand men [fled from] the Ammonites and entered [J]abesh Gilead. About a month later.”[]
If this text is valid, then it gives incredible context to the events in chapter 11. It means that Nahash had already been on a successful campaign to terrorize multiple tribes in Israel (e.g. Gad, Reuben, tribes beyond the Jordan). The survivors fled to Jabesh Gilead, and they were holding out there for protection. This sets the stage for chapter 11.
Saul starts off his career doing really well! But don’t blink, or you’ll miss the good side of Saul…
(11:1) 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.”
The Ammonites were the descendants of Lot’s son Ben-Ammi (Gen. 19:36-38). Here is the first opportunity for Saul to demonstrate his kingship.
Jabesh Gilead is most likely the modern day tell el-Maqlub, which is twelve miles southeast of Beth Shan (which is located on the Jordan River).[]
“Nahash” (nāḥāš) literally means “snake” or “to practice divination” or “to look for omens.”[] He was a vicious and tyrannical ruler.
(11:2) 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.”
This sort of brutal treatment was common in the ancient Near East (Num. 16:13-14; Judg. 16:21; 2 Kings 25:7; Jer. 39:6-7; 52:10-11; Zech. 11:17). By plucking out the right eye of the people, this was effectively “incapacitating them from taking aim in battle” with a bow and arrow—not to mention being “inhuman and cruel.”[]
(11:3) 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.”
The elders were clearly trying to buy some time to see if someone would come to their rescue. As individual tribes, they needed to call on others to come to their aid, lacking central leadership. Nahash didn’t mind these people sending for help for two reasons: (1) he likely didn’t think any help would arrive, and (2) seven days was “barely time enough for messengers to reach the whole land, and return.”[]
(11:4) When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud.
The people lamented, feeling like they couldn’t do anything to save the men at Jabesh Gilead.
(11:5-6) Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said. 6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger.
“Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen.” Monarchies aren’t made overnight. Saul was still working his own farms because the nation hadn’t raised money for the monarchy yet. The tearing apart of the cattle could be the sign that Saul was leaving his farm for being a full-time king.[]
Saul didn’t cry and lament. Instead, he became righteously angry and took charge. The Holy Spirit came upon him filling him with this emotion and decisiveness. He began to perform his primary duty as king—to lead the people in battle (1 Sam. 8:20).
(11:7) 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 came out together as one.
There is a parallel here with the man cutting up his concubine and sending her remains to the twelve tribes of Israel (Judg. 19:29; 20:6). This was a gruesome object-lesson to show that Saul meant what he said.
(11:8) When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
The NASB states that there were 300,000 men in Israel, but the NIV states that there were only 3,000. Regarding this distinction, see comments on Exodus 12:37.
(11:9) 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 rescued.’” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated.
Saul told the men of Jabesh Gilead that they would have a showdown at “high noon” (“By the time the sun is hot tomorrow”). This lifted the spirits of the men there.
(11:10) They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
The men of Jabesh Gilead literally say, “Whatever seems good in your eyes.”[] This could be a pun based on the demand to pluck out an eye (v.2). It could also be an allusion to the Judges account (“Everyone did what was right in their own eyes…”).
(11:11) 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.
They attacked first thing in the morning. The description of their scattering sounds like a complete terrorizing of the Ammonite army (“no two of them were left together”).
(11:12) The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”
This is a complete reversal from what some of the people said earlier (1 Sam. 10:27). This dissenting view must have been public enough for all of the people to know about it. Now, the majority of the people call for the deaths of these critics.
(11:13) But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel.”
Saul calls for gratitude—not revenge (cf. 1 Sam. 19:1-6; 2 Sam. 19:22). He also attributes this victory to God—not himself (“the LORD has rescued Israel”). This shows that Saul had a heart for God. The problem is that if you blink when reading the text, you’ll miss it! The rest of the narrative shows that Saul was still a massively insecure leader, and he takes a slow downturn.
(11:14-15) Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul 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.
Samuel calls for a renewal of the kingship, because not all of the people had been supportive of him being raised as a king. But now, his dissenters had become allies. It was time to publicly renew the kingship ceremony.
Not all anger is unrighteous. Saul was filled with the Spirit to become angry (v.6). The real question is whether your anger is under control, which Saul’s certainly was (v.13). Saul used his anger to protect the lives of innocent people from an evil despot. Surely, that counts as righteous anger.
This event demonstrates Saul’s ability to lead the people. As leaders, we should look for opportunities to demonstrate why we should be leaders, taking the initiative to take steps of faith.
Cited in Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 634.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 636.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 636.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 103.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 104.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 136.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 639.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
