seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 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.”
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.”
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.”
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5 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. 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. 8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
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. 10 They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
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.
This is in the notes for verse 1. Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls gifts. 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, 1 Nahash
Here's the link to the commentary I read.Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you: The men of Jabesh Gilead felt this was their only hope of survival. Either they must surrender to Nahash (we will serve you) under agreed upon terms (make a covenant with us), or they will simply be killed and plundered.
That I may put out your right eyes: When the men of Jabesh Gilead asked Nahash for a covenant, he agreed to settle peacefully with them — if all the men of the city had their right eyes gouged out. Certainly, Nahash was a serious man.
- The name Nahash means serpent or snake.
That we may send messengers: Nahash let the messengers go for two reasons. First, he was confident of Israel’s disunity and figured they couldn’t find anyone to save them. Second, by allowing the messengers to go through all Israel he made his name big and his reputation feared throughout the whole nation.
They told him the words of the men of Jabesh: This also shows there was no established system of government in Israel. Otherwise, the king would be the first to know of the threat against Jabesh instead of hearing the news second or third hand.
Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to the battle: “Saul’s inclusion of Samuel implies that he expects the prophet to accompany him into battle in view of the fact that Saul is responding to the Spirit of God.” (Baldwin)
And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent: Saul’s bloody threat worked. When those hunks of ox-flesh came special delivery, all Israel knew there was a leader in Israel who was serious. They knew the LORD called them to do something about the crisis at Jabesh Gilead.
Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us whatever seems good to you: Here they deceived Nahash. They spoke as if they would surrender to Nahash, so that his army would be unprepared for battle.
Killed Ammonites until the heat of the day... no two of them were left together: Through Saul’s action and by God’s blessing the victory was total. Nahash and his army were utterly routed, and the city of Jabesh Gilead was saved.
First of all, this guy gauged out the right eye. He didn't kill his subjects... there wouldn't be anyone to worship him or work for him if he killed everyone. So, he took away their depth perception. Yep... ask your eye doctor! When you lose the use of one eye, it changes the way your one good eye works. You have no depth perception. I've lost my depth perception when that doctor ruined my right eye. People want me to take their phone to look at something... but making my hand grab their phone is really difficult. I can't figure out where the phone is in space. I've been relearning how to function in this world for over 2 years and I still have bruises and cuts. I have learned how to pour coffee into a cup, and peel vegetables. I tell people I can't take their phone. My eye doesn't appear to be blind. So, it makes no sense to them. It just makes me appear to be even weirder. And I stopped driving the car. I don't want to kill anyone... but I hate being trapped at home. Oh, and riding in a car with someone else driving, and no depth perception, should be a new Halloween carnival ride.
Saul cut up an ox and sent parts of the ox to all the Israelite tribes. Last time all the Israelites were called together like this was back in Judges 20. That's when the Levite cut up his concubine and sent the pieces throughout Israel. Of course, the Levite was the one who tossed his whore to the angry mob, but he didn't tell the Israelites about that.
Apparently sending a piece of human or ox or any other kind of meat would cause the Israelites to go to war.... right?
Now check out verse 9. "By the time it gets hot" is kind of ambiguous. I think 330,000 troops could make short work of a town. It seems to imply, however, that this is not a reference to the sun coming up. It seems to imply "by the afternoon" the troops will have all the hostages free.
The people in the town of Jabesh Gilead were hostages. By afternoon they would be rescued.
Saul's first battle was a success.
The hostages were rescued.
