1 Samuel 11:1

THE THIRD AND FINAL PHASE OF SAUL'S SELECTION AS GOD'S APPOINTED KING OF ISRAEL

The first phase of Saul's rise to the kingship was his anointing by Samuel (1 Samuel 10:1), which was a secret to the general public and even to members of Saul's family. The second phase was his choice by the casting of lots at Mizpah, which was generally known throughout Israel, but not known universally in Israel and not even accepted by all the people. On this account, Samuel sent everyone to his own home, and Israel waited for further developments which came almost at once. The final phase of Saul's ascending the throne of Israel is dramatically presented in this short chapter.

NAHASH'S ATTACK UPON JABESH-GILEAD

"Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us and we will serve you." But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus put disgrace upon all Israel." The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you." When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people; and all the people wept aloud."

"Nahash the Ammonite" (1 Samuel 11:1). Lockyer identified two Biblical characters of this name: (1) the evil marauder here and (2) "The father of Shobi (2 Samuel 10:2; 1 Chronicles 19:1,2) who is spoken of as a friend of David at a later time."[1] The same scholar gave the meaning of Nahash as "serpent," or "oracle."

Payne wrote that, "The narrator here suddenly switches to a new topic,"[2] but to this writer it seems mandatory to see only one subject throughout 1 Samuel 8-11, namely, the elevation of Saul to the throne of Israel. Every word of these four chapters is focused on that one event.

H. P. Smith wrote that the author of this chapter seemed to be totally unaware that Saul had been chosen as Israel's king at Mizpah;[3] but, as we shall note below, the sacred text flatly denies such an opinion. In fact, Samuel, by sending every one home following the events at Mizpah, actually anticipated something very similar to what is related here (1 Samuel 10:25,26). The failure of Israel unanimously to accept Saul as their king required that God would providentially bring about some further event that would effectively achieve his purpose. That event was the invasion of Nahash, his shameful and insulting treatment of the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, and Saul's vigorous and successful response to it.

"Jabesh-gilead" (1 Samuel 11:1). This is the town that was destroyed by the Israelites because of their failure to take part in the war against Benjamin (Judges 21:8-15). "It was located nine or ten miles southeast of the ancient town of Bethshan, only two miles east of the Jordan river on the Wadi Yabis, a tributary to the Jordan, and has been identified with the modern Tell Abu Kharaz."[4] Saul's rescue of this town resulted in their lasting affection for him; and when, at the end of Saul's reign, the Philistines defeated him and brought about his death, and after they cut off his head and hung Saul's body on the fortress of Bethshan, the citizens of Jabesh-gilead recovered Saul's body in a daring night long raid and gave his remains an honorable burial (1 Samuel 31:8-13).

"On this condition ... that I gouge out all your right eyes" (1 Samuel 11:2). The savage nature of the Ammonites is attested in Amos 1:13, where it is recorded that, "They ripped up the women with child of Gilead." Josephus gave Nahash's purpose here in the gouging out of their eyes as that of making them incapable of warfare. The soldiers of that day carried shields which usually covered the left eye, hence, a man with his right eye blinded would be incapable of fighting.[5] However, our text here indicates that Nahash on this raid was more interested in bringing disgrace and shame upon all Israel. He was no doubt interested also in gaining the territory which the Ammonites had claimed back in the days of Jephthah (Judges 11:4-33).

We reject the emendations which scholars have made to the text here on the basis of what is written in the LXX. As Keil said, "All the ancient versions give the Masoretic Text, not only the Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic, but even Jerome ... It is perfectly evident that Nahash began his siege of Jabesh-gilead shortly after the election of Saul as king at Mizpah."[6] The only reason for denying this lies in the efforts of critics to establish their theory of "two sources."

It is surprising that Nahash would have granted the citizens of Jabesh-gilead seven days in which to seek help from their fellow Israelites; but it seems to have occurred to Nahash that, after such an effort, his purpose of disgracing all Israel would be even more effective. Besides, his arrogant over-confidence made him certain that they would be unable to get any relief.

Note that the citizens of the beleaguered Jabesh-gilead knew nothing of Saul's being made king. This was absolutely in keeping with the detached location of their city, that, in all probability, having been the principal reason that they did not respond in the war against Benjamin. There is nothing abnormal or surprising in their failure to know that Saul was king of Israel.