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BOOK 9 OF 66 · HISTORY · KING JAMES BIBLE

1 Samuel 11

1 Samuel book home•Chapter 11 of 31•15 verses
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REVIEWED OVERVIEW

1 Samuel 11 Overview

Nahash the Ammonite besieges Jabesh-gilead and offers a humiliating covenant that would require putting out every man’s right eye. When Saul hears the news, the Spirit of God comes upon him and he summons Israel to battle. The Ammonites are decisively defeated, and Samuel uses the victory to renew the kingdom at Gilgal.

1 SamuelBook
11Chapter
15Verses
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Before you read 1 Samuel 11

Coming from

Chapter 10 publicly identified Saul as king, but some men questioned whether he could save Israel.

In this chapter

The crisis at Jabesh-gilead gives Saul an immediate opportunity to demonstrate God-given leadership and unite the tribes in defense of an Israelite city.

Leads into

Chapter 12 records Samuel’s public address at Gilgal, where he reviews Israel’s history, defends his own integrity, rebukes the demand for a king, and calls both king and people to fear and serve the LORD.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Jabesh-gilead had a special connection with Benjamin after the civil-war crisis of Judges 21, which makes its rescue by a Benjamite king especially striking. Nahash’s proposed eye-gouging is meant to impose both military disability and public reproach on Israel. Saul’s response contrasts sharply with the timid hiding seen in chapter 10: empowered by God’s Spirit, he acts decisively and then refuses immediate revenge against those who had earlier despised him.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God’s appointment of Saul becomes publicly credible through actual deliverance, not merely ceremony.

Truth 2

Saul’s best moment in the early reign combines courage, Spirit-empowered leadership, national unity, and restraint toward personal critics.

Truth 3

The victory is explicitly attributed to the LORD’s salvation of Israel, even though Saul leads the army.

Truth 4

Samuel uses military success not to glorify Saul alone but to reaffirm the kingdom in a covenant setting before the LORD.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Judges 21 explains why Jabesh-gilead and Benjamin have an unusual earlier connection in Israel’s history.

Connection 2

Deuteronomy 20 provides broader Torah background for Israel’s warfare, while this chapter concerns defense against an Ammonite threat rather than the original conquest of Canaan.

Connection 3

1 Samuel 31 and 2 Samuel 2 later show Jabesh-gilead remembering Saul’s rescue by honoring his body after his death.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Saul’s military victory does not prove that every later decision he makes is approved by God. Scripture evaluates leaders over the course of their lives.

Keep this clear 2

The phrase ‘the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel’ here refers to national deliverance from enemies, not to a statement that participation in Saul’s army grants eternal life.

Keep this clear 3

Saul’s refusal to kill his earlier critics is commendable here; later hostility toward perceived rivals should be measured against this better beginning.

Read 1 Samuel 11 watching for…

What Nahash demands from Jabesh-gilead.

How Saul changes when he hears the news.

The method used to summon Israel to battle.

The extent of the Ammonite defeat.

Saul’s response when people suggest killing his former critics.

Why Samuel brings the people to Gilgal afterward.

TWBC REVIEW STANDARD

Plain language. Scripture first. Fact distinguished from inference. No filler. No fake certainty. Designed to help you read the Bible itself.

Chapter outline3 sections
1-4Nahash threatens Jabesh-gilead, and messengers seek help5-11The Spirit of God comes upon Saul, and Israel defeats the Ammonites12-15Saul spares those who opposed him, and the kingdom is renewed at Gilgal
1

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

2

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.

3

And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

4

Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

5

And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.

6

And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.

7

And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.

8

And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

9

And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

10

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.

11

And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

12

And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.

13

And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.

14

Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.

15

And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.