1 Samuel 11:1

1 Samuel 11:1-11. Saul's victory over the Ammonites

1. Then Simply And. There is nothing in the Hebrew text to mark whether the interval was long or short. The Sept. however omits the words "But he held his peace" at the close of ch. 10, and begins this chapter "And it came to pass after about a month that Nahash, &c." This rendering represents a very slight variation in the consonants of the Hebrew text, and possibly preserves the original reading. At any rate we may gather from ch. 1 Samuel 12:12 that an Ammonite attack was threatened before Saul's election, and probably the actual invasion took place not long after.

Nahash The king of the Ammonites (ch. 1 Samuel 12:12). This Nahash can hardly have been the Nahash who "shewed kindness to David" during his wanderings (2 Samuel 10:2), but probably his father or grandfather. According to Josephus he was slain in the battle.

the Ammonite South and East of the Israelite settlements on the Eastern side of the Jordan dwelt the powerful tribes of the Ammonites and Moabites. The limits of their respective territories cannot be exactly defined, but the Ammonites appear to have lived north and the Moabites south of the Arnon. The Ammonites were a fierce marauding tribe: the Moabites a settled and civilised nation. United by the tie of common descent from Lot, they were generally in alliance against Israel. Twice during the period of the Judges they "oppressed Israel" (Judges 3:12-14; Judges 10:11), and even crossed the Jordan and occupied Jericho (1 Samuel 3:13; 1 Samuel 10:9). After their defeat by Jephthah, the Ammonites are not mentioned until the present occasion. During the early part of David's reign they were on friendly terms with him, but the studied insult offered by Hanun to his ambassadors (2 Samuel 10:1 ff.) led to a war which resulted in the capture of their metropolis Rabbah (2 Samuel 12:26). In the reign of Jehoshaphat they once more invaded Judah in conjunction with the Moabites (2 Chronicles 20), but were signally defeated, and became tributary to Uzziah and Jotham (2 Chronicles 26:8; 2 Chronicles 27:5). Even after the Return their old hostility survived (Nehemiah 4:7-8). Judas Maccabaeus found them "a mighty power," and "fought many battles with them until at length they were discomfited before him" (1Ma 5:6-7).

Jabesh-Gilead i.e. Jabesh in Gilead, the extensive district lying immediately E. of the Jordan between Bashan on the N. and Moab and Ammon on the S. and S. E. To the southern portion of this district the Ammonites laid claim (Judges 11:13). A terrible vengeance had been executed on Jabesh for its neglect to join the levy of Israel in the war against Benjamin (Judges 21:8 ff.), but from this blow it had recovered, and Nahash now attacked it as the capital of Gilead, and the key to the possession of the country. The name of Jabesh still survives in the Wady Yâbis, which runs down into the Jordan valley a few miles below Beth-shan. It is a lovely valley, full of straggling old olives, patches of barley, and rich pasture. Tristram's Land of Israel, p. 556.