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.
11:1-51 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.
We will serve you if you make a deal with us.
2 a 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.
Nahash answered them, saying,
Okay, I'll make a deal with you, if I can thrust out all of your right eyes. [2]
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.
The elders of Jabesh replied,
Give us seven days to find someone who can save us.
If we can't find anyone, you can thrust out our eyes.
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.
And all the people cried.
11:6-106 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
7And 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.
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul [3] and he took two oxen and hacked them into pieces, sending the pieces throughout Israel, with this message:
Whoever doesn't come to Saul will have this happen to their oxen.
And the fear of the Lord fell on all the people.
8 And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
And everyone came to Saul -- 300,000 from Israel, 30,000 from Judah.
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.
We will help you tomorrow.
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.
Tomorrow we'll come to you and you can poke out our eyes.
11:11-1511 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.
The next day, Saul and his army of 330,000 killed Ammonites until the heat of the day. [4]
When Saul was finished, no two of the Ammonites were left together.
12And 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.
Let's kill whoever didn't want Saul to be king.
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.
We won't kill them today. Today God has saved Israel.
14 Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
Saul said to the people,
Let's 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.
Then they rejoiced and sacrificed some animals.
Everyone (except the virgin women) in Jabeshgilead was killed by the non-Benjamite Israelites in Judges 21, yet here just a few years later "all the men" are negotiating a treaty with the Ammonites. Do dead men make treaties? I guess in the Bible they do!
Deals like this can only be found in the Bible.
People do the darnedest things when the spirit of God comes upon them!
Then they took a little break. After all, killing is hard work.
DWB: 64. Another Ammonite massacre (and another God-inspired body part message)
