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Chapter 11[a]

Victory over the Ammonites. Nahash the Ammonite went up and camped outside of Jabesh-gilead. All of the men in Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will be subject to you.” But Nahash answered, “I will only make a covenant with you if I gouge out your right eyes[b] so that you might bring shame upon all of Israel.” The elders of Jabesh answered, “Give us a reprieve of seven days so that we can send messengers all throughout the territory of Israel. If no one comes to save us, then we will surrender to you.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 11:1 The final part of this section, in which Samuel is not even mentioned, comes from a different tradition about Saul’s election; it speaks of his election as being reaffirmed and thus is made to harmonize with what has gone before.
  2. 1 Samuel 11:2 Gouge out your right eyes: the shame of this was that it would render them unfit for military service.