1SA 11

1 Samuel 11:4

WEB

Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice and wept.

BSB

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

KJV

¶ 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.

Matthew Henry

Verses 1–4

1 Samuel 11:1–4

The Ammonites were bad neighbours to those tribes of Israel that lay next them, though descendants from just Lot, and, for that reason, dealt civilly with by Israel. See Deu 2:19. Jephthah, in his time, had humbled them, but now the sin of Israel had put them into a capacity to make head again, and avenge that quarrel. The city of Jabesh-Gilead had been, some ages ago, destroyed by Israel's sword of justice, for not appearing against the wickedness of Gibeah (Jdg 21:10); and now being replenished again, probably by the posterity of those that then escaped the sword, it is in danger of being destroyed by the Ammonites, as if some bad fate attended the place. Nahash, king of Ammon (Ch1 19:1) laid siege to it. Now here,

I. The besieged beat a parley (Sa1 11:1): "Make a covenant with us, and we will surrender upon terms, and serve thee." They had lost the virtue of Israelites, else they would not have thus lost the valour of Israelites, nor tamely yielded to serve an Ammonite, without one bold struggle for themselves. Had they not broken their covenant with God, and forsaken his service, they needed not thus to have courted a covenant with a Gentile nation, and offered themselves to serve them.

II. The besiegers offer them base and barbarous conditions; they will spare their lives, and take them to be their servants, upon condition that they shall put out their right eyes, Sa1 11:2. The Gileadites were content to part with their liberty and estates for the ransom of their blood; and, had the Ammonites taken them at their word, the matter would have been so settled immediately, and the Gileadites would not have sent out for relief. But their abject concessions make the Ammonites more insolent in their demands, and they cannot be content to have them for their servants, but, 1. They must torment them, and put them to pain, exquisite pain, for so the thrusting out of an eye would do. 2. They must disable them for war, and render them incapable, though not of labour (that would have been a loss to their lords), yet of bearing arms; for in those times they fought with shields in their left hands, which covered their left eye, so that a soldier without his right eye was in effect blind. 3. They must put a reproach upon all Israel, as weak and cowardly, that would suffer the inhabitants of one of their chief cities to be thus miserably used, and not offer to rescue them.

III. The besieged desire, and obtain, seven days' time to consider of this proposal, Sa1 11:3. If Nahash had not granted them this respite, we may suppose the horror of the proposal would have made them desperate, and they would rather have died with their swords in their hands than have surrendered to such merciless enemies: therefore Nahash, not imagining it possible that, in so short a time, they should have relief, and being very secure of the advantages he thought he had against them, in a bravado gave them seven days, that the reproach upon Israel, for not rescuing them, might be the greater, and his triumphs the more illustrious. But there was a providence in it, that his security might be his infatuation and ruin.

IV. Notice is sent of this to Gibeah. They said they would send messengers to all the coasts of Israel (Sa1 11:3), which made Nahash the more secure, for that, he thought, would be a work of time, and none would be forward to appear if they had not one common head; and perhaps Nahash had not yet heard of the new-elected king. But the messengers, either of their own accord or by order from their masters, went straight to Gibeah, and, not finding Saul within, told their news to the people, who fell a weeping upon hearing it, Sa1 11:4. They would sooner lament their brethren's misery and danger than think of helping them, shed their tears for them than shed their blood. They wept, as despairing to help the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and fearing lest, if that frontier-city should be lost, the enemy would penetrate into the very bowels of their country, which now appeared in great hazard.

Cross-references: Deut 2:19 · Judg 21:10 · 1Chr 19:1 · 1Sam 11:1 · 1Sam 11:2 · 1Sam 11:3 · 1Sam 11:4

Hebrew interlinear

H935

בּוֹאbôwʼ/bo/

v — go, come

Derivation: a primitive root;

to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)

KJV: abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, × certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, × doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.

בּוֹא

vb — come in

בּוֹא 2569 vb. come in, come, go in, go

Qal

1. come in

2. come (approach, arrive)

3. go, i.e. walk, associate with

4. go from speaker, but with limit of motion given

Hiph.

1. cause to come in, bring in (conduct, lead, obj. persons and animals)

2. cause to come, bring, bring near, etc. (animate obj.)

Hoph.

a. be brought in (of pers. and things)

b. be brought

c. be introduced, put

H4397

מַלְאָךְmalʼâk/mal-awk'/

n-m — messenger, angel

Derivation: from an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy;

a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher)

KJV: ambassador, angel, king, messenger.

מַלְאָךְ

n.m — messenger

מַלְאָךְ 214 n.m. messenger

1. messenger

2. angel, as messenger of God

3. the theophanic angel

H1390

גִּבְעָהGibʻâh/ghib-aw'/

n-pr-loc — Gibah

Derivation: the same as 1389;

Gibah; the name of three places in Palestine

KJV: Gibeah, the hill.

גִּבְעָה

n.pr.loc — Gibeah

גִּבְעָה n.pr.loc. (hill)

1. a city of Judah

2. city of Benj.

3. a city of Ephraim

H7586

שָׁאוּלShâʼûwl/shaw-ool'/

n-pr-m — Shaul

Derivation: passive participle of 7592; asked;

Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites

KJV: Saul, Shaul.

שָׁאוּל

n.pr.m — Saul

שָׁאוּל n.pr.m. (= asked)

1. 397 1st king of Isr.

2. a king of Edom

3. a son of Simeon

4. a Levite

H1696

דָבַרdâbar/daw-bar'/

v — arrange, speak, subdue

Derivation: a primitive root;

perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue

KJV: answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.

דָבַר

vb — speak

[דָבַר] 1142 vb. speak (original mng. dub.)

Qal speak

Niph. reciprocal sense, speak with one another, talk

Pi. speak

Pu. in the day when she may be spoken for

Hithp. speaking this word

Hiph. either leads subject, or puts to flight, fig. for subdues

H1697

דָּבָרdâbâr/daw-baw'/

n-m — word, matter, spoken, thing, cause

Derivation: from 1696;

a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause

KJV: act, advice, affair, answer, × any such (thing), because of, book, business, care, case, cause, certain rate, chronicles, commandment, × commune(-ication), concern(-ing), confer, counsel, dearth, decree, deed, × disease, due, duty, effect, eloquent, errand, (evil favoured-) ness, glory, harm, hurt, iniquity, judgment, language, lying, manner, matter, message, (no) thing, oracle, × ought, × parts, pertaining, please, portion, power, promise, provision, purpose, question, rate, reason, report, request, × (as hast) said, sake, saying, sentence, sign, so, some (uncleanness), somewhat to say, song, speech, × spoken, talk, task, that, × there done, thing (concerning), thought, thus, tidings, what(-soever), wherewith, which, word, work.

דָּבָר

n.m — speech

דָּבָר 1439 n.m. speech, word

I. sg. speech, discourse, saying, word, as the sum of that which is spoken

II. sg. saying, utterance, sentence, as a section of a discourse

III. sg. a word, words

IV. sg. matter, affair, thing about which one speaks

H241

אֹזֶןʼôzen/o'-zen/

n-f — broadness, ear

Derivation: from 238;

broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in man)

KJV: advertise, audience, displease, ear, hearing, show.

אֹ֫זֶן

n.f — ear

אֹ֫זֶן 188 n.f. Ex 29:20 ear

1. ear, as part of body

2. especially as organ of hearing

3. open ears of, reveal to

H5971

עַםʻam/am/

n-m — people, tribe, troops, attendants, flock

Derivation: from 6004;

a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock

KJV: folk, men, nation, people.

עַם

n.[m.] — kinsman

[עַם] n.[m.] kinsman (on father's side)

עַם

n.m — people

עַם, עָם 1810 n.m. people

1. a people, nation

2. = smaller units

3. = common people

4. people in gen., persons

5. phrases

H5375

נָשָׂאnâsâʼ/naw-saw'/

v — lift

Derivation: or נָסָה; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root;

to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative

KJV: accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.

נָשָׂא

vb — lift

נָשָׂא 656 vb. lift, carry, take

Qal

1. lift, lift up

2. Bear, carry

3. Take, take away

Niph.

1. be lifted up

2. refl. lift oneself up = rise up, of י׳, to display power in judgment

3. be borne, carried

4. be taken away, carried off

Pi.

1. lift up = exalt

2. fig. = desire, long

3. carry, bear continuously

4. take, take away

Hithp. lift oneself up

Hiph.

1. cause one to bear iniquity

2. appar. cause to bring, have brought

H3605

כֹּלkôl/kole/

n-m — whole, all, any, every

Derivation: or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from 3634;

properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)

KJV: (in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

כֹּל

n.m — the whole

כֹּל once כּוֹל n.m. the whole, all

1. with foll. gen. (as usually) the whole of, to be rendered, however, often in our idiom, to avoid stiffness, any or every

2. Absolutely:

a. without the art., all things, all

b. with the art. הַכֹּל

(a). where the sense is limited by the context to things (or persons) just mentioned

(b). in a wider sense, all, whether of all mankind or of all living things, the universe, or of all the circumstances of life (chiefly late)

H853

אֵתʼêth/ayth/

prt — self, even, namely

Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;

properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)

KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].

אֵת

mark of the accusative

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

H6963

קוֹלqôwl/kole/

n-m — voice, sound

Derivation: or קֹל; from an unused root meaning to call aloud;

a voice or sound

KJV: aloud, bleating, crackling, cry ( out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, hold peace, (pro-) claim, proclamation, sing, sound, spark, thunder(-ing), voice, yell.

קוֹל

n.m — sound

קוֹל 506 n.m. sound, voice

קֹל

n.[m.] — lightness

קֹל n.[m.] lightness, frivolity;—Je 3:9

H1058

בָּכָהbâkâh/baw-kaw'/

v — weep, bemoan

Derivation: a primitive root;

to weep; generally to bemoan

KJV: × at all, bewail, complain, make lamentation, × more, mourn, × sore, × with tears, weep.

בָּכָה

vb — weep

בָּכָה 114 vb. weep, bewail

Qal

1. weep

2. weep bitterly

3. weep upon

4. bewail

5. in sense of burden, annoy with weeping

6. of penitent weeping

Pi. lament; bewail

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