| 1 Samuel 11 | |
|---|---|
 The pages containing theBooks of Samuel (1 & 2 Samuel) inLeningrad Codex (1008 CE). | |
| Book | First book of Samuel |
| Hebrew Bible part | Nevi'im |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 3 |
| Category | Former Prophets |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 9 |
1 Samuel 11 is the eleventhchapter of the First Book of Samuel in theOld Testament of theChristianBible or the first part of theBooks of Samuel in theHebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophetSamuel, with additions by the prophetsGad andNathan,[2] but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE.[3][4] This chapter describesSaul obliterating the army ofNahash king ofAmmon and liberatingJabesh-Gilead, thereby convincing the people about his ability to lead, and causing them to appoint him king.[5] This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 7–15 which records the rise of the monarchy in Israel and the account of the first years of King Saul.[6]
This chapter was originally written in theHebrew language.It is divided into 15 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter inHebrew are of theMasoretic Text tradition, which includes theCodex Cairensis (895),Aleppo Codex (10th century), andCodex Leningradensis (1008).[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among theDead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSama; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 1–2, 7–12.[8][9][10][11]
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) includeCodex Vaticanus (B;B; 4th century) andCodex Alexandrinus (A;A; 5th century).[12][a]
For this narrative, 4QSama (among theDead Sea Scrolls; from first century BCE) and the writing ofJosephus from first century CE, provide a background information thatNahash king of theAmmonites have subdued Israel's Transjordanian tribes (Gadites and Reubenites) and gouged the right eye of his captives (cf. 11:2 for explanation), but 7000 Israelites escaped and hid inJabesh-Gilead, so now Nahash came to threaten the city.[14] Significantly, Jabesh-Gilead was the only town refusing the call of arms in previous time (Judges 21), so now their chance of receiving help from other Israel tribes were slim, and that's probably why Nahash allowed them seven days to send messengers to try asking.[15] Due to their prior refusal to join the call to arms, the people of Jabesh-Gilead were slaughtered by other tribes, except for 400 virgin girls who were left alive and given to be the wives of the survivors of thetribe of Benjamin (among 600 men) for a separate slaughter by the Israel tribes, so were it not for the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, the tribe of Benjamin would be annihilated.[15]
Prior to the first word "Then..." 4QSama and GreekSeptuagint texts have a phrase: "about a month later".[5]Prior to the whole verse, 4QSama andJosephus (Antiquities 6.5.1. [68-71])[19] attest to an addition which explains Nahash's practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the Masoretic Text,[20] or GreekSeptuagint manuscripts.[14]NRSV renders it as verse 10:27b as follows: "Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead."[5] The variations may be explained as scribal errors due tohomeoteleuton, in which case the scribe jumps from one word to another word with a similar ending later in the text. Comparing to the reading in 4QSama, NET Bible suggests that the scribe of the MT may have skipped from the phraseHebrew:ויהי כמחרישׁ,vayehi kemakharish, at the end of 1 Samuel 10:27, which should possibly beHebrew:ויהי כמו חרשׁ,vayehi kemo kheresh, and picked up after the phraseHebrew:ויהי כמו חדשׁ,vayehi kemo khodesh, "it happened about a month later...". 4QSama also contains a case of homeoteleuton in this passage, that the scribe first skipped from one case ofHebrew:גלעד,Gilʿad, "Gilead", to another, then inserted the missing 10 words between the lines of the 4QSama text.[20] The fact that the scribe made this type of mistake and was able to make corrections indicates that the person was copying from a source that had these verses in it.[20] Moreover, the 4QSama text first introduces Nahash with his full title, as the king of the Ammonites, which is considered the usual style.[21]
When the messengers from Jabesh Gilead reached Saul's hometown, Gibeah, Saul was working as a farmer and only heard about the situation second hand, after witnessing the townpeople publicly weeping over the news.[15] Unlike others, Saul became angry after hearing the message, and it is said that God's spirit who brought on his anger (11:6; cf. Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; especiallySamson in 14:6, 19; 15:14).[15][23] The way Saul called the people to arms was by dismembering a pair of his oxen ("a yoke of oxen") and sending the pieces to all places in the territory of Israel (cf. Judges 19:29–30), with a message that the people who refused to respond would have a fate like that of the oxen.[23] Saul's strategy and eventual victory was similar to that of former judges: by dividing the forces (cf. Judges 7) to surround the enemy camp and attacking in an early morning, but the attribution of the victory was to YHWH (verse 12).[23] The victory proves Saul's worthiness of the kingship contrary to the words of his opponents (10:26), but those critics were spared according to Saul's own wish and Saul was acclaimed king once more at Gilgal.[23]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
