1 Samuel 11:1
New International Version
Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”

New Living Translation
About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.

English Standard Version
Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

Berean Standard Bible
Soon Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

New American Standard Bible
Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.”

NASB 1995
Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.”

NASB 1977
Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Cut a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

Amplified Bible
Now Nahash the Ammonite [king] went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty [of peace] with us and we will serve you.”

Christian Standard Bible
Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

American Standard Version
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Nakhash the Ammonite came up and he encamped at Lakish of Gelad, and all the men of Lakish said to Nakhash: “Establish a covenant with us and we shall serve you”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas the Ammanite went up, and encamped against Jabis Galaad: and all the men of Jabis said to Naas the Ammanite, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

Contemporary English Version
About this time, King Nahash of Ammon came with his army and surrounded the town of Jabesh in Gilead. The people who lived there told Nahash, "If you will sign a peace treaty with us, you can be our ruler, and we will pay taxes to you."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it came to pass about a month after this that Naas, the Ammonite came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

English Revised Version
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
King Nahash of Ammon was severely oppressing the tribes of Gad and Reuben. He would poke out everyone's right eye and allow no one to rescue Israel. There was no one among the Israelites east of the Jordan River whose right eye King Nahash of Ammon had not poked out. However, seven thousand men had escaped from the Ammonites and gone to Jabesh Gilead. About a month later Nahash the Ammonite blockaded Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us, and we'll serve you."

Good News Translation
About a month later King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the town of Jabesh in the territory of Gilead and besieged it. The men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us, and we will accept you as our ruler."

International Standard Version
So after a month, Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh told Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash: 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.'

Literal Standard Version
And Nahash the Ammonite comes up, and encamps against Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh say to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we serve you.”

Majority Standard Bible
Soon Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

New American Bible
About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead. All the people of Jabesh begged Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

NET Bible
Nahash the Ammonite marched against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us and we will serve you."

New Revised Standard Version
About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

New Heart English Bible
After about a month, Nahash the Ammonite came up and camped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you."

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

World English Bible
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

Young's Literal Translation
And Nahash the Ammonite cometh up, and encampeth against Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh say unto Nahash, 'Make with us a covenant, and we serve thee.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
1Soon Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.”…

Cross References
Genesis 26:28
"We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you," they replied. "We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

Judges 21:8
So they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?" And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.

1 Samuel 12:12
But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we must have a king to rule over us'--even though the LORD your God was your king.

1 Samuel 14:47
After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side--the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.

1 Samuel 31:11
When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

2 Samuel 10:1
Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun.

2 Samuel 10:2
And David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,


Treasury of Scripture

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.

1 Samuel 12:12
And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.

Judges 10:7
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

Judges 11:8
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

Jabesh-gilead

1 Samuel 31:11-13
And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; …

Judges 21:8,10
And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly…

Make

Genesis 26:28
And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

Exodus 23:32
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

Deuteronomy 23:3
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

Jump to Previous
Agreement Ammonite Attacking Besieged Covenant Encamped Encampeth Jabesh Jabeshgilead Jabesh-Gilead Ja'besh-Gil'ead Month Nahash Position Servants Serve Subject Treaty
Jump to Next
Agreement Ammonite Attacking Besieged Covenant Encamped Encampeth Jabesh Jabeshgilead Jabesh-Gilead Ja'besh-Gil'ead Month Nahash Position Servants Serve Subject Treaty
1 Samuel 11
1. Nahash offers them of Jabesh Gilead a reproachful condition
4. They send messengers, and are delivered by Saul
12. Saul thereby is confirmed, and his kingdom renewed














(1) Nahash the Ammonite.--Nahash was king of the children of Ammon (see 1Samuel 12:12). This royal family was in some way related to David (see 2Samuel 17:25; 1Chronicles 2:16-17). At the time of David's exile owing to the rebellion of Absalom, a son of Nahash the Ammonite is specially mentioned as showing kindness to the fugitive king. Jabesh-gilead was a city situated in Northern Gilead, in the territory assigned to Manasseh. Josephus states that it was the capital of the country of Gilead. The Ammonites were a kindred race to the Moabites, being descended from the same ancestor, the patriarch Lot. They asserted that a portion of their territory had been taken from them by Israel, and in the days of the judges sorely harassed the people. The Judge Jephthah attacked and defeated them with great slaughter.

It was, no doubt, to avenge the disgrace they had suffered at the hands of Jephthah that their warlike monarch, Nahash,--deeming the opportunity a favourable one, owing to the old age of the reigning judge, Samuel,--invaded the Israelitic country bordering upon his kingdom, and besieged the city of Jabesh-gilead.

Make a covenant with us.--The citizens of Jabesh-gilead, feeling their isolation and comparative remoteness from the chief centre of the people, were willing to pay a tribute to the Ammonite king, and made him overtures to this effect.

Verses 1, 2. - Nahash the Ammonite. The same name is found in 2 Samuel 10:2 as that of the father of Hanun, who treated David's ambassadors so shamefully, and probably they mean the same person. He is there said to have shown kindness to David; and as we read in 2 Samuel 17:25 that Abigal (so the Hebrew, not Abigail as the A.V., who was David's wife), Amasa's mother, was the daughter of Nahash, and as Abigal was the sister or half-sister of Zeruiah, David's aunt, there seems to have been some relationship between them. The Ammonites were old enemies of the Israelites, alleging that Israel had taken possession of territory east of the Jordan which rightfully belonged to them (Judges 11:13); but after their defeat by Jephthah their power was so broken that they allowed a century to elapse before they ventured again to assert their claim. Nahash, apparently after other invasions (1 Samuel 12:12), now attacks Jabesh-Gilead, a city in the half-tribe of Manasseh, which had been cruelly treated by the Israelites (Judges 21:10), but apparently had risen again from its ruins. Its inhabitants were willing humbly to submit to Ammonite rule; but Nahash will grant them no other terms than that they should let him thrust out - Hebrew, bore through - all their right eyes, not from any special spite against them, but as an insult to all Israel. No better proof could be given of the disorganisation of the nation than that a petty despot should venture to show his contempt for it in so offensive a way.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Soon Nahash
נָחָשׁ֙ (nā·ḥāš)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5176: Nahash -- the name of several non-Israelites

the Ammonite
הָֽעַמּוֹנִ֔י (hā·‘am·mō·w·nî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5984: Ammonite -- descendants of Ammon

came up
וַיַּ֗עַל (way·ya·‘al)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

and laid siege
וַיִּ֖חַן (way·yi·ḥan)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2583: To incline, to decline, to pitch a, tent, gen, to encamp

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Jabesh-gilead.
יָבֵ֣שׁ (yā·ḇêš)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3003: Jabesh -- a place in Gilead, also an Israelite

All
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the men
אַנְשֵׁ֤י (’an·šê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

of Jabesh
יָבֵישׁ֙ (yā·ḇêš)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3003: Jabesh -- a place in Gilead, also an Israelite

said
וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

him,
נָחָ֔שׁ (nā·ḥāš)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5176: Nahash -- the name of several non-Israelites

“Make
כְּרָת־ (kə·rāṯ-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

a treaty with us,
בְרִ֖ית (ḇə·rîṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1285: A covenant

and we will serve you.”
וְנַעַבְדֶֽךָּ׃ (wə·na·‘aḇ·ḏe·kā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common plural | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave


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OT History: 1 Samuel 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 10:27
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