1 Samuel 11:9

1Sa 11:9 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.

Ver. 9. Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot.] Not tertio die, the next day after tomorrow, as Josephus and Comestor have it, who will needs mend Magnificat.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, Saul and Samuel.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(9) To morrow, by that time the sun be hot.—That is, about noon the army of rescue will be at hand. The distance from Bezek to Jabesh was not much over twenty miles.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. ye shall have help] Or, deliverance. The same word is translated “salvation” in 1Sa_11:13, and the cognate verb “save” in 1Sa_11:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore the men of Jabesh said,.... To Nahash the Ammonite:

tomorrow we will come out unto you; meaning if they had no help, which they were well assured they should have; but this condition they expressed not, which they were not obliged to, but left him to conclude they had no hope of any, the messengers being returned, and the next being the last of the seven days' respite; and by this artifice the Ammonites were secure, and not at all upon their guard against an approaching enemy:

and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you; make shows of them, pluck out their eyes, or put them to death, or do what they would with them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The distance from Bezek to Jabesh-Gilead would perhaps be about twenty miles.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hot. Josephus says, Saul "being seized with the divine spirit, ordered them to inform the citizens of Jabes, that he would come to their assistance on the third day, and rout the enemy before the sun arose." But the message of which the Scripture here speaks, (Haydock) was sent from Bezec. Saul, in effect, came upon the Ammonites unawares before it was light, gained a complete victory, (Calmet) and then pursued the fugitives till noon.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To-morrow, to wit, the day after your departure hence, or return home; for it seems probable that some few days had been spent in the gathering and disposing of the forces, and bringing them towards those parts.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. They said unto the messengers that came — These messengers were the ones that came from Jabesh to Gibeah. They had repaired to Bezek to wait to see the result of Saul’s call for the people to assemble there.

Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot — That is, about noon.

Whether this “morrow” was the last day of the seven granted by Nahash to the elders of Jabesh cannot be certainly decided by any thing here recorded. But on the supposition that it was, the question has been raised: Was a period of seven days sufficient time for all these things to be done? It would require at least a day for the messengers to reach Gibeah, and it would seem at first sight that a week would be barely sufficient to notify the tribes, much less to get together an army of three hundred and thirty thousand men in readiness for battle. Indeed, with our modern ideas and methods of raising and marshalling an army, it would be utterly impossible for the most experienced general to get together, without any previous arrangement, so large an army in so short a time. But we must divest our minds of our modern notions of warfare, and remember that in ancient Israel every able-bodied man was made familiar from his childhood with the implements of war. A bow, a sword or a spear, and a shield, or simply a sling, were the weapons most commonly used. From 1Sa_13:22, it appears that swords and spears were scarce among the people, but at such a time the sling was probably regarded as a much more serviceable weapon. Compare the feat of David, 1Sa_17:49, and the statement of Jdg_20:16, that the little tribe of Benjamin had seven hundred chosen men, each of whom could sling stones at a hair-breadth and not miss. Accordingly, when summoned out to battle, every man would provide his own weapons and his own food, and hasten at once to the place of rendezvous. No great length of time would be necessary, under such circumstances, for the mustering of an army. A man notified in the morning, might equip himself and travel forty or fifty miles before night, and in circumstances of great peril he would probably travel in the night time also. Jos_10:9. Then we must not imagine that the roads of Palestine were, at that time, in the ruined and neglected state in which the modern traveller finds them: nor should we obscure the subject by the supposition that the summons of Saul was carried through the coasts of Israel by a few slow-footed travellers. Doubtless every town had one or more swift-footed runners, who, like Asahel, (2Sa_2:18,) were as light of foot as the wild roe; and as the tidings reached one town, swift messengers would fly forth in different directions; and the alarm might spread still more rapidly by the erection of ensigns on the tops of the high hills. Such tidings, of course, would spread by night as well as by day, and thirty or forty hours would be sufficient to send the call of the king through all the coasts of Israel. Saul probably sent forth ten swift runners, (for it is hardly likely that the tribes on the east of the Jordan were summoned,) each bearing a piece of the slaughtered oxen to the chief city of each tribe; and from such central city of every tribe the call rapidly flew to all the surrounding country. Attention to all these circumstances will show that a vast army might, without great difficulty, be mustered in a few days.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot. As Bezek is about twenty miles distant from Jabesh-Gilead, Saul would probably march most of the way that evening, and then, halting for food and sleep, would continue his advance early the next morning.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Utter Overthrow of the Ammonites

v. 9. And they, the men representing the army of Israel, said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot, before noon, ye shall have help, in being delivered from the power of their arrogant enemies. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh, gave them the joyful information; and they were glad.

v. 10. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, employing a stratagem which was to make the Ammonites overconfident, Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you, for this sounded as though they would surrender themselves unconditionally, not having been able to interest the rest of Israel.

v. 11. And it was so on the morrow that Saul put the people in three companies, three attacking divisions; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, between three o’clock and dawn, when the night is darkest, and slew the Ammonites, who were caught and overpowered by surprise, 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. It was an utter rout, a complete overthrow of the invading army.

v. 12. And the people said unto Samuel, when they had returned from their pursuit of the scattered enemies and were once more encamped, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death. By virtue of his prophetic power, Samuel was to name the children of Belial, 1Sa 10:27, who had sneered at Saul. The people were so enthusiastic over the victory gained under the leadership of Saul that they were ready to deal very summarily with men whom they regarded as traitors.

v. 13. And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel. This was not only tactful and magnanimous, but showed true piety of heart, which would not permit the sacred joy of the day of victory to be marred by bloodshed, since the victory of the foe was for him nothing but a saving act of God Himself. It was an utterance of royal generosity toward his personal enemies, whose hearts he wanted to win; it was a victory over himself.

v. 14. Then said Samuel to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there, by a solemn confirmation and open acknowledgment of the election as it took place in Mizpeh.

v. 15. And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal, the entire nation, as one man, rendering him the homage which made him ruler over Israel in fact as well as in name; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings, with which were connected joyful sacrificial meals, before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. So both the happy relation between the covenant God and Israel and the union of the tribes, welded together to form a perfect unit, was here celebrated. For a Christian it is self-evident that for everything which he has managed to perform by the strength and power of God he gives all honor to Jehovah alone.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They said to the messengers

"They" refers to Samuel and Saul.

by the time the sun is hot

"before the hottest part of the day" or "before noon"

Jabesh Gilead ... Jabesh

These are the names of places. See how you translated them in 1 Samuel 11:01.

Nahash

This is the name of a king. See how you translated this name in 1 Samuel 11:01.

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.