First King of Israel
553
In this condition of affairs Saul did not see fit to assume the royal
dignity. Leaving Samuel to administer the government as formerly, he
returned to Gibeah. He was honorably escorted thither by a company,
who, seeing the divine choice in his selection, were determined to sus-
tain him. But he made no attempt to maintain by force his right to the
throne. In his home among the uplands of Benjamin he quietly occu-
pied himself in the duties of a husbandman, leaving the establishment
of his authority entirely to God.
Soon after Saul’s appointment the Ammonites, under their king,
Nahash, invaded the territory of the tribes east of Jordan and threatened
the city of Jabesh-gilead. The inhabitants tried to secure terms of peace
by offering to become tributary to the Ammonites. To this the cruel
king would not consent but on condition that he might put out the right
eye of every one of them, thus making them abiding witnesses to his
power.
The people of the besieged city begged a respite of seven days. To
this the Ammonites consented, thinking thus to heighten the honor
of their expected triumph. Messengers were at once dispatched from
Jabesh, to seek help from the tribes west of Jordan. They carried the
tidings to Gibeah, creating widespread terror. Saul, returning at night
from following the oxen in the field, heard the loud wail that told
of some great calamity. He said, “What aileth the people that they
weep?” When the shameful story was repeated, all his dormant powers
were roused. “The Spirit of God came upon Saul.... And he took a
yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all
the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever
cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto
his oxen.”
Three hundred and thirty thousand men gathered on the plain of
Bezek, under the command of Saul. Messengers were immediately
[613]
sent to the besieged city with the assurance that they might expect
help on the morrow, the very day on which they were to submit to the
Ammonites. By a rapid night march Saul and his army crossed the
Jordan and arrived before Jabesh in “the morning watch.” Like Gideon,
dividing his force into three companies, he fell upon the Ammonite
camp at that early hour, when, not suspecting danger, they were least
secure. In the panic that followed they were routed with great slaughter.