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1 Kingdoms 11-12 - Saul's Victory and Samuel's Covenant Witness

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Saul wins a real deliverance and refuses to turn it into revenge. Samuel then asks Israel to face a harder truth: victory does not make its desire for a king innocent. The two chapters hold mercy and judgment together. God’s people can confess their sin without losing hope, because the Lord acts for His great name’s sake, and His prophet will keep praying and teaching them the right way.

Historical and Scriptural Context

Saul has been anointed privately and chosen publicly, but some have despised him. Chapter 11 shows the saving strength and restraint of his beginning; chapter 12 puts both king and people beneath the Lord’s word. Samuel’s address belongs to the biblical pattern of a departing leader recounting God’s faithfulness and calling the people to obedience, as Moses does in Deuteronomy 31–32 and Joshua in Joshua 23–24. Samuel is handing over royal leadership, not abandoning prophecy or intercession.

This guide uses 1 Kingdoms, the Septuagint title of the book commonly called 1 Samuel. Brenton’s Naas, Jabis Galaad, Gabaa, and Galgala are Nahash, Jabesh-gilead, Gibeah, and Gilgal. The geography carries biblical memory: Jabesh and Benjamin recall the wounds of Judges 19–21; Gilgal recalls the memorial stones, circumcision, and Passover of Joshua 4–5. That memory will help us see why rescue must return to grateful obedience.

A threatened city and an awakened deliverer (1 Kingdoms 11:1-11)

  1. 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.
  2. And Naas the Ammanite said to them, On these terms will I make a covenant with you, that I should put out all your right eyes, and I will lay a reproach upon Israel.
  3. And the men of Jabis say to him, Allow us seven days, and we will send messengers into all the coasts of Israel: if there should be no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.
  4. And the messengers came to Gabaa to Saul, and they speak the words into the ears of the people; and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
  5. And, behold, Saul came after the early morning out of the field: and Saul said, Why does the people weep? and they tell him the words of the men of Jabis.
  6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled against them.
  7. And he took two cows, and cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoso comes not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall they do to his oxen: and a transport from the Lord came upon the people of Israel, and they came out to battle as one man.
  8. And he reviews them at Bezec in Bama, every man of Israel six hundred thousand, and the men of Juda seventy thousand.
  9. And he said to the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say to the men of Jabis, To-morrow ye shall have deliverance when the sun is hot; and the messengers came to the city, and told the men of Jabis, and they rejoiced.
  10. And the men of Jabis said to Naas the Ammanite, To-morrow we will come forth to you, and ye shall do to us what seems good in your sight.
  11. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Saul divided the people into three companies, and they go into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and they smote the children of Ammon until the day was hot; and it came to pass that those who were left were scattered, and there were not left among them two together.

Nahash offers Jabesh survival at the price of mutilation and public shame. The proposed covenant would make the city a display of his power over Israel. The messengers carry that threat to Gibeah, and the people weep. Saul is still coming in from the field when he learns what has happened. Royal recognition has not yet separated him from ordinary work.

The Spirit comes upon Saul and his anger is kindled. Its object is cruelty against others, not an insult to his own importance. The difference matters: zeal seeks rescue, whereas wounded vanity seeks an audience and a target. The narrative gives a particular divine action; it is not a rule that strong anger proves inspiration. Anyone invoking righteous anger remains accountable for how the vulnerable are treated.

Saul’s summons deliberately recalls a terrible national memory. In Judges 19:29 the Levite sends a dismembered woman’s body throughout Israel; in Judges 20:1 the people assemble as one man. Here Saul sends pieces of his oxen, and the people again come out as one man. The earlier assembly led into civil war and the near-destruction of Benjamin. Jabesh itself was attacked in Judges 21:8-14, and its women were taken to supply wives for Benjamin. Now a Benjamite from Gibeah gathers Israel to rescue Jabesh. The resemblance makes the change visible: an old form of summons serves deliverance rather than renewed violence within Israel. The victims of the earlier story must never disappear into a clever comparison. Nor does Saul’s threat against the oxen of those who refuse become a model for threatening parishioners or compelling religious loyalty.

Other details connect Saul with the judges. The Spirit’s coming recalls Samson in Judges 14:6. Bezek is also named in Judges 1:4. The three companies recall Gideon’s arrangement in Judges 7:16-19, although Gideon’s attack begins in the middle watch and Saul’s in the morning watch. Saul is acting in the older pattern of a Spirit-empowered deliverer, even as Israel begins monarchy. Calling him simply the best of all judges would go beyond what these echoes establish.

The promised rescue changes Jabesh’s weeping into joy. Saul’s companies attack, and the enemy scatters. Years later the people of Jabesh will recover and bury Saul’s remains in 1 Kingdoms 31:11-13. His later failure will not erase the deliverance they received here. Gratitude can remember a true good while refusing to excuse later evil.

Mercy after victory and a second anointing (1 Kingdoms 11:12-15)

  1. And the people said to Samuel, Who has said that Saul shall not reign over us? Give up the men, and we will put them to death.
  2. And Saul said, No man shall die this day, for to-day the Lord has wrought deliverance in Israel.
  3. And Samuel spoke to the people, saying, Let us go to Galgala, and there renew the kingdom.
  4. And all the people went to Galgala, and Samuel anointed Saul there to be king before the Lord in Galgala, and there he offered meat-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord: and Samuel and all Israel rejoiced exceedingly.

Some now want to kill the men who had questioned Saul’s kingship. Victory seems to offer the chance to settle an old score. Saul refuses because the Lord has wrought deliverance in Israel. The day belongs to God, and the king will not use it to vindicate himself through bloodshed. His restraint is as real as his courage. A person who can defeat an enemy and spare a critic shows a freedom that military success alone cannot reveal.

Later Saul will threaten Jonathan’s life in 1 Kingdoms 14:44, and the people will have to answer that the one through whom God has worked salvation must not die that day. In 22:17-19 he will order the killing of the Lord’s priests, and Doeg will carry it out. Those later scenes show how far he falls from this beginning. They sharpen the need to guard grace; they do not prove that the Spirit’s work here was unreal.

David likewise refuses execution on the day his kingship is restored in 2 Kingdoms 19:22. The fuller Christian horizon is Christ’s prayer for His executioners in Luke 23:34. Forgiveness does not make cruelty harmless. It releases the claim to private vengeance while leaving room for truthful accountability and the protection of those at risk. No harmed reader is required to restore unsafe access to someone who has injured them.

Samuel directs the people to Gilgal to renew the kingdom. Verse 15 goes further: Samuel anoints Saul there before the Lord. Rahlfs-based Greek has “ἔχρισεν Σαμουηλ”, “Samuel anointed”, and NETS retains the same action. This is a second anointing after the private act of 10:1, not only a public repetition of acclaim.1

Gilgal gives the joy a covenant memory more specific than the label “renewal site”. Joshua 4:19-24 places the Jordan memorial stones there; Joshua 5:2-12 connects it with circumcision, the removal of Egypt’s reproach, and Passover in the land. Nahash intended reproach; the Lord has delivered, and the people rejoice before Him. The covenant assembly in Joshua 24 takes place at Shechem, not Gilgal. Saul’s story will later return to Gilgal for the judgments of 1 Kingdoms 13:8-14 and 15:12-28. The place of his royal joy will become a place where obedience is tested.

The prophet’s hands are open to examination (1 Kingdoms 12:1-5)

  1. And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all things that ye have said to me, and I have set a king over you.
  2. And now, behold, the king goes before you; and I am grown old and shall rest; and, behold, my sons are among you; and, behold, I have gone about before you from my youth to this day.
  3. Behold, here am I, answer against me before the Lord and before his anointed: whose calf have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom of you have I oppressed? or whom have I been violent with? or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, even to a sandal? bear witness against me, and I will make restitution to you.
  4. And they said to Samuel, Thou hast not injured us, and thou hast not oppressed us; and thou hast not afflicted us, and thou hast not taken anything from any one’s hand.
  5. And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness among you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found anything in my hand: and they said, He is witness.

Samuel has heard the people and set a king over them. Before he judges their response to God, he lets them judge his conduct. His questions are concrete: whose calf or ass has he taken, whom has he oppressed, from whom has he accepted a bribe? He even offers restitution if a wrong can be named. The people testify that his hands are clean, and the Lord and His anointed stand as witnesses.

This is the moral opposite of chapter 8’s taking king and of Samuel’s sons taking gifts in 8:3. The Greek makes the connection exact without making every word the same. Samuel’s “εἴληφα”, “I have taken”, and the king’s “λήμψεται”, “he will take”, are forms of “λαμβάνω”, “take”; the sons’ “ἐλάμβανον”, “they were taking”, belongs to the same verb. The king’s taking a tenth uses another verb. Bribery, oppression, and exaction are related wrongs, but their different vocabulary should not be collapsed.2

The small item matters. “Even to a sandal” closes the door to excusing petty exploitation because it is not spectacular. Sirach 46:19 remembers Samuel’s protest that he had not taken anyone’s goods, so much as a shoe; its Greek also names footwear and uses the same form “εἴληφα”.3 Authority must be clean in little transactions as well as in public declarations.

Samuel’s integrity strengthens his correction, but his example cannot be used to say that only morally flawless people may report harm. The leader is the one submitting his use of power to examination. In parish life this calls for honest handling of funds, transparent decisions, and freedom for people to raise concerns without intimidation. Paul’s refusal to covet money and his labor to support the weak in Acts 20:33-35 show the same direction of service.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: A teacher’s witnesses

St. John Chrysostom explicitly brings Samuel’s integrity speech into his explanation of Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders. Samuel and Paul appeal to people who know their conduct, rather than relying on a title to establish trust. Chrysostom says: “This is the excellence of a teacher, to have for witnesses of his merits those who are his disciples.”4 The point is accountable service, not soliciting flattering testimonials. Samuel allows the people to answer against him and is ready to restore what he has wrongly taken.

Remembered mercy places king and people under God (1 Kingdoms 12:6-15)

  1. And Samuel spoke to the people, saying, The Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron is witness, who brought our fathers up out of Egypt.
  2. And now stand still, and I will judge you before the Lord; and I will relate to you all the righteousness of the Lord, the things which he has wrought among you and your fathers.
  3. When Jacob and his sons went into Egypt, and Egypt humbled them, then our fathers cried to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron; and they brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he made them to dwell in this place.
  4. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hands of Sisara captain of the host of Jabis king of Asor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab; and he fought with them.
  5. And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and the groves: and now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
  6. And he sent Jerobaal, and Barac, and Jephthae, and Samuel, and rescued us out of the hand of our enemies round about, and ye dwelt in security.
  7. And ye saw that Naas king of the children of Ammon came against you, and ye said, Nay, none but a king shall reign over us; whereas the Lord our God is our king.
  8. And now behold the king whom ye have chosen; and behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
  9. If ye should fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not resist the mouth of the Lord, and ye and your king that reigns over you should follow the Lord, well.
  10. But if ye should not hearken to the voice of the Lord, and ye should resist the mouth of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be upon you and upon your king.

Samuel now calls Israel to stand before the Lord and hear the righteousness He has shown them. His account begins with Egypt’s humiliation and the people’s cry, then moves through forgetfulness, oppression, confession, and deliverance. The Lord has repeatedly sent help. Israel’s history is not evidence that God cannot save unless a king is added. It is evidence that His people repeatedly need to return to Him.

Brenton’s “Barac” in verse 11 is the Greek “Βαρακ”, also translated Barak in NETS. Hebrews 11:32 names Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel among its witnesses, along with Samson and David. The lists overlap, but they are not identical lists or proof that Hebrews is quoting this verse.5 Samuel’s point is that the Lord already provided deliverers before the present monarchy.

Nahash’s threat helps explain the demand for a king. Fear of a real enemy can still become rejection of the Lord who is already King. Verse 13 therefore keeps two agents before us: the people have chosen the king, and the Lord has set a king over them. Their responsibility and His merciful action remain true together.

The future is now offered in the form of obedience. King and people alike must fear the Lord, serve Him, hear His voice, and refuse rebellion. The king is not above the command addressed to Israel. Repentance neither pretends the old demand was innocent nor concludes that there is no faithful way forward. God has given a future in which they can follow Him.

This covenant warning concerns the conduct of a people and its king. It should not become a formula for explaining every illness, political disaster, or private loss as punishment for a hidden sin. Samuel speaks a revealed word to this assembly. A servant today must not claim knowledge of another person’s suffering that God has not given.

Thunder brings confession, not the end of hope (1 Kingdoms 12:16-22)

  1. And now stand still, and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.
  2. Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; and know ye and see, that your wickedness is great which ye have wrought before the Lord, having asked for yourselves a king.
  3. And Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunders and rain in that day; and all the people feared greatly the Lord and Samuel.
  4. And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, and let us not die; for we have added to all our sins this iniquity, in asking for us a king.
  5. And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: ye have indeed wrought all this iniquity; only turn not from following the Lord, and serve the Lord with all your heart.
  6. And turn not aside after the gods that are nothing, who will do nothing, and will not deliver you, because they are nothing.
  7. For the Lord will not cast off his people for his great name’s sake, because the Lord graciously took you to himself for a people.

The Lord answers Samuel with thunder and rain at wheat harvest. Earlier, thunder had thrown Israel’s enemies into confusion in 1 Kingdoms 7:10; now the sign exposes Israel’s own sin. The saving God remains Judge even after giving victory. The harvest setting makes the event striking and potentially threatening, but the account does not state that the whole crop was ruined. Its stated purpose is that the people recognize the evil of their request.

They ask Samuel to pray that they may not die and confess that they have added this demand to their other sins. His answer holds truth and consolation together: they have indeed done the evil, yet they must not turn away from following the Lord. Despair can become another form of departure. To think “I have sinned, so I can no longer return” mistakes exposure for rejection. God has shown the truth so that they may serve Him with their whole heart.

Verse 21 names the alternatives as “the gods that are nothing”. The Greek repeatedly denies their power: they accomplish nothing and cannot deliver. Samuel is speaking of false gods, not merely offering a proverb about distractions. The wider application grows from that concrete contrast. Wealth, admiration, or control becomes an idol when we ask it for the deliverance only God can give.

The chapter’s hope rests on verse 22: the Lord will not cast off His people for His great name’s sake, because He graciously took them to Himself. Their sin is real, but their election began in His goodness rather than their achievement. Their return therefore rests on something firmer than renewed self-confidence. The God who has bound His name to His people remains faithful, even while calling them away from evil. The warning of verse 25 keeps this promise from becoming permission to continue in sin.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: The Word gives Himself for our life

The people’s fear of death points beyond Samuel’s prayer to the salvation accomplished in Christ. St. Athanasius explains that the Word took our mortal body in compassion, offered it on behalf of all, and conquered death through His Resurrection. In On the Incarnation 9.1 he writes: “that thenceforth corruption might be stayed from all by the Grace of the Resurrection.”6 Sections 8–9 and 20 join sacrifice, release from the debt of death, and renewed incorruption. This is a thematic Christian illumination of the people’s need for deliverance, not Athanasius’s interpretation of Samuel’s thunder. The Father and Son share the saving purpose; the Cross must not be pictured as a conflict in which the Son persuades an unwilling Father to love us.

Prayer and teaching that refuse abandonment (1 Kingdoms 12:23-25)

  1. And far be it from me to sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will serve the Lord, and shew you the good and the right way.
  2. Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth and with all your heart, for ye see what great things he has wrought with you.
  3. But if ye continue to do evil, then shall ye and your king be consumed.

Samuel treats ceasing to pray as a sin against the Lord. He has been rejected as Israel’s governing judge, but he refuses to make intercession depend on being appreciated. He will also show the people the good and right way. His ministry continues as prayer and truthful teaching. Correction without prayer becomes cruelty; prayer without correction becomes sentimentality. The passage gives both a wounded prophet and a chastened people a way forward.

Acts 6:1-4 shows the apostles committing themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word while appointing the Seven to address neglected widows. Prayer and teaching do not replace practical care; the community orders its service so that the hungry are cared for and the apostolic work is sustained. Samuel’s example similarly joins speech about God’s righteousness to a life that has refused exploitation.

His continuing intercession finds its fulfillment in Christ, who always lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him, according to Hebrews 7:25. Romans 8:34 places that intercession beside Christ’s death, Resurrection, and exaltation. The One who warns us is also the One who gives Himself and brings us before the Father. We can hear the call to repentance without imagining that the Saviour has withdrawn His love.

The closing command joins wholehearted service to remembrance of the great things God has done. Gratitude strengthens obedience. The final warning still names the possibility of persistent evil and destruction, including the king: royal authority cannot protect rebellion from judgment. Intercession offers return; it does not conceal harm or guarantee immunity from consequences. A person who has been injured may pray for an offender while keeping safe boundaries and seeking help.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: The mark of a true shepherd

St. John Chrysostom names Samuel’s refusal to cease praying as an example of the love that makes spiritual fatherhood real. In his fifteenth homily on Second Corinthians he says: “For nothing does so declare him that bears rule as paternal affection for the ruled.”7 He immediately recalls Samuel’s words in 12:23. This is a direct patristic use of the passage: a shepherd’s greatness is shown by love that carries the people before God, not merely by occupying office or speaking sternly.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil gives this continuing prayer a communal form. Its Litanies and Commemoration remember the peace of the Church, her bishops and ministers, and the faithful, with the plea for mercy upon all. The named Litany of the Ministers asks for the servants who care for the people and their salvation; the Litany of Mercy includes the people themselves.8 Prayer reaches beyond those whom we find easy to love. When the congregation answers “Lord have Mercy”, the Church shares the work Samuel refuses to abandon: carrying people before God while the word teaches them how to return. These are verified liturgical prayers, not a claim that chapters 11–12 are appointed as one Coptic reading.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

  1. Guard the day of relief from revenge. If a conflict has ended or your work has been vindicated, refuse the urge to punish someone simply for having doubted you. Give thanks for the good received, while addressing genuine harm through just and safe means.

  2. Let your hands be examined. Review one responsibility involving money, appointments, or another person’s labor. Correct what is opaque, repay what is owed, and make it possible for a concern to be heard without retaliation.

  3. Return when sin is exposed. Bring the actual wrong to confession rather than explaining it away with a recent success. Hold Samuel’s words together: acknowledge the evil and do not turn away from following the Lord.

  4. Join correction to intercession. Pray by name for a person you need to correct, or a person whose correction you find hard to receive. Let that prayer seek healing and truth, without disguising danger or removing necessary boundaries.

Lord, the day of deliverance belongs to You, not to my pride. Keep my hands from taking what belongs to another, and make my heart willing to hear the truth. When I am ashamed of my sin, let Your great name and gracious calling keep me from turning away. Teach me to pray and serve in the mercy of Christ, who lives to intercede for us.

Footnotes

  1. Rahlfs-based Greek, 1 Kingdoms 11:15, and NETS, 1 Reigns 11:15. 🔗 Greek passage; 🔗 NETS passage. ↩

  2. Rahlfs-based Greek, 1 Kingdoms 8:3, 11-17 and 12:3-4. 🔗 Compared Greek verbs. ↩

  3. Sirach 46:19, with 1 Kingdoms 12:3. 🔗 Sirach Greek. ↩

  4. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, XLIV, opening exposition of Acts 20:17-21, translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard, and H. Browne, revised by George B. Stevens, NPNF, first series, volume 11. 🔗 Samuel and Paul. ↩

  5. Rahlfs-based Greek and NETS, 1 Kingdoms 12:11, compared with Hebrews 11:32. 🔗 Greek name; 🔗 NETS. ↩

  6. St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 9.1, read with 8 and 20, Archibald Robertson translation, NPNF, second series, volume 4. 🔗 Sacrifice and Resurrection. ↩

  7. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians, XV.4, English text presented by New Advent from NPNF, first series, volume 12. 🔗 Samuel as a praying shepherd. ↩

  8. The Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil, fourth edition, Litanies and Commemoration; RIT 101: Liturgy, Agpeya and Praises, section 7, Seven Minor Litanies, names the Ministers and Mercy petitions. 🔗 Printed prayers; 🔗 Diocesan explanation. ↩

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