1 Samuel 11:10 (KJV)

What does 1 Samuel 11:10 mean?

The men of Jabesh tell their Ammonite besiegers that they will come out the next day and submit to whatever the Ammonites choose to do. Their message sounds like surrender, but the surrounding passage shows that the men have already received news that help is coming.

Nahash, the Ammonite leader, had threatened to put out the right eye of every man in the city. The promise to “come out” would bring the men beyond their city’s defenses, where the Ammonites could carry out their threat. The wording leaves the approaching rescue unmentioned.

The Hebrew behind 1 Samuel 11:10

• “out” — יָצָא (yatsaʾ): This word means to go or come out. Here it describes leaving the city, but the word itself does not say whether the men will come as captives or as fighters.
• “seemeth” — עַיִן (ʿayin): This word often means “eye.” The phrase rendered “all that seemeth good unto you” pictures the Ammonites doing whatever looks good in their own eyes.

Why 1 Samuel 11:10 matters

• The message to the Ammonites fits the deadline they had accepted. Jabesh had asked for seven days to seek help, and the men now say they will come out “to morrow” (verses 3 and 10).
• The offer gives the Ammonites the appearance of control. The men say, “ye shall do with us” as the Ammonites please, while the reader already knows that Saul has sent word of a rescue (verse 9).
• The next day’s action changes how the promise is heard. Saul’s forces attack the Ammonites, and the survivors scatter (verse 11); the message in verse 10 had concealed the danger approaching the besiegers.