Bible Strands
1 Samuel 11:4
When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The messengers dispatched by the elders of Jabesh arrive at Gibeah of Saul and deliver the elders' seven-day ultimatum directly to the assembled Israelites. The narrator positions this moment immediately after the plea in 1 Samuel 11:3 and before Saul's arrival in 1 Samuel 11:5.
The words — The Hebrew verb דִּבֶּרֿוּ (dibeḇerū) translates literally as "they spoke" or "they relayed," marking the precise transmission of the Jabeshites' terms. The prepositional phrase בְּ/אָזְנֵי הָ/עָם (bə/ʾāzənê hā/ʿām) specifies that the message was delivered "in the ears of the people," underscoring its public and audible nature.
The thread — Communal weeping follows divine or prophetic address in Judges 2:4 and Judges 21:2, forming a recurring biblical motif of grief at the threshold of crisis. The narrative later contrasts this reaction with the voluntary gathering of "men of valor" in 1 Samuel 10:26, tracking the people's evolving response to Saul's emergence.
Why it lands — The text records the people's audible distress without editorializing, demanding that the reader acknowledge the weight of the Jabeshites' threat before Saul's intervention. It requires the reader to recognize how public information triggers collective fear, setting the stage for leadership to be tested.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
Cross-references
- Judges 2:4 When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
- 1 Samuel 10:26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.
- Judges 21:2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.
- 1 Samuel 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
- 1 Samuel 30:4 So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.
- Galatians 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
- 1 Samuel 14:2 Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men,
- 2 Samuel 21:6 let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,” said the king.
- Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
- 1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.