The previous chapter ended with the verse: 'And the base men said: How shall this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no gift, and he was as though he held his peace.' Shaul had been anointed as king, yet there were those who doubted him and treated him with scorn. In the chapter before us, as well as in the coming chapters, we will see how Shaul's kingship gradually becomes established: precisely as a result of a distress into which Israel falls, the entire nation comes to recognize his reign.
וַיַּעַל נָחָשׁ הָעַמּוֹנִי וַיִּחַן עַל־יָבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד וַיֹּאמְרוּ כׇּל־אַנְשֵׁי יָבֵישׁ אֶל־נָחָשׁ כְּרׇת־לָנוּ בְרִית וְנַעַבְדֶךָּ׃ - And Nachash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Yavesh Gilead, and all the men of Yavesh said to Nachash: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.
Nachash, king of the children of Ammon, comes up and encamps against Yavesh Gilead, seeking to conquer it. And why specifically Yavesh Gilead? The people of Yavesh Gilead were connected by marriage to the tribe of Binyamin. In the episode of the concubine at Givah, they did not go up to war against Binyamin, and since they did not go up, they were also not included in the oath not to give their daughters to the tribe of Binyamin. Therefore, when the men of Binyamin were left without wives, of the four hundred women who were found, two hundred remained without a wife, and on the fifteenth of Av, when there were dances in the vineyards, they took themselves a wife from there and did not transgress the oath.
And Shaul, from which tribe was he? From the tribe of Binyamin. And here Nachash's calculation becomes clear: from the moment the men of Binyamin appointed a king from their own tribe, this did not find favor in his eyes, for it showed that they were taking independence for themselves. Therefore he goes and besieges specifically Yavesh Gilead, the source and the in-laws of the tribe of Binyamin, the tribe of kingship. The men of Yavesh understand that the situation is difficult, and they are willing to do anything so long as war is not waged against them, and so they say: 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.'
And what is meant by 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you'? This was always the accepted formula in making a covenant with a king: it means 'We are willing to pay you tribute and to be your subjects, we will not try to rebel against you, we will not seize the kingship for ourselves, you shall rule - but grant us peace.'
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם נָחָשׁ הָעַמּוֹנִי בְּזֹאת אֶכְרֹת לָכֶם בִּנְקוֹר לָכֶם כׇּל־עֵין יָמִין וְשַׂמְתִּיהָ חֶרְפָּה עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And Nachash the Ammonite said to them: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that every right eye of yours be gouged out, and I will lay it as a reproach upon all Israel.
He says to them: only on one condition will I make a covenant with you, that every man come here and I will gouge out his right eye. And what is the logic behind such a strange demand? The Malbim explains: making a covenant is always in exchange for something. Two sides fight one another, and at a certain point one comes and says 'Let us make a covenant' - what do I gain from it? That you will not fight me. But here the king of the children of Ammon says: what do I gain from making a covenant with you? You do not even have the strength to fight against me, you are giving me nothing. And therefore, if I want to receive something from you, the request will be that you come out of this humiliated. What benefit is there that I lay a reproach upon Israel? That their right eye be gouged out, and then people will say: behold, not only were they unable to fight against him, but he even shamed and humiliated them. Without this - I give you a promise that I will not attack, and what do you give me? But if you have a humiliation, then I gain honor from it.
Chazal expound on 'let their right eye be gouged out' a further matter, and even though a verse does not depart from its plain meaning: he sought to uproot and erase what is written in the Torah, 'An Ammonite or Moavite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem.' That is to say: bring me the Torah scroll, which was given with the right hand, as it is written 'from His right hand a fiery law for them,' and I will gouge out from it, I will cut and slice as Menasheh did - I will cut from the Torah scroll every place where it is mentioned that 'an Ammonite or Moavite shall not enter.' And through this - 'and I will lay it as a reproach upon all Israel.'
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו זִקְנֵי יָבֵישׁ הֶרֶף לָנוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וְנִשְׁלְחָה מַלְאָכִים בְּכֹל גְּבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאִם־אֵין מוֹשִׁיעַ אֹתָנוּ וְיָצָאנוּ אֵלֶיךָ׃ - And the elders of Yavesh said to him: Give us seven days, and we will send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel, and if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.
The elders use his own argument against him: after all, you want this to be a disgrace to all of Israel, but what disgrace would it be to all of Israel if no one knew about it? For it to be a disgrace to all of Israel, you need us to inform everyone, and everyone will throw up their hands and say 'we can do nothing', and then it will truly be a shame and a disgrace to all of Israel. Therefore it is worth your while to give us a few days to spread the matter throughout all of Israel.
וַיָּבֹאוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים גִּבְעַת שָׁאוּל וַיְדַבְּרוּ הַדְּבָרִים בְּאׇזְנֵי הָעָם וַיִּשְׂאוּ כׇל־הָעָם אֶת־קוֹלָם וַיִּבְכּוּ׃ - And the messengers came to Givat Shaul and spoke these words in the ears of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept.
The people weep, because they understand that there is no chance and no solution to escape this predicament.
וְהִנֵּה שָׁאוּל בָּא אַחֲרֵי הַבָּקָר מִן־הַשָּׂדֶה וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל מַה־לָּעָם כִּי יִבְכּוּ וַיְסַפְּרוּ־לוֹ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי אַנְשֵׁי יָבֵישׁ׃ - And behold, Shaul was coming after the cattle from the field, and Shaul said: What ails the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Yavesh.
What does 'Shaul was coming after the cattle' mean? Our Sages say: Shaul, like David the king, when he saw that they scorned him and said 'how can this one save us', went back to tend the flock, went back to the cattle. For this is where his path began, when he was watching his father's flock and the donkeys had run off. And now he returns after the cattle, and asks 'what ails the people that they weep', and they tell him the words of the men of Yavesh.
וַתִּצְלַח רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים עַל־שָׁאוּל כְּשׇׁמְעוֹ אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיִּחַר אַפּוֹ מְאֹד׃ - And a spirit of God came mightily upon Shaul when he heard these words, and his anger burned greatly.
Here the Malbim distinguishes between the weak man and the mighty man: the weak man, when he hears of an act of injustice, is afraid and distressed and pained. But the mighty man, when he hears of an act of injustice, it gives him strength and vigor and a spirit of valor, to avenge the wrong of the weak upon the mighty one who oppresses and afflicts him. This is the 'spirit of God' that came upon Shaul, and this is 'his anger burned greatly'.
וַיִּקַּח צֶמֶד בָּקָר וַיְנַתְּחֵהוּ וַיְשַׁלַּח בְּכׇל־גְּבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיַד הַמַּלְאָכִים לֵאמֹר אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ יֹצֵא אַחֲרֵי שָׁאוּל וְאַחַר שְׁמוּאֵל כֹּה יֵעָשֶׂה לִבְקָרוֹ וַיִּפֹּל פַּחַד־יְהֹוָה עַל־הָעָם וַיֵּצְאוּ כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד׃ - And he took a yoke of oxen and cut it in pieces and sent it throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying: Whoever does not come out after Shaul and after Shmuel, so shall be done to his cattle. And the fear of Hashem fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.
Shaul takes a yoke of oxen, divides it into twelve pieces and sends it throughout all the territory of Israel, and says: whoever does not come out with us, so shall be done to all his cattle. And what did he wish to hint to them? The Malbim explains: he wished to hint that the living body lives only when its limbs function in harmony. When one of the limbs decides to rest, the whole body does not work. One cannot say 'only this one limb has a problem': if the kidneys rest, within a few days a person dies, unless he is given dialysis. And so too the liver, and so too the heart, and so too the lungs, and so too the brain, every one of the vital organs, the moment it ceases to function, the whole body dies. And even the finger: if it stops working, slowly rot will spread through it, and the gangrene will ultimately kill the entire body.
And this is what he told them: what is the life of the body? Harmony. That all the parts work in a single action, in mutual help and support. And if we are divided, that is death. Just as you see with this animal, that the moment you divide it into pieces there is no longer an animal and no longer life, there are twelve pieces but you cannot say that there is an ox here, so too with the people of Israel: if it is fragmented, there is no single nation here. And then any nation, and any megalomaniac king, can come and demand from us all sorts of strange demands, and we will all submit to him. Why? Because we are divided and not united.
וַיִּפְקְדֵם בְּבָזֶק וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף וְאִישׁ יְהוּדָה שְׁלֹשִׁים אָלֶף׃ - And he numbered them in Bezek, and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
What is 'and he numbered them in Bezek'? One interpretation: Bezek is the name of a place, and there he numbered and counted them. Another interpretation: 'Bezek' means shards of pottery. He wanted to know how many they were, so he told each one to bring a shard of pottery, they counted the shards and thus he numbered the people. And some say they were stones: he took a stone from each of them and counted them.
And Chazal emphasize the comparison: when they went out to Shaul's war against Amalek it is written 'and he numbered them in Telaim' - he told each one to bring a lamb from the king's flocks, they counted the sheep and thus knew how many they were. Chazal say: at the beginning of Shaul's reign, when they were poor, they counted them with pottery shards. But when they grew wealthy, and Shaul already had many flocks of sheep, it was possible to count them with lambs.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לַמַּלְאָכִים הַבָּאִים כֹּה תֹאמְרוּן לְאִישׁ יָבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד מָחָר תִּהְיֶה־לָכֶם תְּשׁוּעָה כְּחֹם הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וַיָּבֹאוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים וַיַּגִּידוּ לְאַנְשֵׁי יָבֵישׁ וַיִּשְׂמָחוּ׃ - And they said to the messengers who had come: thus shall you say to the men of Yavesh Gilad, tomorrow you shall have deliverance when the sun is hot. And the messengers came and told the men of Yavesh, and they rejoiced.
He sends them a messenger: do not be alarmed, tomorrow you shall have deliverance 'when the sun is hot.' That is, at midday, when the sun stands at its center, the deliverance will already arrive.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַנְשֵׁי יָבֵישׁ מָחָר נֵצֵא אֲלֵיכֶם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָנוּ כְּכׇל־הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵיכֶם׃ - And the men of Yavesh said: tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us according to all that is good in your eyes.
Here the men of Yavesh lull Nachash king of Amon to sleep: prepare your knives, and there will be no war, you have nothing to worry about. Do not ready your army, do not warm up the engines. We will come in an orderly fashion, and you will gouge out our eyes one by one, eye by eye.
וַיְהִי מִמׇּחֳרָת וַיָּשֶׂם שָׁאוּל אֶת־הָעָם שְׁלֹשָׁה רָאשִׁים וַיָּבֹאוּ בְתוֹךְ־הַמַּחֲנֶה בְּאַשְׁמֹרֶת הַבֹּקֶר וַיַּכּוּ אֶת־עַמּוֹן עַד־חֹם הַיּוֹם וַיְהִי הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וַיָּפֻצוּ וְלֹא נִשְׁאֲרוּ־בָם שְׁנַיִם יָחַד׃ - And it was on the morrow that Shaul set the people in three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck Amon until the heat of the day. And those who remained were scattered, so that not two of them were left together.
Shaul divides the people into three heads, three companies. The "morning watch" is the last of the three watches into which the night is divided, and it is the hour when a person is in his deepest sleep. At that point they come and surprise them from three directions, and the enemy does not even have a chance to stand against them.
וַיֹּאמֶר הָעָם אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל מִי הָאֹמֵר שָׁאוּל יִמְלֹךְ עָלֵינוּ תְּנוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים וּנְמִיתֵם׃ - And the people said to Shmuel: Who is the one who said, "Shall Shaul reign over us?" Bring the men and we will put them to death.
The people say to Shmuel: Who is the one who dared to cast doubt on Shaul's kingship and said mockingly, "Shall Shaul reign over us?" Bring those men, and we want to kill them, for they are rebels against the crown. See what a salvation Shaul brought about for us.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל לֹא־יוּמַת אִישׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה כִּי הַיּוֹם עָשָׂה־יְהֹוָה תְּשׁוּעָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And Shaul said: No man shall be put to death this day, for today Hashem has wrought salvation in Israel.
Shaul replies: Until now not everyone acknowledged my kingship, and since not everyone acknowledged it, the title "king" does not yet rest upon me. And since the title of king does not rest upon me, it is not fitting to punish one who did not fully accept my kingship. This is the precision in the wording of the verse: "for today Hashem has wrought salvation in Israel" - the salvation was brought about only today, which implies that until today I was not in the category of a king, and if I was not in the category of a king, it is not fitting to kill one who rebelled against the crown.
And this is exactly what David argued when he fled and Shimi ben Gera cursed him: he could not kill him at that time, since for the time being he was not fully in the category of a king. And so too Avigail argued to David when he wanted to kill Naval the Karmelite: your renown has not yet spread through the world. True, Shmuel anointed you as king, but you have not yet become well known, and the one actually reigning is still Shaul. It emerges that in order for you to have all the laws of a king, to put to death one who offends your honor, you must be famous as a king and conduct yourself with all the royal trappings of a king, and then one who offends the honor of the king will be punished with the full severity of the law.
And Shaul employed yet another stratagem: he did not say to them "I will not kill them at all," but rather "we will not kill them today" - today is a day of joy, we have merited, salvation has been wrought, and is it fitting to make mourning on such a day? We will not put a man to death this day. And they understand: fine, not today, tomorrow or the day after he will deal with them. And after two or three days the matter calmed down, and so there was no need to deal with anyone. There is an expression: "Strike while the iron is hot." If you did not seize the momentum, afterward there is nothing to be done. And this is exactly what Shaul gained by the delay of "not today."
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־הָעָם לְכוּ וְנֵלְכָה הַגִּלְגָּל וּנְחַדֵּשׁ שָׁם הַמְּלוּכָה׃ - And Shmuel said to the people: Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.
Shmuel says to them: since now the people accept the kingship of their own will, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there anew. Until now they accepted the kingship in word and speech alone, and from now on I want the acceptance of the kingship to be in practice.
וַיֵּלְכוּ כׇל־הָעָם הַגִּלְגָּל וַיַּמְלִכוּ שָׁם אֶת־שָׁאוּל לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה בַּגִּלְגָּל וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־שָׁם זְבָחִים שְׁלָמִים לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּשְׂמַח שָׁם שָׁאוּל וְכׇל־אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד־מְאֹד׃ - And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Shaul king before Hashem in Gilgal, and there they offered peace offerings before Hashem, and there Shaul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
Here there was already great joy, since everyone was in agreement.
The chapter opens with the disgraced Shaul returning to tend his cattle, and ends with his coronation amid great joy in Gilgal. Nachash the Ammonite besieges Yavesh Gilad, kinsmen of the tribe of Binyamin, and makes a demand of humiliation: 'that I gouge out every right eye of yours,' for the forging of a covenant requires payment, and his payment is the honor he gains from Israel's disgrace. The elders of Yavesh buy time through his own argument, and Shaul, upon whom the spirit of God rushed and transformed the hearing of injustice into valor, cuts up the pair of oxen and teaches the people that a divided body is a dead body, and only unity is life. After the victory he prevents vengeance against the wicked men, both because until now he was not yet a fully established king, and through the tactic of 'not today,' which calmed the tempers. And so, once everyone accepted his kingship willingly, Shmuel renewed the monarchy in Gilgal, and Shaul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.