John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 11 This chapter relates the distress the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead were in on account of the Ammonites, 1 Samuel 11:1 upon which they sent messengers to Saul, whose spirit was immediately stirred up to help them, 1 Samuel 11:4, and prepared for it, and came up soon enough for their relief, and slew their enemies, 1 Samuel 11:7, which gained him much honour and...
John Gill
And, behold, Saul came after the herd out the field,.... Where he had been to look after the and take care of them, and see what condition they were in, and followed them on their return home; for though he was elected king, he was not inaugurated, and did not take upon him any state; and being despised by some, and no provision as yet made for his support and maintenance as a king, and no...
Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have the first-fruits of Saul's government, in the glorious rescue of Jabesh-Gilead out of the hands of the Ammonites. Let not Israel thence infer that therefore they did well to ask a king (God could and would have saved them without one); but let them admire God's goodness, that he did not reject them when they rejected him, and acknowledge his wisdom in the choice of the...