1 Samuel 11

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSam^a; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 1–2, 7–12.[8][9][10][11]

Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century).[12][lower-alpha 1]

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.""[16]

• "Encamped": or "besieged".[17]
• "Nahash king of Ammon": this name means "serpent" in Hebrew.[18]

Prior to the first word "Then..." 4QSam^a and Greek Septuagint texts have a phrase: "about a month later".[5] Prior to the whole verse, 4QSam^a and Josephus (Antiquities 6.5.1. [68-71])[19] attest to an addition which explains Nahash's practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the Masoretic Text,[20] or Greek Septuagint manuscripts.[14] NRSV renders it as verse 10:27b as follows: "Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead."[5] The variations may be explained as scribal errors due to homeoteleuton, in which case the scribe jumps from one word to another word with a similar ending later in the text. Comparing to the reading in 4QSam^a, NET Bible suggests that the scribe of the MT may have skipped from the phrase Hebrew: ויהי כמחרישׁ, vayehi kemakharish, at the end of 1 Samuel 10:27, which should possibly be Hebrew: ויהי כמו חרשׁ, vayehi kemo kheresh, and picked up after the phrase Hebrew: ויהי כמו חדשׁ, vayehi kemo khodesh, "it happened about a month later...". 4QSam^a also contains a case of homeoteleuton in this passage, that the scribe first skipped from one case of Hebrew: גלעד, Gilʿad, "Gilead", to another, then inserted the missing 10 words between the lines of the 4QSam^a text.[20] The fact that the scribe made this type of mistake and was able to make corrections indicates that the person was copying from a source that had these verses in it.[20] Moreover, the 4QSam^a text first introduces Nahash with his full title, as the king of the Ammonites, which is considered the usual style.[21]

And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, "On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel."[22]

• "Put out...right eyes": Josephus explains that without one's right eye and when the left eye was covered by a war shield, a soldier might be wholly useless in war.[19]

And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.[24]

• "And there they made Saul king": The Septuagint reads, "and Samuel anointed Saul king there," which is not improbable, as later David also had his original anointing by Samuel in front of his family (1 Samuel 16:12-13), then was twice publicly anointed, first as king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4), and again as king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:3), but this may be included in the word "made king" in Masoretic Text (see 1 Samuel 12:3, 1 Samuel 12:5).[25] Josephus records that it was Samuel who suggested the second ordination in Gilgal and anointed Saul there with the 'holy oil'.[lower-alpha 2]