1 Samuel 11:7

Contextual Overview

⁵ Saul was coming home from plowing the fields with his oxen when he heard the people crying. He asked, "What's wrong with the people that they are crying?" Then they told Saul what the messengers from Jabesh had said. ⁵ Now Saul was walking behind the oxen as he came from the field. Saul asked, "What has happened to the people? Why are they weeping?" So they told him about the men of Jabesh. ⁵ Now there was Saul, coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, "What troubles the people, that they weep?" And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁵ Now Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen; and Saul said, "What is the matter with the people, that they are weeping?" So they told him the message from the inhabitants of Jabesh. ⁵ But lo! Saul, came in, following the oxen, out of the field, and Saul said, What aileth the people, that they should weep? Then were recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁵ And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabes. ⁵ Now Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen; and Saul said, "What ails the people, that they are weeping?" So they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. ⁵ And, look, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, What ails the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁵ Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, "What's the matter? Why is everyone crying?" So they told him about the message from Jabesh. ⁵ Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, "What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?" So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he took: The sending the pieces of the oxen was an act similar to that of the Levite - see note on Judges 19:29. An eminent Scotch writer describes the rites, incantations, and imprecations used prior to the fiery cross being circulated, to summon the rough warriors of ancient times to the service of their chief; and he alludes to this ancient custom, which in comparatively modern times, has been practised in Scotland; and proves that a similar punishment of death, or destruction of their houses, for disobeying the summons, was inflicted by the ancient Scandinavians, as recorded by Olaus Magnus, in his History of the Goths. This bears a striking similarity to the ancient custom of the Israelites. With the Highlanders, a goat was slain; with the Israelites, an ox. The exhibition of a cross, stained with the blood of the sacrificed animal, was the summons of the former, while part of the animal, was the mandate of the latter. Disobedience in one nation was punished with the death of themselves or oxen, and burning of their dwellings in the other.

hewed: Judges 19:29

Whosoever: Judges 21:5-11

the fear: Genesis 35:5, 2 Chronicles 14:14, 2 Chronicles 17:10

with one consent: Heb. as one man, Judges 20:1

Reciprocal: Judges 11:5 - to fetch Judges 21:10 - Go and smite Ezra 10:8 - And that whosoever

Cross-References

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth."

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all [fn] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

Genesis 1:26
And God said - Let us make man in our image after our likeness - and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the heavens and over the tame-beast - and over all the land, and over every creeping thing, that creepeth on the land.

Genesis 1:26
And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground."

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let Us make man like Us and let him be head over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every thing that moves on the ground."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he took a yoke of oxen,.... Of his own or his father's, which he had just followed out of the field, and for which chiefly that circumstance is mentioned:

and hewed them in pieces; as the Levite did his concubine, Judges 19:29

and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers; some carrying a piece one way, and some another, throughout all the tribes; for to them all the government of Saul extended, and which by this he let them know it did:

saying, whosoever cometh not after Saul and after Samuel; he names both, because he himself, though chosen king, was not inaugurated into his office, nor was Samuel put out of his; and because he knew he was despised by some, who would not object to and refuse the authority of Samuel, and therefore if they would not follow him, they would follow Samuel; and he mentions himself first, because of his superior dignity:

so shall it be done unto his oxen; be cut to pieces as these were; he does not threaten to cut them in pieces, but their oxen, lest he should seem to exercise too much severity at his first coming to the throne:

and the fear of the Lord fell on the people; they feared, should they be disobedient, the Lord would cut them to pieces, or in some way destroy them, as well as Saul would cut their oxen to pieces; for their minds were impressed with a sense of this affair being of the Lord:

and they came out with one consent; or "as one man" t, as if they had consulted together; being under a divine impulse, they set out from different parts about much the same time, and met at a place of rendezvous next mentioned.

t כאיש אחד "tanquam vir unus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Though not expressly stated, it is doubtless implied that he sent the portions by the messengers to the twelve tribes, after the analogy, and probably in imitation, of Judges 19:29. He made use of the revered name of Samuel to strengthen his own weak authority. Samuel accompanied Saul in the expedition 1 Samuel 11:12.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 11:7. He took a yoke of open — The sending the pieces of the oxen was an act similar to that of the Levite, Judges 19:29, where see the note. And both customs are similar to the sending about of the bloody cross, to call the clans to battle, practised by the ancient Highlanders of Scotland. See at the end of this chapter. 1 Samuel 11:15