Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on 1 Samuel 11:1

CHAPTER 11

1Sa 11:1-4. Nahash Offers Them of Jabesh-gilead a Reproachful Condition.

1. Then Nahash the Ammonite came up--Nahash ("serpent"); (see Jud 8:3). The Ammonites had long claimed the right of original possession in Gilead. Though repressed by Jephthah (Jud 11:33), they now, after ninety years, renew their pretensions; and it was the report of their threatened invasion that hastened the appointment of a king (1Sa 12:12).

Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee--They saw no prospect of aid from the western Israelites, who were not only remote, but scarcely able to repel the incursions of the Philistines from themselves.