Jabesh Gilead
“Dry place of Gilead”
Summary
A city east of the Jordan in Gilead, notable for being rescued by Saul from the Ammonites and for its inhabitants' loyalty in burying Saul and his sons.
☩Location and History
Jabesh-Gilead was a city in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River (Judges 21:8-14). After the Benjamite war, its inhabitants were destroyed except for 400 virgins who became wives for the surviving Benjamites (Judges 21). The city later became significant when Nahash the Ammonite besieged it and demanded to gouge out the right eye of all its inhabitants as terms of surrender.
☩Connection to Saul
When Jabesh-Gilead was besieged by Nahash, messengers came to Gibeah seeking help. Saul, newly anointed as king, was moved by the Spirit and rallied Israel to deliver the city, establishing his kingship (1 Samuel 11:1-11). The men of Jabesh-Gilead never forgot this debt. When Saul and his sons fell in battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, the valiant men of Jabesh traveled by night, recovered their bodies from the wall of Beth-shan, and gave them honorable burial (1 Samuel 31:11-13). David later blessed them for this act of loyalty (2 Samuel 2:4-7).