1 Samuel 11:3

THE MESSAGE

The town leaders of Jabesh said, "Give us time to send messengers around Israel—seven days should do it. If no one shows up to help us, we'll accept your terms."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Don’t do anything to us for seven days,” the elders of Jabesh said to him, “and let us send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If no one saves us, we will surrender to you.”

Hebrew Names Version
The Zakenim of Yavesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Yisra'el; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to you.

King James Version
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

Lexham English Bible
So the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so that we may send messengers in all the territory of Israel, and if there is no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you."

English Standard Version
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you."

New Century Version
The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Give us seven days to send messengers through all Israel. If no one comes to help us, we will give ourselves up to you."

New English Translation
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you."

Amplified Bible
The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Give us seven days so that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out [and surrender] to you."

New American Standard Bible
So the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Allow us seven days to send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
To whome the Elders of Iabesh said, Giue vs seuen daies respet, that we may sende messengers vnto all the coastes of Israel: and then if no man deliuer vs, we will come out to thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

Contemporary English Version
The town leaders said, "Give us seven days so we can send messengers everywhere in Israel to ask for help. If no one comes here to save us, we will surrender to you."

Complete Jewish Bible
The leaders of Yavesh answered him, "Give us seven days' grace to send messengers throughout Isra'el's territory; then, if no one will rescue us, we will surrender to you."

Darby Translation
And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Allow us seven days, and we will send messengers into all the districts of Israel; and if there be no man to deliver us, we will come out to thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
The leaders of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Let us have seven days. We will send messengers through all Israel. If no one comes to help us, we will come up to you and surrender to you."

George Lamsa Translation
And the eiders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days respite, that we may send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel; and when we see if we have a savior or not, then we will come out to you.

Good News Translation
The leaders of Jabesh said, "Give us seven days to send messengers throughout the land of Israel. If no one will help us, then we will surrender to you."

Literal Translation
And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Slack off from us seven days, and we will send messengers in all the boundary of Israel. And if there is no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde all the Elders of Iabes vnto him: Geue vs seuen dayes respyte, that we maye sende messaungers into all ye coastes of Israel: Yf there be then no sauioure, we wyl go forth vnto the.

American Standard Version
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee.

Bible in Basic English
Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
To whom the elders of Iabes sayde: Geue vs seuen dayes respite, that we may sende messengers vnto all ye coastes of Israel: and then if there be no man to deliuer vs, we will come out to thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him: 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to deliver us, we will come out to thee.'

King James Version (1611)
And the Elders of Iabesh sayd vnto him, Giue vs seuen daies respite, that we may send messengers vnto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to saue vs, we will come out to thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the men of Jabis say to him, Allow us seven days, and we will send messengers into all the coasts of Israel: if there should be no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.

English Revised Version
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel: and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee.

Berean Standard Bible
"Hold off for seven days," replied the elders of Jabesh, "and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to deliver us, we will surrender to you."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the eldere men of Jabes seiden to him, Graunte thou to vs seuene daies, that we senden messangeris to alle the termes of Israel; and if noon be that defende vs, we schulen go out to thee.

Young's Literal Translation
And the elders of Jabesh say to him, `Let us alone seven days, and we send messengers into all the border of Israel: and if there is none saving us -- then we have come out unto thee.'

Update Bible Version
And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is none to save us, we will come out to you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days respit, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel: and then, if [there is] no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

World English Bible
The elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to you.

New King James Version
Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

New Living Translation
"Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!" replied the elders of Jabesh. "If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms."

New Life Bible
The leaders of Jabesh said to him, "Let us alone for seven days, so we may send men with news through the land of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you."

New Revised Standard
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him - Give us a respite of seven days, that we may send messengers throughout all the bounds of Israel, - and then, if there is none to save us, we will come out unto thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come out to thee.

Revised Standard Version
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you."

Contextual Overview

¹ So Nahash went after them and prepared to go to war against Jabesh Gilead. The men of Jabesh petitioned Nahash: "Make a treaty with us and we'll serve you." ² Nahash said, "I'll make a treaty with you on one condition: that every right eye among you be gouged out! I'll humiliate every last man and woman in Israel before I'm done!" ³ The town leaders of Jabesh said, "Give us time to send messengers around Israel—seven days should do it. If no one shows up to help us, we'll accept your terms." ⁴The messengers came to Saul's place at Gibeah and told the people what was going on. As the people broke out in loud wails, Saul showed up. He was coming back from the field with his oxen. Saul asked, "What happened? Why is everyone crying?" And they repeated the message that had come from Jabesh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Give us: Heb. Forbear us

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 11:10 - To morrow Isaiah 36:16 - come out

Cross-References

Genesis 11:4
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."

Genesis 11:6
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

Genesis 11:18
When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 14:10
The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.

2 Samuel 12:31
David emptied the city of its people and put them to slave labor using saws, picks, and axes, and making bricks. He did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said to myself, "Let's go for it—experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it? With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth.

Isaiah 5:5
"Well now, let me tell you what I'll do to my vineyard: I'll tear down its fence and let it go to ruin. I'll knock down the gate and let it be trampled. I'll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for— thistles and thorns will take over. I'll give orders to the clouds: ‘Don't rain on that vineyard, ever!'"

Nahum 3:14
Store up water for the siege. Shore up your defenses. Get down to basics: Work the clay and make bricks. Sorry. Too late. Enemy fire will burn you up. Swords will cut you to pieces. You'll be chewed up as if by locusts. Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate, for you yourselves are a locust plague. You've multiplied shops and shopkeepers— more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky! A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood and then flying off. Your bureaucrats are locusts, your brokers and bankers are locusts. Early on, they're all at your service, full of smiles and promises, But later when you return with questions or complaints, you'll find they've flown off and are nowhere to be found. King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders, in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but. They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost. There's no one to look after them. You're past the point of no return. Your wound is fatal. When the story of your fate gets out, the whole world will applaud and cry "Encore!" Your cruel evil has seeped into every nook and cranny of the world. Everyone has felt it and suffered.

James 4:13
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money." You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

James 5:1
And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the elders of Jabesh said,.... The magistrates and principal men of the city:

give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel; that is, cease from besieging them, from throwing in darts into the city, or any other missive weapons, and from attempting to break open the gates, or break down the walls of it, and storm it; such a space of time they desire, which was as little as could be granted, to go and return in, and without this it would not be a reproach to all Israel, if they were ill used by them, since they had no knowledge of their case, nor time to come up for their assistance:

and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee; and submit to be used at thy pleasure. And it seems that this was granted by Nahash out of a bravado, and to reproach and insult all Israel, and bid them defiance; with whom he sought to quarrel, having a design upon their land, and knowing very well their condition, being awed by the Philistines; and having just chosen a king, and he an inexperienced man in the affairs of war, and had no army; nor was it likely that one could be assembled in so short a time, and come to the relief of this people, and therefore he thought himself safe enough in granting their request.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The elders - Observe the universal form of civil government among the Israelites, by elders (Judges 8:14, Judges 8:16, etc.).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 11:3. Give us seven days respite — Such promises are frequently made by besieged places: "We will surrender if not relieved in so many days;" and such conditions are generally received by the besiegers.