Nahash of Ammon
Nahash | |
---|---|
King of Ammon | |
Reign | c. 1030/1020s–1000/990s BCE |
Predecessor | Unknown |
Successor | Hanun |
Born | c. mid 11th BCE |
Issue | Hanun Shobi |
Nahash was the name of a king of
Nahash appears abruptly as the attacker of Jabesh-Gilead, which lay outside the territory he laid claim to. Having subjected the occupants to a siege, the population sought terms for surrender, and were told by Nahash that they had a choice of death (by the sword) or having their right eyes gouged out. The population obtained seven days' grace from Nahash, during which they would be allowed to seek help from the Israelites, after which they would have to submit to the terms of surrender. The occupants sought help from the people of Israel, sending messengers throughout the whole territory, and Saul, a herdsman at this time, responded by raising an army which decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts at Bezek.
The strangely cruel terms given by Nahash for surrender were explained by
[N]ahash, king of Ammonites would put hard pressure on the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Ruben and would gouge everyone’s right eye out, but no res(cuer) would be provided for Israel and there was not left anyone among the children of Israel in the Tr(ans Jordan) whose right eye Nahash the king of Ammonites did not gouge out but be(hold) seven thousand men (escaped the power of) Ammonites and they arrived at (Ya)besh Gilead. About a month later Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-Gilead.
In other words, Nahash had conquered the tribal lands of Gad and Reuben, and a portion of the population had fled from him to Jabesh-Gilead, which is why he laid siege to it.
Nothing more is told about Nahash in the Books of Samuel until his death, at the start of the reign of David, is mentioned. At this point, the narrative states that David sent a message of condolence to Hanun, the heir of Nahash, because Nahash had shown kindness to David. There is a tradition that when David had earlier entrusted his family to the King of Moab (cf. 1 Samuel 22:3–4) the latter slew the entire family, except for one of David's brothers who had escaped and found asylum with Nahash.[3] Jerome suggested that David's sympathy was because both he and Nahash were enemies of Saul.[4] However, Josephus claimed that Nahash was slain when the Ammonites were defeated by Saul, which would, if true, make the Nahash whose death David lamented a different person; it is unclear on what basis Josephus (who lived some 900 years later) makes his claim.[5]
There is also a man named Nahash who is described by 2 Samuel 17:27–29 as the father of
References
- ^ 1 Samuel 11 and 1 Chronicles 19:1–2
- ^ Frank Moore Cross, Donald W. Parry, Richard J. Saley and Eugene Ulrich, Qumran Cave 4 – XII, 1-2 Samuel (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Series, XVII), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005
- ^ Tanhuma, Wayera, 25
- ^ Jerome, Questions of the Hebrews
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 5:3 (volume 6)
- Jewish Encyclopedia, "Nahash"
- ^ Yalkut, 2 Samuel 151
- ^ e.g., Wellhausen, The Text of the Book of Samuel
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Nahash". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.