Nahash of Ammon

Nahash was the name of a king of Ammon, mentioned in the Books of Samuel. In the Bible, 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 eye 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 Kingdom of Israel, sending messengers to Saul, and he responded by sending an army that decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts.

The strangely cruel terms given by Nahash for surrender were explained by Josephus as being the usual practice of Nahash. A more complete explanation has more recently come to light; although not present in either the Septuagint or masoretic text, an introductory passage, preceding this narrative, was found in a copy of the Books of Samuel among the Dead Sea Scrolls:

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.Jerome suggested that David's sympathy was because both he and Nahash were enemies of Saul. 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.

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