1 Samuel 11:2
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
Soon after Saul was chosen king, Nahash the king of the Ammonites invaded the disputed territory east of the Jordan and threatened Jabesh-gilead, a large and powerful city. The inhabitants sought to secure peace by offering to become tributary to the Ammonites. Nahash was barbarous and cruel, and he refused to spare them except on condition of thrusting out the right eye of every inhabitant. The mutilation was meant to leave its victims as lasting living monuments and witnesses to his power, and to lay reproach upon all Israel.
The victory at Jabesh-gilead over this threat displayed Saul's energy and military skill, yet Saul was only the agent by whom the Lord wrought Israel's deliverance. The whole nation extolled Saul for the victory and forgot God, and though Saul at first ascribed the glory to God, he afterward took the honor to himself. When first called to the throne Saul was humble and self-distrustful, but this success made him self-confident. That self-confidence prepared the way for his presumption and sacrilege in offering the unbidden sacrifice at Gilgal.