He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
The Ammonites did not expect the other Israelites to show so much support for the Jabesh-gileadites. Saul thoroughly surprised and defeated them. [Note: For another interpretation of 11:1-11 that views it as an artificially constructed story, see Diana Edelman, "Saul’s Rescue of Jabesh-Gilead (1 Samuel 11:1-11): Sorting Story from History," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 96:2 (1984):195-209.] 