2 Samuel 2:7

be ye valiant The following clause, which might be rendered "for thoughyour master Saul is dead, yetthe house of Judah, &c.," makes it plain that David hoped the men of Jabesh would join him, and hold the land of Gilead against the Philistines until he could come to their aid. As however Gilead became the head-quarters of his rival Ish-bosheth, it does not appear that the embassy was successful.