The Hebrew word Yabesh (יָבֵשׁ) is both a place name (Jabesh-Gilead) and an adjective meaning dry, withered, or parched. As a place, Jabesh-Gilead was a significant city east of the Jordan River in the territory of Gilead, famous in Israelite history for its complex relationship with the tribe of Benjamin and its later loyalty to King Saul. The verbal root yabesh means to be dry, to wither, to be ashamed.
Jabesh-Gilead appears at key moments in Israel's story: (1) During the civil war against Benjamin, its men were the only ones absent from the assembly, resulting in a painful episode of provision for Benjamin's survivors (Judges 21). (2) The Ammonite king Nahash besieged Jabesh-Gilead, threatening to gouge out every right eye — and Saul's rescue of the city was his first act as king (1 Samuel 11). (3) After Saul's death on Mount Gilboa, the men of Jabesh-Gilead traveled all night to retrieve his body and gave him an honorable burial (1 Samuel 31:11–13) — an act of covenant loyalty that David praised (2 Samuel 2:5–6). The city's story is a study in faithfulness, rescue, and honoring the dead.