1 Samuel16chapter 16

1 Samuel 16:1

“Fill thine horn with oil - Horns appear to have been the ancient drinking vessels of all nations; and we may suppose that most persons who had to travel much, always carried one with them, for the purpose of taking up water from the fountains to quench their thirst. Such a horn had Samuel; and on this occasion he was commanded to fill it with oil, for the purpose of consecrating a king over Israel from among the sons of Jesse.”

1 Samuel 16:1

“Saul was the people's choice, the fruit of their wayward and sinful desires for their own honor and aggrandizement. The next was to be a king who would consult the divine glory, and selected from that tribe to which the pre-eminence had been early promised (Ge 49:10).”

1 Samuel 16:1

“I have provided - This phrase is very emphatical, and implies the difference between this and the former king. Saul was a king of the people's providing, he was the product of their sinful desires: but this is a king of my own providing, to fulfil all my will, and to serve my glory.”

1 Samuel 16:1

“He sends him to Bethlehem, to anoint one of the sons of Jesse, a person probably not unknown to Samuel. Saul was anointed with a glass vial of oil, scanty and brittle, David with a horn of oil, which was more plentiful and durable; hence we read of a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David, Luke i.”

1 Samuel 16:2-3

“5. What is shown by these words, except that the cunning and cruelty of tyrants must sometimes be eluded by pious deception? For by the Lord's command a calf is taken from the herd, a sacrifice is simulated, and the royal anointing is reached, because when tyrants desire to do harm, certain things which they may believe must be set before them, so that they find no opening to do harm. Thus tyrants must be eluded in such a way that the guilt of lying is avoided.”

1 Samuel 16:2

“Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice - This was strictly true; Samuel did offer a sacrifice; and it does not appear that he could have done the work which God designed, unless he had offered this sacrifice, and called the elders of the people together, and thus collected Jesse’s sons.”

1 Samuel 16:2

“How can I go?--This is another instance of human infirmity in Samuel. Since God had sent him on this mission, He would protect him in the execution. I am come to sacrifice--It seems to have been customary with Samuel to do this in the different circuits to which he went, that he might encourage the worship of God.”

1 Samuel 16:6

“And it came to pass, when they were come,.... Jesse and his sons, into the house where the entertainment was; and perhaps before they sat down, went into a private apartment by the direction of Samuel, where he acquainted Jesse with the business he came upon: that he looked on Eliab; who was Jesse's firstborn, 1Ch 2:13, called Elihu, 1Ch 27:18. and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before him; or this is the person it is his pleasure should be anointed king.”

1 Samuel 16:6-10

“Samuel said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him--Here Samuel, in consequence of taking his impressions from the external appearance, falls into the same error as formerly (1Sa 10:24).”

1 Samuel 16:7

“Do not say, "I do not mind a mere priest, if he is a celibate, and a religious [person], and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be defiled even in the moment of my cleansing." Do not ask for credentials of the preacher or the baptizer. For another is his judge and the examiner of what you can't see. For humans look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

“Man looketh on the outward appearance - And it is well he should, and confine his looks to that; for when he pretends to sound the heart, he usurps the prerogative of God. In what way were these communications made from God to Samuel? It must have been by direct inspirations into his heart. But what a state of holy familiarity does this argue between God and the prophet! I believe Moses himself was not more highly favored than Samuel.”

1 Samuel 16:8

“Then Jesse called Abinadab,.... His second son, 1Sa 17:13. and made him pass before Samuel: that he might take a full view of him: and he said, neither hath the Lord chosen this; which he knew by a private suggestion from him.”

1 Samuel 16:9

“Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by,.... His third son, 1Sa 17:13, sometimes called Shimma, and Shimeah, 1Ch 2:13. and he said, neither hath the Lord chosen this; which he knew in the same way as before.”

1 Samuel 16:10

“Again Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel,.... Not seven more, for he had but eight sons in all with David, 1Sa 17:12 but four more, which with the other three made seven; three of these four are mentioned by name, Nathanael, Raddai, and Ozem, 1Ch 2:14, but the fourth we nowhere read of; perhaps he died quickly after this, was an obscure person, and of no fame and note, or might be by another woman: and Samuel said unto Jesse, the Lord hath not chosen these; not anyone of them.”

1 Samuel 16:11

“Therefore the boy who tends the sheep is sought in the pastures, because He submits Himself to the Father in obedience even unto death; yet who shall declare His generation (Isa. 53:8)? He is called the little one because the grace of His humility is commended. He is therefore called the little one, who is declared by the Psalmist to have been made lower than the angels (Ps. 8). But the little one tends the sheep, because through humility He is lowly, and through majesty He is exalted.”

1 Samuel 16:11

“We should think a military life, but God saw a pastoral life (which gives advantage for contemplation and communion with heaven), the best preparative for kingly power, at least for those graces of the Spirit which are necessary to the due discharge of that trust which attends it. David was keeping sheep, though it was a time of sacrifice; for there is mercy that takes precedence of sacrifice.”

1 Samuel 16:12

“He was ruddy - I believe the word here means red-haired, he had golden locks. Hair of this kind is ever associated with a delicate skin and florid complexion.”

1 Samuel 16:13

“The Spirit ... came upon David - The exact phrase used of the Judges and Saul. See 1Sa 10:6, note; Jdg 3:10, note; Jdg 6:34, note; Jdg 11:29, note; Jdg 14:18, note; Jdg 15:14, note.”

1 Samuel 16:13

“Not that he was at present invested with the royal power, but it was entailed upon him, to come to him in due time. (2.) A divine communication of gifts and graces, to fit him for the government, and make him a type of him who was to be the Messiah, the anointed One, who received the Spirit, not by measure, but without measure.”