1 Samuelchapter 16
23 verses · Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition · 10th century BC · History
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Introduction
Samuel, Nathan and Gad, by tradition, History, 1 Samuel Overview.
This chapter opens the part of the book that follows David from the sheepfold to the throne. It was written for a nation that later lived under David's line and knew how his house began. The LORD sends His prophet to choose a king while the old king still reigns. Listen for how the choosing is done, and for the standard of judgment the LORD gives Samuel. Watch the way the anointed man and the rejected king first meet. The rest of the book grows from that meeting.
Context
- Who
- Israelites who judged a man by his height and his birth order
- What
- An account of Samuel anointing David at Bethlehem and of David's entry into Saul's court as a harpist.
- Where
- Bethlehem in Judah, at a family sacrifice, and then Saul's household at Gibeah.
- When
- About 1025 BC on the traditional reckoning.
- Why
- To show that the LORD looks at the heart, and to bring the next king into the house of the king he will replace.
Historical context
Samuel goes to Bethlehem in this chapter afraid that Saul will kill him for going. Jesse is a Bethlehemite with eight sons, and the youngest of them holds the lowest job in the household. Saul is still the reigning king, and the chapter ends inside his court.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The time is about 1025 BC. The places are Bethlehem in Judah, at a sacrifice the whole family is called to, and then the king's household at Gibeah. The occasion is the choosing of a king while the reigning king is alive.
The elders of Bethlehem come out trembling because a prophet's unannounced arrival in a small place usually meant judgment, and the horn of oil used here held more than the flask used for Saul. Keeping sheep was the job given to the boy nobody could spare for anything better, and it meant nights alone in open country with lions and bears, a sling, a staff and a lyre.
Music was used across the ancient world to settle disturbed minds, and the instrument Saul's servants ask for is a small hand-held lyre. Israel's understanding was that nothing operates outside God's permission, which is why even a tormenting spirit is described as sent, the frame the book of Job uses.
Significance
The anointing is done in front of the family rather than the nation, and then David goes back to the sheep. First hearers knew what it took to wait more than a decade between being anointed and being crowned, with a living king in between.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The arrangement at the end is heavy with what is coming. The man who will replace Saul enters the palace as the one who calms him, and Saul loves him greatly and makes him his armour-bearer.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
How it is read
Rashi is carried here in the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., under CC-BY, and Malbim at one verse in the Sefaria Community Translation, CC0. On the name of Jesse the Bethlehemite Rashi sets out a rule for place names made of two words, where the added letter goes between them (Rashi on I Samuel 16:1:1). On the elders of the town he says they hurried out toward him (Rashi on I Samuel 16:4:1). On Samuel's thought at the first son he gives it as the prophet said it to himself, that this one is fitting for the kingship (Rashi on I Samuel 16:6:1). On the word about appearance he reads it of the beauty of the man's stature (Rashi on I Samuel 16:7:1). On the youngest he gives four words, that the youngest one is left (Rashi on I Samuel 16:11:1). Malbim works the choice of David as a question about what God sees. Had Samuel gone by human distinction, he says, he would have judged him unworthy (Malbim on I Samuel 16:12:2). God "would see to the heart" and know that David would "do justice and righteousness" (same ref). On the spirit that came upon David he gives "A spirit of strength", and notes that the Targum renders it a spirit of prophecy (Rashi on I Samuel 16:13:1). The spirit of distress at verse 14 is one of the seven contested points this site carries with their holders, in src/components/book/dossier-content/1-samuel.ts. This card states no verdict on it. On the servants' offer he gives the sense plainly, that they stand ready to carry out the king's orders (Rashi on I Samuel 16:16:1). On the young man who commends David he names him Doeg the Edomite, and points to Maseches Sanhedrin 93b (Rashi on I Samuel 16:18:1). Radak, Malbim and Metzudat David comment at fourteen verses, and the corpus holds no English version of any of them, so they stand as citations. They are Radak on I Samuel 16:1:1, 16:2:1, 16:3:1, 16:5:1, 16:10:1, 16:14:1, 16:15:1, 16:20:1, 16:21:1 and 16:23:1. Beside them stand Malbim on I Samuel 16:8:1 and 16:22:1, and Metzudat David on I Samuel 16:17:1 and 16:19:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty rabbinic locators on this chapter, thirty-six of them Midrash and four Talmud, each a locator without text. The sending of Samuel to Jesse the Bethlehemite draws six locators. They are Aggadat Bereshit 70:3, Bamidbar Rabbah 15:17, Bamidbar Rabbah 3:2, Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 11:11:2, Midrash Lekach Tov on Ruth 4:21:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov, Numbers 11:16:1. At verse 2 the corpus records another six. Those are Bamidbar Rabbah 18:10, Chullin 142a:8, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Chullin 7:8, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Kiddushin 1:27, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Nazir 9:1 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yevamot 6:20. The elders hurrying out draws Midrash Shmuel 19:4, and Samuel's thought at the first son draws Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 9:20. The word about appearance draws Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Pesakhim 6:2, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:101 and Midrash Lekach Tov, Deuteronomy 1:17:1. Beside those stand Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 6:8 and Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba, Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 1) 34. The youngest still left draws Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 13:18:1, Midrash Shmuel 19:5 and Sifrei Devarim 334:3. The choice of David draws Aggadat Bereshit 51:1, Bereshit Rabbah 63:8, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayechi 19, Horayot 11b:13 and Jerusalem Talmud Horayot 3:2:23. The spirit of distress draws one locator, Learning to Read Midrash, Chapter 8; Understanding the Narrative Expansion 10. At verse 16 the corpus records Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Shelosha v'Arba'ah 3:11. The young man who commends David draws Bamidbar Rabbah 13:10, Bamidbar Rabbah 13:11, Bamidbar Rabbah 18:17, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:21 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sotah 1:19. At verse 21 it records Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yevamot 8:3, Ein Yaakov, Yevamot 8:4 and Yevamot 76b:11. At verse 22 it records Midrash Shmuel 22:1, Ruth Rabbah (Lerner) 4:9:3 and Ruth Rabbah 4:6. The rabbis teach in these places, and this site reports them as their teaching rather than as a rule of the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on I Samuel 16:1:1, 16:4:1, 16:6:1, 16:7:1, 16:9:1, 16:11:1, 16:13:1, 16:16:1 and 16:18:1, the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J., CC-BY; Malbim, Malbim on I Samuel 16:12:2, the Sefaria Community Translation, CC0; Radak, Radak on I Samuel 16:1:1, 16:2:1, 16:3:1, 16:5:1, 16:10:1, 16:14:1, 16:15:1, 16:20:1, 16:21:1 and 16:23:1, cited only, no English version in the corpus; Malbim, Malbim on I Samuel 16:8:1 and 16:22:1, cited only; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on I Samuel 16:17:1 and 16:19:1, cited only; MannaFest, the 1 Samuel dossier, src/components/book/dossier-content/1-samuel.ts, for the contested point on the spirit of distress, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Jehovah looketh on the heart: the youngest is anointed
1 Samuel 16:1-2
The LORD ends the mourning over Saul with a fresh command, "Fill your horn with oil and go," for a king is already selected among Jesse's sons. Samuel's fear that Saul will kill him is met with a plan set out step by step rather than a rebuke. Bethlehem is where Ruth's story closed on the name David, and the LORD sends His prophet to that town to find him.
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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Adam Clarke holds the errand strictly true: Samuel did offer the heifer in sacrifice to the LORD, and the feast gathered Jesse's sons. Gregory the Great called it a pious deception, the cruelty of a tyrant like Saul met with something he could believe. Such visits were Samuel's custom, say Jamieson, Fausset and Brown.
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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 16:3-5
Samuel is told only what the next step requires, to invite Jesse to the sacrifice and anoint "the one I indicate" when the time comes. The elders of Bethlehem tremble at his coming, a small town’s fear of a prophet arriving unannounced, and Samuel answers that he comes in peace to sacrifice. Jesse and his sons are consecrated for the feast before any of them knows why.
1 Samuel 16:3
“Call Jesse to the sacrifice - The common custom was, after the blood of the victim had been poured out to God, and the fat burnt, to feast on the flesh of the sacrifice. This appears to have been the case in all, except in the whole burnt-offering; this was entirely consumed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Bethlehem lay off Samuel's circuit, say Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. Albert Barnes adds that the elders of the town knew Samuel and Saul had parted, and they feared the prophet came with trouble in place of peace. Samuel had feared Saul in verse 2, and now the town fears Samuel.
1 Samuel 16:4
“The elders of the town trembled at his coming - They knew he was a prophet of the Lord, and they were afraid that he was now come to denounce some judgments of the Most High against their city.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:4
“Trembled - There was evidently something unusual in Samuel’s coming to Bethlehem; and the elders, knowing that Samuel was no longer at friendship with Saul, foreboded some evil.”
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read Samuel's call to consecrate by Exodus 19:14 and 15, where Israel prepared to meet God at Sinai. Adam Clarke adds washing in pure water and a mind prepared by prayer before the sacrifice. Samuel saw to Jesse and his sons himself.
1 Samuel 16:5
“Sanctify yourselves - Change your clothes, and wash your bodies in pure water, and prepare your minds by meditation, reflection, and prayer; that, being in the spirit of sacrifice, ye may offer acceptably to the Lord.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:5
“I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, etc. That is, I have come to teach and suffer for the Lord; be baptized and believe with me, so that we may live together in Christ.”
Bede · written before 735 · Commentary on Samuelpatristic
1 Samuel 16:6-7
Samuel looks at Eliab, the firstborn, and says "Surely here before the LORD is His anointed" of him. The LORD answers at once with the chapter’s center, that "man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart" within. Saul was chosen by the measure Samuel is using here, taller than any of the people at 10:23, and this verse sets the standard his replacement will be found by.
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 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:6
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Adam Clarke draws a limit for the reader from this line. Man is to judge by the outward appearance he sees, and whoever claims to sound another's heart takes the LORD's own right. Gregory of Nazianzus used the verse to tell candidates for baptism to stop sifting the minister's credentials, since God examines what they cannot see.
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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
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.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40.26patristic
1 Samuel 16:8-10
Then Jesse called Abinadab: Abinadab and Shammah pass before Samuel next, and each is met with the same word, that "The LORD has not chosen this one either" among Jesse’s sons. Four more sons follow until seven have stood before the prophet, and none is chosen. The scene repeats on purpose, so that no reader can credit what follows to birth order, appearance, or a father’s favor.
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.”
John Gill identifies Shammah as Jesse's third son, listed under another spelling at 1 Chronicles 2:13. Chapter 17 sends him to the war with Eliab and Abinadab. Gill holds that Samuel knew of his rejection the same way he knew of Eliab's, by the LORD's word to 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.”
John Gill counts the seven sons as the three already named and four more, which fits Jesse's eight sons at 17:12 with David. He finds three of the four named at 1 Chronicles 2:14. The fourth appears nowhere else.
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 16:11-12
Samuel asks if these are all the sons, and Jesse admits, "There is still the youngest," out tending the sheep and not brought to the sacrifice. David is "ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance," yet the LORD’s word decides the matter with "Rise and anoint him, for he is the one" as its command. The overlooked youngest is named within one verse of being fetched.
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.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3patristic
1 more voice on this verse
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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Adam Clarke takes ruddy as red hair and a fair skin. The same looks return at 17:42, where Goliath despises David as a boy, ruddy and handsome. The LORD chose him by the heart of verse 7, and the giant judged him by his face.
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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Samuel anoints David "in the presence of his brothers," and the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon him from that day forward, the phrase used earlier of the judges and of Saul. Bethlehem, where Ruth's story ended on the name David, is where that name receives the oil. Samuel's part is finished, and he returns to Ramah without a word of what he has set in motion.
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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Connectionshouse of david
An evil spirit, and a harp that brings relief
The Spirit of the LORD departs from Saul, and "a spirit of distress from the LORD" torments him. Matthew Henry reads it as righteous judgment, God withdrawing the help Saul forsook, while Adam Clarke reads the spirit as sent or permitted by God to afflict, not caused by Him as evil. Both agree that what is given to David in one verse is taken from Saul in the next.
1 Samuel 16:14
“The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul - He was thrown into such a state of mind by the judgments of God, as to be deprived of any regal qualities which he before possessed. God seems to have taken what gifts he had, and given them to David; and then the evil spirit came upon Saul; for what God fills not, the devil will. An evil spirit from the Lord - The evil spirit was either immediately sent from the Lord, or permitted to come.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:14
“Therefore, when a person falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repents after his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to the one who is willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but this sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul's instance; for the Spirit of God departed from him and an evil spirit was afflicting him.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Discourses Against the Arians 3.25.25patristic
1 Samuel 16:15-18
Saul’s servants propose music, someone who can "skillfully play the harp" when the spirit of distress comes. Their description of David, "a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome," already sounds like more than a shepherd. Albert Barnes notes the difficulty beside chapter 17, where Saul asks whose son David is, and the usual answer is that the report ran ahead of what Saul had seen.
1 Samuel 16:15
“And Saul's servants said unto him,.... His courtiers, who observing him to act in a frantic manner, to be dull and melancholy, timorous, and irresolute, unsteady, divided, and distressed; or his physicians, who were called in to assist him, and remove his disorder from him: behold, now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee: the disorder was not from any natural cause, or any bodily disease, and therefore out of the reach of physicians to do any service, but was from an evil spirit suffered of God to harass and disturb him.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:15
“The “evil” or “melancholy” spirit here spoken of was “the Spirit of God,” or “of Jehovah,” as being God’s messenger and minister, sent by Him to execute His righteous purpose upon Saul (see 1Ki 22:19-22 note).”
Albert Barnes notes the known power of music played skillfully to ease a spirit of distress, calm anger and make a man well. He infers that some of David's psalms, Psalm 23 among them, were already written by this time. The harp reaches the court before the sling reaches the battle.
1 Samuel 16:16
“The medicinal effects of music on the mind and body, especially as appeasing anger, and soothing and pacifying a troubled spirit, are well known. It is deeply interesting to have the youthful David thus brought before us, as using music for its highest purpose, that of turning the soul to the harmony of peace and love. We may infer that some of his Psalms, such e. g. as Psa 23:1-6, were already composed.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Samuel 16:16
“It will be no less than a miracle of divine grace if those who thus agree with Satan ever break off from him again. One of his servants recommended David to him, as a fit person to be employed in the use of these means, little imagining that he was the man whom Samuel meant when he told Saul of a neighbour of his, better than he, who should have the kingdom, ch. xv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John Gill reads the command as Saul's approval of his servants' counsel, given with a king's right to summon any man. Saul asks for skill alone. The servant of verse 18 answers with a warrior, a speaker and a man the LORD is with.
1 Samuel 16:17
“And Saul said unto his servants,.... Approving of, and pleased with the advice they gave: provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me; for being a sovereign prince, he could command whom he would to attend to his person and service.”
Gregory the Great marvelled that the Spirit of the LORD fills this son of Jesse, a boy who can play the harp, and makes him a psalmist. Verse 13 gives the moment. Adam Clarke reports that Bishop Warburton set David's fight with Goliath before this service to Saul.
1 Samuel 16:18
“It is fitting to raise the eyes of faith to the power of this craftsman, and to consider here and there the Fathers of the new and old testament. Behold, with these same eyes of faith opened, I gaze upon David, Amos, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Matthew, and I wish to consider what kind of craftsman this Holy Spirit is, but in my very consideration I fall short. For he fills a boy who plays the harp, and makes him a psalmist. He fills a herdsman shepherd picking sycamore figs, and makes him a prophet.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 30patristic
1 Samuel 16:19-21
Saul sends to Jesse by name, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep," and Jesse sends bread, wine and a young goat with him. Saul admires David greatly and makes him his armor-bearer, a place at court that matters again in chapter 17, where Saul does not seem to know him. The narrator gives no explanation, and the two accounts are left to be read together.
1 Samuel 16:19
“Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David--In the East the command of a king is imperative; and Jesse, however reluctant and alarmed, had no alternative but to comply.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew Henry supposes Jesse knew what David was anointed for. He would force nothing by sending his son to court uncalled. When the king's summons came, Henry says, Jesse followed it gladly and sent a gift with the boy.
1 Samuel 16:20
“Probably Jesse, who knew what his son David was designed for, was aware that Providence was herein fitting him for it, and therefore he would not force Providence by sending him to court uncalled, yet he followed Providence very cheerfully when he saw it plainly putting him into the way of preferment.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Albert Barnes treats Saul's admiration and the armor-bearer's post as the later outcome of David's first service, set here to finish the story. By his reading the post came after Goliath fell, at 18:2. A few times at the harp, Barnes adds, would leave Saul little memory of the young man.
1 Samuel 16:21
“The difficulty of reconciling this verse with 1Sa 17:55-58, is met thus: The words here are the ultimate sequence of David’s first visit to Saul, and of his skill in music, and are therefore placed here; but they did not really come to pass until after David’s victory over Goliath (see 1Sa 18:2). It is quite conceivable that if David had only played once or twice to Saul, and then returned to his father’s house for some months, Saul might not recognize him.”
1 Samuel 16:22-23
Saul asks Jesse to "Let David remain in my service," formalizing what began as an errand. When the spirit comes upon Saul, David plays the harp, Saul becomes well, and "the spirit of distress would depart from him" each time. The chapter closes with the man who will take the throne easing the affliction of the man he will replace.
1 Samuel 16:22
“And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, let David, I pray thee, stand before me,.... Continue in his service; which was great condescension in him, and great respect shown to Jesse, not to detain his son without his leave, and to ask it as a favour of him: for he hath found favour in my sight: was very acceptable to him which must be very pleasing to Jesse to hear; especially if he was in any fear that Saul had an ill design upon him, when he first sent for him.”
Adam Clarke notes that the Hebrew text lacks the word evil where the spirit from God comes upon Saul, while the Septuagint, the Vulgate and the Targum supply it. Matthew Henry cites Josephus that David sang hymns to the harp as he played. Gregory the Great saw the humble quieting the proud.
1 Samuel 16:23
“For neither is this to be lightly regarded, that, when an adverse spirit entered into Saul, David took his harp and assuaged his madness. For what is intimated by Saul but the elation of men in power, and what by David but the humble life of the holy?”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 2patristic
3 more voices on this verse
1 Samuel 16:23
“The evil spirit from God - The word evil is not in the common Hebrew text, but it is in the Vulgate, Septuagint, Targum, Syriac, and Arabic, and in eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., which present the text thus: רוח אלהים רעה ruach Elohim raah, spiritus Domini malus, the evil spirit of God. The Septuagint leave out Θεου, of God, and have πνευμα πονηρον, the evil spirit. The Targum says, The evil spirit from before the Lord; and the Arabic has it. The evil spirit by the permission of God; this is at least the sense.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 16:23
“Departed - Namely, for a season. And the reason of this success, may be, partly natural, and partly, supernatural, respecting David; whom God designed by this means to bring into favour with the king, and so to smooth the way for his advancement.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Samuel 16:23
“Only his instrumental music with his harp is mentioned, but it should seem, by the account Josephus gives, that he added vocal music to it, and sung hymns, probably divine hymns, songs of praise, to his harp. David's music was Saul's physic. [1.] Music has a natural tendency to compose and exhilarate the mind, when it is disturbed and saddened.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: Narrative prose in two scenes, a sacrifice at Bethlehem where seven sons are passed over, and a court appointment that brings the anointed boy into the reigning king's own household, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The LORD has not chosen this one | Eliab is passed over at verse 7, Abinadab at verse 8 and Shammah at verse 9. Verse 10 sums the rest, that Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel and the LORD had chosen none of them. The repetition is the chapter's method. By the time the youngest is sent for, every ordinary ground of choice has been used up in front of the reader.John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 1748 to 1763, on 1 Samuel 16:8 to 10. | 1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Samuel 16:8, 1 Samuel 16:9, 1 Samuel 16:10 |
| The Spirit given and the Spirit departed in adjacent verses | Verse 13 has the Spirit of the LORD rush upon David from that day forward. Verse 14 has the Spirit of the LORD depart from Saul and a spirit of distress begin to torment him. The two sentences stand side by side with no comment between them, and the timing is the comment.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1708 to 1710, on 1 Samuel 16:14. | 1 Samuel 16:13, 1 Samuel 16:14 |
| The LORD's correction spoken to the prophet alone | Samuel looks at Eliab and says in his own mind that the LORD's anointed stands before Him. The answer at verse 7 is spoken to Samuel and to nobody else, that man sees the outward appearance and the LORD sees the heart. The book page's keystone names this verse as the standard the whole book asks to be read by.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Samuel 16:6 and 7. | 1 Samuel 16:6, 1 Samuel 16:7 |
| Out with the sheep, and sent for from the sheep | Jesse answers at verse 11 that the youngest remains, and he is tending the sheep. At verse 19 Saul sends to Jesse for David, naming him as the son who is with the sheep. The same job opens the chapter's choosing and opens the door into the palace, and the boy goes from the flock to the throne room without any step in between.Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1834 to 1885, on 1 Samuel 16:11 and 19. | 1 Samuel 16:11, 1 Samuel 16:19 |
The structure
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Five units. The command to go and Samuel's fear, verses 1 to 3. The elders of Bethlehem and the sanctifying of Jesse's house, verses 4 and 5. The seven sons passed over, verses 6 to 10. The youngest sent for and anointed, verses 11 to 13. The Spirit departed and the harper sent for, verses 14 to 23.
The measure the book has been using, overturned
Saul was introduced at 9:2 by height and looks, and the nation repeated that measure at his coronation in 10:23. Verse 7 replaces it in one sentence spoken to the prophet who was applying it. The dossier's theology section states the pattern across the whole book, that every candidate is tested by appearance and the verdict is then overturned, with Goliath as its last and largest example.
Where the chapter reaches
The dossier's Christ section carries this chapter under two headings. The anointed king from Bethlehem takes verse 13 as its anchor, naming the town before it names the son, so that Bethlehem enters Scripture as the place a king is chosen out of. Micah 5:2 later names Bethlehem Ephrathah as small among the clans of Judah and says a ruler for Israel will come out of it.
The second heading is the anointed king who is not yet enthroned. David is anointed here and does not sit on a throne until 2 Samuel, and between the two he is hunted, gathering at 22:2 the men who had nothing left.
Paul names the same choosing at Acts 13:22, that God raised up David as king and testified of him as a man after His own heart. The clause had been spoken at 13:14 of a man not yet named.
What the chapter hands forward
Verse 52 of the previous chapter stated Saul's practice of enlisting any strong or brave man he noticed. That practice is the door David walks through here at verse 21, and again at 18:2. The man who will take the throne enters the court as the one who eases the affliction that followed the Spirit's own departure.
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Samuel 16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 1748 to 1763, on 1 Samuel 16:8 to 10 and the book page's own guide, src/components/book/guides/1-samuel/Book1SamuelGuide.tsx, the turning point at chapter 16 and the act entry for 16:1 to 31:13.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40.26; Gregory the Dialogist; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).