1 Samuel 16:8-18

8 Then Jesse called ¹Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."

9 Then Jesse made ²Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."

10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen these."

11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, ³"There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, ⁴"Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here."

12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ⁵ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, ⁶"Arise, anoint him, for this is he."

13 Then Samuel took ⁷the horn of oil ⁸and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ⁹And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul's Service

14 ¹⁰Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, ¹¹and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

15 And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.

16 Let our lord now command your servants ¹²who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will ¹³play it, and you will be well."

17 So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me."

18 One of the young men answered, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, ¹⁴a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, ¹⁵and the LORD is with him."

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1 Samuel 16:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 16

In this chapter Samuel is ordered to anoint a king among the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem, 1Sa 16:1-5 all whose sons were made to pass before him, excepting David, 1Sa 16:6-10 who being then with his father's sheep, was sent for and was anointed, 1Sa 16:11-13, after which the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and he became melancholy, and it was advised to seek out a musician for him, and David was mentioned to him as a proper person, 1Sa 16:14-18 upon which he was sent for, and acted as a musician to Saul, and also became his armourbearer, which was the first rise of him, 1Sa 16:19-23.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 15

1. 1 Samuel 17:13
2. [See ver. 8 above]
3. 1 Samuel 17:13; [2 Samuel 13:3; 1 Chronicles 2:13]
4. [2 Samuel 7:8; Psalms 78:70, 71]
5. 1 Samuel 17:42
6. [1 Samuel 9:17]
7. ver. 1
8. [1 Samuel 10:1; Psalms 89:20]
9. 1 Samuel 10:6, 10; 1 Samuel 11:6; See Judges 3:10
10. 1 Samuel 18:12; 1 Samuel 28:15, 16; [Judges 16:20]
11. 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9; [Judges 9:23]
12. ver. 21, 22; 1 Kings 10:8
13. 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9; [2 Kings 3:15]
14. See 1 Samuel 17:32, 34-36
15. 1 Samuel 3:19; 1 Samuel 18:12, 14

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or smallest

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.