1 Samuel 16:6

6 {When they came}, he saw Eliab and said, "Surely his anointed one [is] before Yahweh!"

1 Samuel 16:6 Meaning and Commentary

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, ( 1 Chronicles 2:13 ) , called Elihu, ( 1 Chronicles 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 In-Context

4 So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

5 He said, "[I come in] peace. I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." So he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 {When they came}, he saw Eliab and said, "Surely his anointed one [is] before Yahweh!"

7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [God does] not [see] what man sees, for a man {looks on the outward appearance}, but Yahweh {looks on the heart}."

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, "This one also Yahweh has not chosen."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "And it happened at their coming"
• [b]. That is, Samuel