1 Samuel 16:1-13

David Anointed King

1 The LORD said to Samuel, ¹"How long will you grieve over Saul, since ²I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ³Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ⁴for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."

2 And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, ⁵'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'

3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ⁶And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you."

4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ⁷came to meet him trembling and said, ⁸"Do you come peaceably?"

5 And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. ⁹Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on ¹⁰Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before him."

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, ¹¹"Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, ¹²but the LORD looks on the heart."

8 Then Jesse called ¹³Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."

9 Then Jesse made ¹⁴Shammah 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, ¹⁵"There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, ¹⁶"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 ¹⁷ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, ¹⁸"Arise, anoint him, for this is he."

13 Then Samuel took ¹⁹the horn of oil ²⁰and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ²¹And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:1-13 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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 15:35
• 2. 1 Samuel 15:23, 26
• 3. See 1 Samuel 10:1
• 4. Psalms 78:70; Psalms 89:19, 20; Acts 13:22
• 5. [1 Samuel 9:12; 1 Samuel 20:29]
• 6. 1 Samuel 9:16
• 7. 1 Samuel 21:1
• 8. 1 Kings 2:13; [2 Kings 9:22]
• 9. Joshua 3:5
• 10. 1 Samuel 17:13
• 11. Psalms 147:10, 11
• 12. 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 7:9; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 20:12; [Acts 1:24]
• 13. 1 Samuel 17:13
• 14. [See ver. 8 above]
• 15. 1 Samuel 17:13; [2 Samuel 13:3; 1 Chronicles 2:13]
• 16. [2 Samuel 7:8; Psalms 78:70, 71]
• 17. 1 Samuel 17:42
• 18. [1 Samuel 9:17]
• 19. ver. 1
• 20. [1 Samuel 10:1; Psalms 89:20]
• 21. 1 Samuel 10:6, 10; 1 Samuel 11:6; See Judges 3:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Or smallest