1 Samuel 16:14-23

14 And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.
15 And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles thee.
16 Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
17 And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
18 And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him.
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.
20 And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent [them] by David his son to Saul.
21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight.
23 And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

1 Samuel 16:14-23 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit. 'of:' so vers. 16,23; chs. 18.10; 19.9.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.