1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” 2 “How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!” The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.” 4 So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 “In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11 And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” 12 So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah. 14 After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him. 15 Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” 17 And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.” 18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David. 21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 23 And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play, and Saul would become well, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
1 Samuel · Berean Standard Bible
1 Samuel 16 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abinadab
A brother of David who passed before Samuel and later served in Saul's army.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 16:8; 1 Samuel 17:13
David
The shepherd who became Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16 - 1 Kings 2; 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6
Eliab
Jesse's tall firstborn, passed over when Samuel came to anoint a king from among his sons.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 16:6; 1 Samuel 17:28
Jesse
The Bethlehemite whose youngest son David was anointed king of Israel.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16:1-13; Isa. 11:1; Ruth 4:22; Matt. 1:5-6
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Kings 9:1; 1 Samuel 15:23; 1 Samuel 15:35; Psalm 78:68–71; Romans 15:12
- 2 1 Samuel 9:12; 1 Samuel 20:29; Matthew 10:16; Luke 1:34; Jeremiah 38:26–27
- 3 1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 15:11; 1 Samuel 16:12–13; Acts 9:6; 1 Samuel 9:12–13
- 4 1 Kings 2:13; 1 Samuel 21:1; 1 Chronicles 12:17–18; 2 Kings 9:22; Luke 5:8
- 5 Exodus 19:10; Leviticus 20:7–8; Joshua 3:5; Joshua 7:13; Exodus 19:14–15
- 6 1 Samuel 17:13; 1 Chronicles 2:13
- 7 John 7:24; Jeremiah 17:10; Luke 16:15; Isaiah 55:8–9; 1 Peter 3:4
- 8 1 Samuel 17:13; 1 Chronicles 2:13
- 9 1 Samuel 17:13; 2 Samuel 13:3; 1 Chronicles 2:13
- 10 1 Chronicles 2:13–15
- 11 Psalm 78:70–71; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Samuel 17:28; 1 Chronicles 17:7; 2 Samuel 13:3
- 12 Song of Songs 5:10; Lamentations 4:7; 1 Samuel 17:42; Psalm 89:19–20; 1 Samuel 9:17
- 13 1 Samuel 10:6; Hebrews 1:9; John 3:34; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 10:9–10
- 14 Psalm 51:11; 1 Samuel 18:12; Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 28:15; 1 Samuel 18:10
- 16 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Kings 10:8; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9; 1 Samuel 16:21–23
- 18 1 Samuel 3:19; Genesis 39:23; Genesis 39:2; 1 Samuel 17:32–36; 1 Samuel 10:7
- 19 1 Samuel 17:15; 1 Samuel 16:11; Psalm 78:70–72; Matthew 4:18–22; 1 Kings 19:19
- 20 1 Samuel 10:27; Proverbs 18:16; 1 Samuel 17:18; 1 Samuel 25:18; Genesis 43:11
- 21 Genesis 41:46; Proverbs 22:29; Psalm 146:3; Psalm 118:9; Deuteronomy 10:8
- 23 1 Samuel 16:14–16; 1 Samuel 18:10–11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… him the person of mankind, and hath heeded the bonds of all men, hath considered the offspring of death, hath adverted to the origin of iniquity, and he saith, "For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived." Was David born of adultery; being born of Jesse, a righteous man, and his own wife?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
Though again it be Samuel who is doing this, He saith unto him, "Mourn not thou for Saul." Though for his own sister one entreat, when it is not fitting, he again shall have the same sort of answer as Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face." Let us not then be looking open-mouthed towards others.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… generally, their variable conditions, so, very frequently is the Spirit in the soul; since He does not abide with those who, on account of the instability of their will, easily reject the grace which they have received. An instance of this is seen in Saul, and the seventy elders of the children of Israel, except Eldad and Medad, with whom …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
… Benjamin, or the tribe of Benjamin He chose not, out of which a king already had begun to be; for thence there had been chosen Saul; whence because of the very proximity of the time, when he had been rejected and refused, and David chosen, this might conveniently have been said; but yet was not said: but he hath named …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)