1 And the LORD said to Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul shall hear [it] , he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint to me [him] whom I name to thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spoke, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably: I have come to sacrifice to the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6 And it came to pass when they had come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed [is] before him. 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the hight of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he hath come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he [was] ruddy, [and] also of a beautiful countenance, and a good appearance. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose, and went to Ramah. 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 16 Let our lord now command thy servants, [who are] before thee, to seek a man [who is] a skillful player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he will play with his hand, and thou wilt be well. 17 And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring [him] to me. 18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, [that is] skillful in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD [is] with him. 19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send to me David thy son, who [is] with the sheep. 20 And Jesse took an ass [laden] with bread, and a bottle 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 armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. 23 And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
1 Samuel 16 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
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)