1 Samuel 16:1-7

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ¹  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ²  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ³ 

16:2 Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you ⁴  and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 16:3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out ⁵  to you.”

16:4 Samuel did what the Lord told him. ⁶  When he arrived in Bethlehem, ⁷  the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They ⁸  said, “Do you come in peace?” 16:5 He replied, “Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

16:6 When they arrived, Samuel ⁹  noticed ¹⁰  Eliab and said to himself, ¹¹  “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” ¹²  16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by ¹³  his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. ¹⁴  People look on the outward appearance, ¹⁵  but the Lord looks at the heart.”

[16:1]  ¹ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

[16:1]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:1]  ³ tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[16:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “say”; KJV, NRSV “name”; NIV “indicate.”

[16:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[16:4]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:4]  ⁸ tc In the MT the verb is singular (“he said”), but the translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss and ancient versions in reading the plural (“they said”).

[16:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “saw.”

[16:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “said”; the words “to himself” are implied, given the secrecy surrounding Samuel’s mission to Bethlehem (v. 2).

[16:6]  ¹² tn Heb “his anointed one.”

[16:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “don’t look toward.”

[16:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.

[16:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to the eyes.”