seven (as the sacred full one) · noun, common both genders singular construct
sons
בָּנָ֖יוba.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
pass
וַיַּעֲבֵ֥רvai.ya.'a.Ver
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֑לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵל֙she.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jesse
יִשַׁ֔יyi.Shai
H3448
Jishai · proper noun, a man's name
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
chosen
בָחַ֥רva.Char
H977
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Chronicles 2:13-15 And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 16:6-13
If the sons of Jesse were told that God would provide himself a king among them (as he had said, Sa1 16:1), we may well suppose they all made the best appearance they could, and each hoped he should be the man; but here we are told,
I. How all the elder sons, who stood fairest for the preferment, were passed by.
1. Eliab, the eldest, was privately presented first to Samuel, probably none being present but Jesse only, and Samuel thought he must needs be the man: Surely this is the Lord's anointed, Sa1 16:6. The prophets themselves, when they spoke from under the divine direction, were as liable to mistake as other men; as Nathan, Sa2 7:3. But God rectified the prophet's mistake by a secret wh…
Samuel said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him--Here Samuel, in consequence of taking his impressions from the external appearance, falls into the same error as formerly (Sa1 10:24).
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 16:10
Seven of his sons - This certainly was not done publicly; Samuel, Jesse, and his children, must have been in a private apartment, previously to the public feast on the sacrifice; for Samuel says, Sa1 16:11, We will not sit down till he (David) come.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 16:10
Again Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel,.... Not seven more, for he had but eight sons in all with David, 1 Samuel 17:12 but four more, which with the other three made seven; three of these four are mentioned by name, Nathanael, Raddai, and Ozem, 1 Chronicles 2:14, but the fourth we nowhere read of; perhaps he died quickly after this, was an obscure person, and of no fame and note, or might be by another woman:
and Samuel said unto Jesse, the Lord hath not chosen these; not anyone of them.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Anointing of David. - Sa1 16:1. The words in which God summoned Samuel to proceed to the anointing of another king, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected, that he may not be king over Israel?" show that the prophet had not yet been able to reconcile himself to the hidden ways of the Lord; that he was still afraid that the people and kingdom of God would suffer from the rejection of Saul; and that he continued to mourn for Saul, not merely from his own personal attachment to the fallen king, but also, or perhaps still more, from anxiety for the welfare of Israel. He was now to put an end to this mourning, and to fill his horn with oil and go to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for t…
The Church Fathers
Therefore Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, etc. The number seven is fitting to the law because of the sabbath, just as the number eight is fitting to the Gospel because of the mystery of the resurrection. Therefore, none of those who are perfect according to the law, hoping for the sabbath either of the body in the present or even of the Spirit in the future age, preach, perceive, even though being high in merits and strong in virtues, can suffice to save the world.
28. But among the seven sons of Jesse, the king is not found. For what are the seven sons of Jesse, if not all the perfect ones of the Synagogue? They come to the prophet, but none of them is chosen, because the chosen preacher both looks upon the perfect sons of the Synagogue and believes none of them to be the Redeemer of the human race. He therefore brings forward all the older sons, so that when we look upon all the perfect ones, we may consider the excellence of the Redeemer. Among whom indeed, unless the little one is brought forward, the king is not revealed by the Lord, because surely when we compare great men to our Redeemer, how greatly His dignity surpasses theirs is seen. He is therefore not found among the others, because they are mere men.
14. Because perfection is usually signified by the number seven, the prophet Isaiah testifies, who, declaring the gifts of the Holy Spirit abiding in our Redeemer, says: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him" (Isaiah 11:2). What then does it mean that those who are rejected from the office of preaching are signified by the number seven, when that same number signifies perfection, which no one possesses except from the infusion of the Holy Spirit? But this is fittingly asserted: because to many the grace of the Holy Spirit is given for living well, but is not given for teaching. Since they are many and perfect in good works, they are fittingly contained in the number seven. Likewise, because they do robust things but do not understand subtle things, they are rejected from the governance of the kingdom. And so there are seven sons, and yet none of them is chosen for the governance of souls: because even though by living well they know how to govern themselves strongly, they are by no means able to protect others strongly through doctrine. Let the ordainer of the Church never rush so hastily in ordaining, because, even if he has many who are not suitable for undertaking the care of souls, those who can preside cannot be lacking to him. Therefore let the teacher seek earnestly, let him not cease to seek, until he can find those who are hidden. The great virtues of the elect, like treasures of almighty God, are almost always hidden in secret. For almighty God acts in the manner of fearful rich men: because lest he lose the treasures of virtues, he both places them in elect minds and conceals those very minds in secrecy. Therefore let him who desires to ordain, or rather to adorn, the head of the Church seek the hidden treasures. He desires to adorn the bride of Christ; but he cannot unless he brings forth the hidden treasures of the bridegroom for her adornment, and let him not cease until he finds those that are hidden. But why do I urge pastors to seek, when unless God brings forth the hidden [it seems one should read "the hidden ones"], they cannot be found? For what else does this mean: "You shall anoint whomever I shall show you"? Nevertheless they must be sought, because unless they are…
Dictionary and topics
Bethlehem — House of bread. (1.) A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Jesse — Firm, or a gift, a son of Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:17, 22; Matt. 1:5, 6; Luke 3:32). He was the father of eight sons, the youngest of whom was David (1 Sam. 17:12). The phrase “stem of…
Church And State · .Withdraws support and anoints a succes — .Withdraws support and anoints a succes
First Born, The · Instances of superseded: David’s brothers — Instances of superseded: David’s brothers
Jesse · Samuel visits, un — Samuel visits, un
King · .David and the Davidic dynasty — .David and the Davidic dynasty
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
his appearance or height: Like Saul, Eliab, Jesse’s oldest son, had an impressive outward appearance (cp. 9:2). Also like Saul, he was rejected (cp. 15:23). God had another man in mind to anoint as king. • the Lord looks at the heart: God can give a new heart (10:9), touch hearts (10:26), and peer into the deep motivations of the heart (Ps 139:1). God sees what people cannot see—a person’s true character. Eliab’s character comes out in 1 Sam 17:28.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 16:9
Yishay brought Shammoh. That is שַׁמְעָא.6I.e. שַׁמְעָא = שַׁמׇּה See II Shmuel 21:21 and I Divrei Hayomim 2:13.
