Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 16:14–end
We have here Saul falling and David rising.
I. Here is Saul made a terror to himself (Sa1 16:14): The Spirit of the Lord departed from him. He having forsaken God and his duty, God, in a way of righteous judgment, withdrew from him those assistances of the good Spirit with which he was directed, animated, and encouraged in his government and wars. He lost all his good qualities. This was the effect of his rejecting God, and an evidence of his being rejected by him. Now God took his mercy from Saul (as it is expressed, Sa2 7:15); for, when the Spirit of the Lord departs from us, all good goes. When men grieve and quench the Spirit, by wilful sin, he departs, and will not always strive. The co…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 16:20
Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them . . . unto Saul--as a token of homage and respect.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 16:20
Took an ass laden with bread - He must send a present to Saul to introduce his son, and this was probably the best he had. Dr. Warburton pleads still farther on the propriety of his rectification of the chronology in this place. David had at this time vanquished the Philistine, was become a favourite with the people, had excited Saul's jealousy, and retired to shun its effects. In the interim Saul was seized with the disorder in question, and is recommended by his servants to try the effects of music. They were acquainted with David's skill on the harp, and likewise with Saul's bad disposition towards him; the point was delicate, it required to be managed with address, and therefore they rec…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 1 Samuel 16:20
And Jesse took an ass laden with bread,.... Laden with a load of bread, as the Targum; with as much as it could carry, or was used to carry; the Septuagint version is, an omer of bread, which was as much as a man could eat in one day; and, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, it may be interpreted an heap of bread, agreeably to the use of the word in Judges 15:16, and a bottle of wine; or a skin of wine, a leather bag or sack, which held more than our bottles; the Targum is, a flagon of wine:
and a kid; of the goats, as the same Targum:
and sent them by David his son unto Saul; some think that Jesse suspected that Saul had known the secret of David's being anointed, and was fearful that he…
