Bible Commentaries

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

How long wilt thou mourn for Saul? — Mourn he might, but it was too long that he mourned. Est modus in rebus: It is not fit to wash stables with sweet water. Ad ignem charitatis incalescente pectore liquefactus intus pietatis adeps foras emanabat per oculos, saith Bernard, Serm. xii. in Cantic. speaking of Samuel’s mourning.

Fill thine horn with oil. — See 1 Samuel 10:1 . See Trapp on " 1 Samuel 10:1 "

I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite. — First, Samuel was told that God had found him out a man after his own heart; 1 Samuel 13:14 now, that this man shall be one of the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite; and lastly, that it should be David, after a refusal of his other brethren. God oft revealeth not his will to men, but at sundry times, and by various degrees. So the Messiah was made known to the Church: first, that he should be the seed of the woman; then, that he should be of the posterity of Abraham; then, of the tribe of Judah; then, of the house of David; then, that he should be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14

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And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear [it], he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.

And Samuel said, How can I go? — This he might ask, not so much out of diffidence - for he was old and experienced; and if Solon could say, I fear not to oppose Pisistratus the tyrant, because I am old and must shortly die howsoever, much better might Samuel - as out of a desire to be directed, as Luke 1:34 .

And say, I am come to sacrifice. — This a prophet might do at any time, and in any place. "In everything give thanks." But when a king was to be anointed, there was a kind of necessity in this service. Neither was Samuel bound to tell all that he came about. Some part of a truth may lawfully be concealed out of civil prudence. See the like done, Jeremiah 38:27 .

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And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me [him] whom I name unto thee.

And call Jesse to the sacrifice. — Who was grandchild to Ruth the Moabitess, Ruth 4:22 now grown a great lady in Bethlehem, great-grandmother to the king of Israel. So little is there lost by adhering to God and his people.

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And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?

And the elders of the town trembled at his coming. — Not because they feared him, but themselves, lest guilty of some great sin, or in danger of some grievous judgment, which he came to denounce. They well knew that Samuel was no gadder abroad, and that such a guest came not to them for familiarity. Coming also so unexpectedly and so privately, they might well fear he had fled from Saul, and that evil would befall them for his sake, as it afterwards did to Nob for David’s sake.

Comest thou peaceably? — It is a good thing to stand in awe of God’s messengers, and to hold good terms with them upon all occasions. Zedekiah is blamed for not humbling himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 36:12

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And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord. — This prophets might do, either upon occasion, or without, for the blessing and comfort of certain places and cities. See 1 Samuel 9:12 .

Sanctify yourselves. — By washing your garments; Exodus 19:14-15 but especially your hearts: Isaiah 1:16 prepare yourselves both legally and spiritually.

And called them to the sacrifice. — And to the feast that followed the sacrifice with part of the peace offering, kept, likely, at the house of Jesse.

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And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed [is] before him.

He looked on Eliab. — Who was of a goodly stature and presence, but proud and uncourteous. 1 Samuel 17:28 Fronti nulla fides. Samuel had seen how ill Saul proved, though proper and personable.

And said, Surely, … — This he said by a human judgment, and not as a prophet. See the like, 2 Samuel 7:3 .

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But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height 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.

Because I have refused him. — Licet primogenitum, pulchrum, et procerum. All these are but as ciphers to God, which signify nothing without some figure set before.

For man looketh on the outward appearance. — He seeth but the surface of things - his knowledge is but skin-deep. The Antiochians chose Nectarius for their bishop - next after Nazianzen - for no other reason than this, that he was veneranda canitie, et vultu sacerdote digno, a goodly old man, and a comely person. So did the Constantinopolitans, Arsatius, next after Chrysostom. Baron., Annal. Antonin., tit. x. cap. 9.

But the Lord looketh on the heart. — Cor camera Omnipotentis Regis.

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Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.

Then Jesse. — Who was now made of the council.

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