1 Samuel 16:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."

NIV: The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."

NASB: Now the Lord said to Samuel, 'How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, because I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.'

CSB: The Lord said to Samuel, "How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons."

NLT: Now the Lord said to Samuel, 'You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”

This verse begins a new section of 1 Samuel, shifting to a focus on David.

Samuel has continued to grieve over the Lord's rejection of Saul as Israel's king (1 Samuel 15:23, 34–35). Samuel had anointed Saul as king (1 Samuel 10:1–27; 15:1). The prophet had also warned the people about their desire for a king (1 Samuel 8:1–22; 12:1–25). But he "told the people the rights and duties of the kingship" (1 Samuel 10:25); and Samuel promised to continue to pray for the people and instruct them (1 Samuel 12:23).

In an earlier incident, Saul failed to wait for the prophet and acted on his own in making a sacrifice (1 Samuel 13). Samuel told the king, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you" (1 Samuel 13:13–14). Samuel knew that Saul's kingdom would not continue, but apparently God's rejection of Saul himself in the incident with the Amalekites brought an even deeper grief.

We can imagine various things Samuel might have been mourning: that the Israelites had rejected God as their king and requested an earthly king in the first place, that Saul had failed to honor the Lord so egregiously, the dismal outlook for Israel's future, the hardship for Saul, and any number of other troubles. But God now tells Samuel it is time to move on. He can no longer grieve over a person God has rejected. The Lord is sending Samuel out to anoint a new king over Israel.

God tells Samuel to fill a horn with oil and start traveling. He is to go to Jesse the Bethlehemite, one of whose sons will be the next king. This is the first use of the name Jesse and the first mention of Bethlehem in 1 Samuel. Jesse was the grandson of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:17). Bethlehem was about ten miles, or sixteen kilometers, from Samuel's home in Ramah.

Samuel had anointed Saul to be king over Israel with a flask (1 Samuel 10:1). Now the Lord directs Samuel to use a ram's horn. Samuel likely followed the recipes for the anointing oil given in Exodus 30:23–25, which includes a mix of spices in olive oil.

First Samuel 16:1–13 describes the anointing of David as Israel's next king. The Lord tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem because He has chosen one of Jesse's sons for that role. Samuel consecrates Jesse and his sons for a sacrifice and feast. Seeing Eliab, Samuel thinks this must be the chosen one. But the Lord rejects all the sons until Jesse calls his youngest from tending sheep. The Lord tells Samuel to anoint this overlooked son, David. When he does, the Lord's Spirit comes into David just as it did on the day Samuel first anointed Saul to be Israel's king. However, in this case, the Spirit of the Lord remains with David for the rest of his life.

First Samuel 16 introduces David to the story of Israel's kings. David is the son of Jesse, who is the grandson of Ruth (Ruth 4:21–22). He will be anointed king as the Lord has rejected Saul (1 Samuel 15:26). The Lord's Spirit leaves Saul and comes to David (1 Samuel 16:13–14); this is different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers today (John 14:26; 2 Timothy 1:14). David becomes a beloved musician and servant to Saul, but the king's heart will become violently jealous (1 Samuel 18:8, 11).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.