1 Samuel 16:6-10

When they were come. I.e. to the house of Jesse, apparently in the interval between the sacrifice and the feast. The latter we learn in 1 Samuel 16:11 did not take place until after David had been sent for. But many hours would elapse between the sacrifice and the feast, as the victim had to be skinned and prepared for roasting, and finally cooked. This interval was spent in Jesse's house; and when he saw there Eliab, the first born, and observed his tall stature and handsome face, qualities which Samuel had admired in Saul, he said , i.e. in himself, felt sure, that the goodly youth was Jehovah's anointed (see on 1 Samuel 2:10 , 1 Samuel 2:35 ; 1 Samuel 10:1 , etc.), but is warned that these external advantages do not necessarily imply real worth of heart; and as Jehovah looketh on the heart, his judgment depends, not on appearances, but on reality. As Eliab is thus rejected, Jesse makes his other sons pass before the prophet. Next Abinadab , who has the same name as a son of Saul ( 1 Samuel 31:2 ); then Shammah , so called again in 1 Samuel 17:13 , but Shimeah in 2 Samuel 13:3 , and Shimma in 1 Chronicles 2:13 , where, however, the Hebrew is exactly the same as in 2 Samuel 13:3 . After these four other sons follow, of whom one apparently died young, as only seven are recorded in 1 Chronicles 2:13-15 , whereas these with David make eight. To all these seven the Divine voice within Samuel gave no response, and he said unto Jesse, Jehovah hath not chosen these.