1 Samuel 16:13
Ver. 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil,.... Out of his pocket, which he brought along with him by the direction of God:
and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; not in the presence of them, they sitting around, or standing by and seeing the ceremony performed; which is not consistent with the secrecy with which Samuel was directed to manage this affair, and which was necessary to observe, to keep it from the knowledge of Saul; and with Eliab's treatment of David afterwards, who would never have addressed him in the manner he did, had he known that he was anointed king, 1Sa 17:28 but the sense is, according to Kimchi and Abarbinel, that he was selected out of them, and separated from them, and privately anointed by Samuel, and at most only his father Jesse present; wherefore some observe, that the words may be rendered, "anointed him from the midst of his brethren" {h}; that is, he took him apart from them, and anointed him:and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward; not as a spirit of grace and holiness, which probably had come upon him before this time; but a spirit of prophecy, as did on Saul after his unction; and which particularly showed itself in music and poetry, in which he immediately became very eminent, and he was taken notice of for it, and which was the means of bringing him into Saul's court; and a spirit of wisdom and prudence, in civil as well as in sacred things; and a spirit of fortitude, as the Targum, of strength of body, and courage and valour of mind; whereby he was enabled to encounter with the lion and bear, and get the mastery of them; which, with all other gifts of the spirit fitting him for government, he was now endowed with, and which continued with him:so Samuel rose up and went to Ramah his native place, and where he resided; that is, after the festival of the peace offerings, to which Jesse and his sons were invited; for the anointing seems to be before that.{h} So Pool, Patrick, &c. 1 Samuel 16:14Ver. 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,.... As a spirit of prophecy as at first, as a spirit of wisdom and prudence in civil government, and as a spirit of fortitude and courage, as the Targum:and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him; the reverse of the former, which by the permission of God, and as a punishment to him for his sins, came upon him; he seemed to be a demoniac, as Josephus represents {i} him, as if possessed with the devil; by whom he was almost suffocated and strangled, as well as was distracted in his counsels, and became weak and foolish; lost all courage and greatness of mind, was timorous and fearful, and alarmed by everything, and was full of envy, suspicion, rage, and despair.{i} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 8. sect. 2. 1 Samuel 16:15Ver. 15. And Saul's servants said unto him,.... His courtiers, who observing him to act in a frantic manner, to be dull and melancholy, timorous, and irresolute, unsteady, divided, and distressed; or his physicians, who were called in to assist him, and remove his disorder from him:behold, now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee: the disorder was not from any natural cause, or any bodily disease, and therefore out of the reach of physicians to do any service, but was from an evil spirit suffered of God to harass and disturb him. 1 Samuel 16:16Ver. 16. Let our Lord now command thy servants which are before thee,.... Meaning either themselves, or some of a more inferior rank, who were in some post and office at court, waiters there, such as yeomen of the guards:to seek out a man who is a cunning player on the harp: a musical instrument much in use in those days:and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee; when in a melancholy mood, and Satan takes the advantage of it to distress and terrify, to spread the gloom, and stir up evil passions, and promote distraction and confusion:that he shall play with his hand: upon the harp, that being not an instrument of wind, but of hand music:and thou shalt be well: music being a means of cheering the spirits, and removing melancholy and gloomy apprehensions of things, and so of restoring to better health of body and disposition of mind; and that music has such an effect on the bodies and minds of men is certain from observation and experience in all ages. Music has been found to be medicine to various diseases, not only for the curing of the bite of vipers, and of the tarantula, but for easing the pains of the sciatica, and for helping persons labouring under the disorders of the frenzy {k}; and Pythagoras used to compose the mind, and remove the perturbations of it, by the use of the harp {l}, the thing here advised to.{k} A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 4. c. 13. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 17. Vid. Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. Tyan. l. 5. c. 7. {l} Seneca de Ira, l. 3. c. 9. 1 Samuel 16:17Ver. 17. And Saul said unto his servants,.... Approving of, and pleased with the advice they gave:provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me; for being a sovereign prince, he could command whom he would to attend to his person and service. 1 Samuel 16:18Ver. 18. Then answered one of the servants,.... Which the Jews say {m} was Doeg the Edomite, who out of envy and ill will to David spake of him, that Saul might have an opportunity of slaying him; but this is not at all likely; rather it was one of David's friends and acquaintance, that was desirous of promoting him at court, and no doubt was directed to that motion by the overruling providence of God:and said, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite; he does not mention the name of his son, but so describes him, that he might be easily known by those who knew anything of the family of Jesse; besides it was sufficient that he was one of Jesse's sons, to find him out:[that is] cunning in playing; that is, on the harp; has good skill in music, and is expert in it:and a mighty valiant man; as appeared by his encountering with and slaying the lion and the bear; an event now past, as very probable:and a man of war some think this character of him was given after the affair of his fighting with Goliath and killing him, but here put by a prolepsis or anticipation; and indeed if David had been taken into Saul's court before that affair, it is difficult to account for Saul's ignorance of him, since he must be so near him, and so often with him, as his musician and armourbearer; though that difficulty may be removed, as may be observed in its proper place:and prudent in matters; in his talk and conversation, and conduct and behaviour; knew how to carry himself, even in a prince's court: and a comely person; which always recommended to the courts of the eastern nations; See Gill on "Da 1:4".and the Lord is with him; prospering and succeeding him in whatsoever he is engaged; and seeing the Lord was with him, it might be expected the evil spirit would depart from Saul, when this person, with whom the Lord was, was in his presence. The Targum is,"the Word of the Lord is for his help;''all that is said of him showed that he was fit to be in the palace of a king, and a proper person to be with Saul in his present circumstances.{m} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 2. So in Hieron. Trad. Heb in lib. Reg. fol. 76. C. 1 Samuel 16:19Ver. 19. Wherefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse,.... For David; not choosing to take him without his leave, though Samuel suggests that kings would do so, 1Sa 8:11and said, send me David, thy son, which is with the sheep; he had learnt his name, and what was his employment; and which last he mentions not by way of contempt, it not being reckoned mean and despicable even in the sons of great personages, in those times and countries, to attend flocks and herds: so with the Arabs, as Philo {n} testifies, young men and maids of the most illustrious families fed cattle; and with the ancient Romans, the senator {o} fed his own sheep. Paris, son of Priamus, king of Troy, is said {p} to feed his father's oxen and sheep; and Saul himself had done the same; but to describe him particularly.{n} De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 610. {o} "Pascebatque suas", &c. Ovid. Fast. l. 1. {p} Coluthi Raptus Helenae, v. 71, 101. 1 Samuel 16:20Ver. 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 Jud 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 had a design upon his life, and therefore sent this present by his son to pacify him, and ingratiate him unto him; but rather he sent it as a token of respect and subjection to his sovereign, and according to the custom of those times, when men used to carry presents when they waited upon princes, and indeed in their common visits; and do in the eastern countries to this day;See Gill on "1Sa 9:7". 1 Samuel 16:21Ver. 21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him,.... As a servant, and ministered to him in the way, and for the purpose for which he was sent:and he loved him greatly; being a comely person, and a well behaved youth, and especially as he was serviceable to him with his music, in driving away melancholy from him:and he became his armourbearer; that is, he appointed him to this office, though we never read that he exercised it; nor did he go with Saul in this capacity to the battle related in the following chapter: it may be literally rendered: "and he was to him a bearer of vessels", or "instruments" {q}; and Abarbinel thinks this is to be understood not of instruments of war, but of instruments of music to play with; which he brought in and bare before him when he went in to the king.{q} Mylk avn wl yhyw "et fuit ei ferens vasa", Montanus; "ferens instrumenta", Piscator. 1 Samuel 16:22Ver. 22. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, let David, I pray thee, stand before me,.... Continue in his service; which was great condescension in him, and great respect shown to Jesse, not to detain his son without his leave, and to ask it as a favour of him:for he hath found favour in my sight: was very acceptable to him which must be very pleasing to Jesse to hear; especially if he was in any fear that Saul had an ill design upon him, when he first sent for him. 1 Samuel 16:23Ver. 23. And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul,.... See 1Sa 16:14 though the word evil is not in the text here; wherefore Abarbinel thinks that this here was the Spirit of God, which stirred up in him thoughts of divine things, put him in mind of what God had said, that he had rejected him from being king, and had rent the kingdom from him; and this filled him with grief and trouble, and he became melancholy:that David took an harp, and played with his hands; upon it; and, as Josephus {r} says, at the same time sung hymns and psalms; made use both of vocal and instrumental music:so Saul was refreshed, and was well; became cheerful, his grief was removed, his black and gloomy apprehensions of things were dispersed, and he was cured of his melancholy disorder for the present:and the evil spirit departed from him: at least for a while; he had his fits and intervals; of the effects of music in a natural way,See Gill on "1Sa 16:16", though no doubt the music of David was more than natural, being attended with the power and blessing of God, in order to raise his fame and credit at court.{r} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 8. sect. 2.)
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.