1 Samuel 16:1

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ¹  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ²  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ³ 

1 Samuel 18:7-8

18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands!”

18:8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, ⁴  “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?”

1 Samuel 29:5

29:5 Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ⁵ 

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’?”

¹ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

³ tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

⁴ tn Heb “said.” So also in vv. 11, 17.

⁵ tn Heb “in dances.”