16:6 When they arrived, Samuel 1 noticed 2 Eliab and said to himself, 3 “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” 4 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by 5 his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. 6 People look on the outward appearance, 7 but the Lord looks at the heart.”
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. 8 But Samuel 9 said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” 16:9 Then Jesse presented 10 Shammah. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. 11 But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 16:11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse 12 replied, “There is still the youngest one, but he’s taking care of the flock.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we cannot turn our attention to other things until he comes here.”
16:12 So Jesse had him brought in. 13 Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!”
13:11 I granted 14 you a king in my anger,
and I will take him away in my wrath!
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “saw.”
3 tn Heb “said”; the words “to himself” are implied, given the secrecy surrounding Samuel’s mission to Bethlehem (v. 2).
4 tn Heb “his anointed one.”
5 tn Heb “don’t look toward.”
6 tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.
7 tn Heb “to the eyes.”
8 tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”
9 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “caused to pass by.”
11 tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jesse) has been specified in the translation both here and in v. 12 for clarity.
13 tn Heb “and he sent and brought him.”
14 tn The prefix-conjugation verb אֶתֶּן (’eten, “I gave”) refers to past-time action, specifying a definite past event (the enthronement of Saul); therefore, this should be classified as a preterite. While imperfects are occasionally used in reference to past-time events, they depict repeated action in the past. See IBHS 502-4 §31.2 and 510-14 §31.6.