John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 16

And the Lord said unto Samuel
In a vision or dream, or by an articulate voice: how long will you mourn for Saul? he does not blame him for mourning, but for mourning so long; but how long that was cannot be said; and though his affection for him might cause him to indulge to it, yet it was in vain, seeing the sentence was irreversible:

seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel ?
that is, his posterity; for he himself reigned as long as he lived, though in a very inglorious manner:

fill your horn with oil ;
with common oil; for that this was the holy anointing oil kept in the tabernacle, as the Jewish writers generally suppose, with which they say David and Solomon, and the kings of Judah, were anointed, there is no reason to believe; since the tabernacle, where this oil was, was at a distance from Samuel, and which seems to have been only for the anointing of the priests. This was not a phial he was bid to take, as when he anointed Saul; but an horn, denoting the abundance of gifts bestowed on David, and the firmness and duration of his kingdom:

and go, and I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite ;
the son of Obed, whom Boaz begat of Ruth the Moabitess, (Ruth 4:21Ruth 4:22)

for I have provided me a king among his sons ;
but which he says not; this was reserved for an later discovery; however God had in his own mind picked him, whom he would hereafter make known; this was a king for himself, raised up to fulfil his will; Saul was chosen by him, but then it was at the request of the people, and so he was rather their king than his; but this was not at their desire, nor with their knowledge, but of his own good will and pleasure; the one was given in wrath, and the other in love; the one was to the rejection of God as King, the other to the rejection of Saul by the will of God.

And Samuel said, how can I go ?
&c.] Which argues weakness of faith in Samuel, and fear of man, and a diffidence in and distrust of divine power; for otherwise he that sent him on such an errand could protect him:

if Saul hear it, he will kill me ;
should hear that Samuel went and anointed another king, it would so enrage him, that he would either immediately lay hands on him, and put him to death, or order him to be put to death; and indeed were it not that this was done by the command of God, he would deserve to die; it being an overt act of treason to anoint another king:

and the Lord said, take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to
sacrifice to the Lord ;
a peace offering, which might be done any where in those unsettled times, the ark being at one place, and the tabernacle at another; and might be offered upon a private altar, and by a private person; and as it seems Samuel used to sacrifice at different places; see (1 Samuel 7:9) (11:15) . Ben Gersom relates it as the sense of one of their Rabbins in his age, that there was a person slain in those parts, not known by whom he was slain; and so Samuel is ordered to take an heifer to fulfil the law in (Deuteronomy 21:1–9) and therefore Saul would make no inquiry into his reason of going thither with an heifer, and this is commended both by him and Abarbinel.

And call Jesse to the sacrifice His family, both him and his sons, to partake of the peace offerings; as every offerer had a right to invite his friends, and whomsoever he pleased, to eat of those parts of them which belonged to him, as a feast before the Lord:

and I will show you what you will do ; when Jesse and his family were with him:

and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you ; that is, anoint him to be king over Israel, whom he should point out so plainly to him, as if he called him by name.

And Samuel did that which the Lord spoke
He filled a horn of oil, and took an heifer with him:

and came to Bethlehem ;
where Jesse and his family lived, which, according to Bunting ^F25 , was sixteen miles from Ramah; though it could hardly be so much, since Ramah was six miles from Jerusalem on one side, as Bethlehem lay six miles from it on the other ^F26 ;

and the elders of the town trembled at his coming ;
for he being now an old man, and seldom went abroad, they concluded it must be something very extraordinary that brought him thither; and they might fear that as he was a prophet of the Lord, that he was come to reprove them, or denounce some judgment upon them for their sins.

The Targum is, ``the elders of the city gathered together to meet him;'' out of respect and in honour to him, and to the same sense Jarchi's note is, ``they hasted to go out to meet him''; see (Hosea 11:11)

and, said, do you come peaceably ?
the word "said" is singular; one of the elders put this question, the chiefest of them, perhaps Jesse;

and the meaning of it is, whether he came with ill news and bad tidings, or as displeased with them himself on some account or another; or with a message from God, as displeased with them; or whether he came there for his own peace and safety, to be sheltered from Saul; and which, if that was the case, might not be for their peace and good; but would draw upon them the wrath and vengeance of Saul; for they doubtless knew that there was a variance, at least a shyness, between Saul and Samuel.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Travels of the Patriarchs p. 125.
• F26: Vid. Hieron. de loc. Heb. fol. 89. F. & 94. B.

And he said, peaceably I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord ,
&c.] Which he could say with truth, it being one end of his coming, though not the only one for which he came, and which he was not obliged to tell:

sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice ;
prepare themselves for it, which was done by washing their garments and then attend with him, and assist him in the sacrifice:

and he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice ;
he ordered them to sanctify themselves; he distinguished them from the rest of the inhabitants, and invited them to partake of the feast, the remainder of the peace offerings.