John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 16:4

"And Samuel did that which Jehovah spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Comest thou peaceably?" — 1 Samuel 16:4 (ASV)

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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