1 Samuel 16

Chap. XVI. Ver. 1—23. David anointed, Saul afflicted, and David appointed his musician.—Samuel is commissioned to go and anoint David the son of Jesse to be Saul’s successor; and now, for the first time, we find him hesitate through fear, and that seemingly with little reason; for knowing him to be a prophet of Jehovah, both the king and the people stood in awe of him: the latter so much so, that when they heard of his coming, the elders trembled at his approach, lest he should come with some message of judgment against them; for they knew that whatever he predicted “surely came to pass.” The greatest men have their moments of weakness, and misgivings of heart. Samuel was shown, however, that there was no ground of fear, and directed so to act, that there could be no suspicion.

Samuel accordingly goes to Beth-lehem to sacrifice, and calls Jesse and his sons to the feast, without at all apprizing them of his errand; having collected them all, probably in Jesse’s family tent, he anoints David, the youngest of them, in the midst of his brethren, and after the feast, rose up, and returned to his own house, at Ramah. Should it be asked, What said David’s brethren on this occasion? we cannot tell: but it is probable they would not say much before Samuel; and perhaps at the time might not rightly understand whether the anointing was for the regal or the priestly office; but it might be one ground of their future jealousies. Upon this event we are told, as in the instance of Saul, that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David,”

and in the verse following, that the same Spirit “departed from Saul;” in neither of which instances we are to understand those divine influences that form the heart to piety and religion; but that Spirit which first qualified Saul, and now David, for the new and important office to which each was successively appointed. But what are we to understand by an evil spirit from the Lord? We conceive it means a spirit of melancholy and of jealousy; exciting (as Scott expresses it) “terrors, alarms, and suspicions,” so as to render him “at times distracted,” as we shall see in the subsequent history. We are apt to refer these comut the sacred writers of both the Old and New Testaments particularly to impressions on the nerves, or on the brain; refer every thing of the kind to a supernatural agency; and we shall, at a future opportunity, attempt to explain the scriptural theory on that subject: at present we can only make this general observation:—The sudden change in Saul could not be unobserved by his servants: and as the ancients had a high opinion (and we think justly) of the powers of music, they recommend an appeal to it on this occasion; and one of them, probably a particular friend of his, recommended David as a suitable person to be applied to.

Saul sends messengers therefore to Jesse his father, and the young man is immediately sent to Saul with a present, according to the Eastern custom. David so far succeeds as to afford him present relief from his distressing malady, and is in consequence promoted to be one of his armour-bearers; an office, at this time, probably, more of honour than of duty. Two difficulties here occur. 1. If the malady of Saul was of this nature, what could the power of music do for him? This is best answered, perhaps, by an instance somewhat parallel, though comparatively modern. Charles IX. of France, (one of the most cruel tyrants that ever ascended that throne,) after the massacre of Paris, in the guilt of which he was surely implicated, fell

into a deep melancholy, and a musician was sent for from Italy, who for a time afforded him some relief, though by no means a cure: such was the case with Saul, whose melancholy, originating in his conscience, was beyond the power either of music or of medicine to effect a permanent cure. 2. The other difficulty is chronological. Some think that the verses, from 14 to 23, are here inserted by anticipation, which is not impossible; but as this supposition in removing one difficulty will create others, we think it the safest way to take the history in the order that we find it, and admit David to have had a double introduction to Saul, first as a harper-boy, and, secondly, as the antagonist of Goliath, between which periods we may admit an interium of some few [years]; and as, during this interval, he returned to his father’s house, and to the sheep-folds, we need not wonder at his being forgotten, either by a king partially insane, or by his servants, who [probably] had been repeatedly exchanged during this

Notes on the verses

Chap. XVI. Ver. 1. Fill thy horn.—We know that horns were formerly used to drink out of, and were slung with chains. They were also the usual vessels to carry oil. See (1 Kings 1:39).

Ver. 2. Take a heifer—For the prudent management of the affair, and to avoid suspicion, Samuel was directed to go to Bethlehem to sacrifice, as he probably did from time to time in many different places; and the answer which he was instructed to return, was strictly true, though he did not tell the principal design of his coming; for though no man in any circumstances should ever tell lie, yet, in all circumstances, he is not bound to tell the whole truth, though he must tell nothing but the truth, and so tell that truth that the hearer shall not believe a lie by it.—Bagster.

Ver. 11. Sit down.—Margin, “Sit round.” To sit round a table at meals is still customary in the East, as well as with us.

Ver. 12. He was ruddy.—The ancient versions apply this to David’s hair, and we know that “golden locks,” as they were called, were much esteemed among the ancients; but our translation seems more natural, and the text says nothing of his hair; but the following clause, which in the text is tautological, is given more correctly in the margin—“fair of eyes,” or with beautiful eyes, which, conjoined to a ruddy (or rosy) complexion, must make the lad (for it is agreed he was now under twenty) goodly to look to.

Ver. 14. Evil spirit—The evil spirit was either sent immediately from the Lord, or permitted to come; but whether this was a diabolical possession, or mere mental malady is not agreed: it seems to have partaken of both.

That Saul had fallen into a deep melancholy, there is little doubt; and that an evil spirit might work more effectually on such a state of mind, there can be little question. His malady appears to have been of a mixed kind, natural and diabolical: there is too much of apparent nature in it to permit us to believe it was all spiritual; and there is too much of apparently supernatural influence, to suffer us to believe it was all natural.—Bagster.

Ver. 18. I have seen, &c.—Bishop Warburton thinks this passage, from ver. 14 to 23, is an anticipation. He would place them between ver. 9 and 10 of ch. xviii. which see.

Ver. 23. And so Saul was refreshed.—Now to me it is plain, (says the celebrated Dr. Mead,) that Saul’s disease was a real madness, and of the melancholic or atrabilarious kind, as the old physicians called it; the fits whereof returned on him at uncertain times, as is often the case in this sort of disease; nor could the cause of this disorder be secret, since he had been lately deprived of his kingdom, by the express command of God. The remedy also applied, playing on the harp, was extremely proper; for physicians have long ago taught us, that “soft symphonies of music” are of service in dissipating gloomy, melancholic thoughts.—Mead’s Medica Sacra. Many instances of the power of music have been collected, and a few of them may be found in ‘The Percy Anecdotes’ on Music; but the one above alluded to in the exposition, is the most remarkable.

Orlandus de Lassus, in the Motetts (or hymns) which he composed for that occasion, intermixed a kind of plain song, purposely for the king to take a part. We shall have occasion to remark something like this presently (ch. xviii. 10.) in the case of Saul, who, in one of his fits, “prophesied in the midst of the house, while David accompanied him on the harp,”