the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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1 Samuel 16:2
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedContextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
How can I go: Exodus 3:11, 1 Kings 18:9-14, Matthew 10:16, Luke 1:34
Take an 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 tell a 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.
with thee: Heb. in thine hand, 1 Samuel 9:12
I am come: 1 Samuel 9:12, 1 Samuel 20:29, Jeremiah 38:26, Jeremiah 38:27
Reciprocal: Genesis 34:30 - and I shall Leviticus 17:8 - that offereth 1 Samuel 7:9 - a sucking 1 Samuel 20:6 - sacrifice 2 Samuel 15:7 - pay 2 Samuel 15:8 - thy servant 2 Kings 9:3 - and flee Matthew 2:22 - he was Acts 9:13 - Lord
Cross-References
The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
And the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate."
The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."
And Adam said: The woman whom thou gauest [to be] with me, she gaue me of the tree, and I dyd eate.
The man said, "The woman you put here with me gave me fruit from that tree. So I ate it."
The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
And Adam seide, The womman which thou yauest felowe to me, yaf me of the tre, and Y eet.
And the man said, The woman whom thou gauest to be with mee, shee gaue me of the tree, and I did eate.
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Samuel said, how can I go?.... 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. 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 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.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
It was the purpose of God that David should be anointed at this time as Saul’s successor, and as the ancestor and the type of His Christ. It was not the purpose of God that Samuel should stir up a civil war, by setting up David as Saul’s rival. Secrecy, therefore, was a necessary part of the transaction. But secrecy and concealment are not the same as duplicity and falsehood. Concealment of a good purpose, for a good purpose, is clearly justifiable. There is therefore nothing in the least inconsistent with truth in the occurrence here related. Compare Exodus 7:16; Exodus 8:1; Exodus 9:13.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Samuel 16:2. Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice — This was strictly true; Samuel did offer a sacrifice; and it does not appear that he could have done the work which God designed, unless he had offered this sacrifice, and called the elders of the people together, and thus collected Jesse's sons. But he did not tell the principal design of his coming; had he done so, it would have produced evil and no good: and though no man, in any circumstances, should ever tell a lie, yet in all circumstances he is not obliged to tell the whole truth, though in every circumstance he must tell nothing but the truth, and in every case so tell the truth that the hearer shall not believe a lie by it.
