1 Samuel 16:3

1Sa 16:3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me [him] whom I name unto thee.

Ver. 3. And call Jesse to the sacrifice.] Who was grandchild to Ruth the Moabitess, {Rth 4:22} now grown a great lady in Bethlehem, great-grandmother to the king of Israel. So little is there lost by adhering to God and his people.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 16:3-4. Call Jesse to the sacrifice — To the feast upon the sacrifice, to which they might invite their neighbours and friends. The elders trembled at his coming — Because it was strange and unexpected to them, this being but an obscure town, and remote from Samuel, and therefore they justly thought there was some extraordinary reason for it. They might fear lest he came to denounce some judgment against them, or to shun Saul’s displeasure, in which case it might have been dangerous for them to entertain him. Peaceably — The Hebrew phrase, Comest thou in peace? was as much as to say, (in our phrase,) Is all well?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

call Jesse to the sacrifice--that is, the social feast that followed the peace offering. Samuel, being the offerer, had a right to invite any guest he pleased.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Call Jesse to the sacrifice] The common custom was, after the blood of the victim had been poured out to God, and the fat burnt, to feast on the flesh of the sacrifice. This appears to have been the case in all, except in the whole burnt-offering; this was entirely consumed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) And thou shalt anoint.—From very early times the ceremony of anointing to important offices was customary among the Hebrews. In the first instance, all the priests were anointed (Exo_40:15; Num_3:3), but afterwards anointing seems to have been reserved especially for the high priest (Exo_29:29). Prophets also seem occasionally to have been anointed to their holy office. Anointing, however, was the principal ceremony in the inauguration of the Hebrew kings. It belonged in so especial a manner to the royal functions that the favourite designation for the king in Israel was “the Lord’s anointed.” In the case of David, the ceremony of anointing was performed three times—(1) on this occasion by Samuel, when the boy was set apart for the service of the Lord; (2) when appointed king over Judah at Hebron (2Sa_2:4); (3) when chosen as monarch over all Israel (2Sa_5:3). All these official personages, the priest, the prophet, and peculiarly the king, were types of the great expected Deliverer, ever known as the “Messiah,” “the Christ,” “the Anointed One.”

Wordsworth curiously considers these three successive unctions of David figurative of the successive unctions of Christ: conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin’s womb; then anointed publicly at his baptism; and finally, set at God’s right hand as King of the Universal Church in the heavenly Jerusalem.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 thee what thou shall do; when Jesse and his family were with him:

and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee; 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Sacrifice, to partake of the feast, (Menochius) which must be consumed in two days, or thrown into the fire, Leviticus vii. 16. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Call Jesse to the sacrifice, i.e. invite him to the feast, which, after the manner, was made of the flesh of the sacrifice; and it belonged to Samuel, as the offerer of the sacrifice, to invite whom he pleased.

Whom I name, i.e. whom I shall describe, as it were, by name.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 3-5. Call Jesse to the sacrifice. The word used is zebach, and means a sacrifice followed by a feast, at which all the elders of the town, and with them Jesse and his elder sons, would be present by the prophet"s invitation. It is plain that such sacrifices were not unusual, or Saul would have demanded a reason for Samuel"s conduct. As the ark remained so long in obscurity at Kirjath-jearim, and the solemn services of the tabernacle were not restored until Saul at some period of his reign removed it to Nob, possibly Samuel may have instituted this practice of occasionally holding sacrifices, now at one place and now at another, to keep alive a sense of religion in the hearts of the people; and probably on such occasions he taught them the great truths of the law, thus combining in his person the offices of prophet and priest. Nevertheless, the elders of the town trembled at his coming. More literally, "went with trembling to meet him." Very probably such visitations often took place because some crime had been committed into which Samuel wished to inquire, or because the people had been negligent in some duty. And though conscious of no such fault, yet at the coming of one of such high rank their minds foreboded evil. He quiets, however, their fears and bids them sanctify themselves; i.e. they were to wash and purify themselves, and abstain from everything unclean, and put on their festal garments. (Exo_19:10; and comp. 1Sa_21:5) It is added, He sanctified Jesse and his sons, i.e. he took especial care that no legal impurity on their part should stand in the way of the execution of his errand.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.