Discovery Box1 Samuel 16:6-10 
Context16:6 When they arrived, Samuel 1 noticed 2 Eliab and said to himself, 3 “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” 4 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by 5 his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. 6 People look on the outward appearance, 7 but the Lord looks at the heart.”
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. 8 But Samuel 9 said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” 16:9 Then Jesse presented 10 Shammah. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. 11 But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “saw.”
3 tn Heb “said”; the words “to himself” are implied, given the secrecy surrounding Samuel’s mission to Bethlehem (v. 2).
4 tn Heb “his anointed one.”
5 tn Heb “don’t look toward.”
6 tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.
7 tn Heb “to the eyes.”
8 tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”
9 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “caused to pass by.”
11 tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.
