1 Samuel 16:2

King James Version (KJV)

And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

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.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole 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.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

It appears that Saul was grown very wicked. Of what would he not be guilty, who durst think to kill Samuel? The elders of Bethlehem trembled at Samuel's coming. It becomes us to stand in awe of God's messengers, and to tremble at his word. His answer was, I come peaceably, for I come to sacrifice. When our Lord Jesus came into the world, though men had reason to fear that his errand was to condemn the world, yet he gave full assurance that he came peaceably, for he came to sacrifice, and he brought his offering with him; A body hast thou prepared me. Let us sanctify ourselves, and depend upon His sacrifice.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

2. Take an heifer. It was entirely natural and proper for the prophet to visit Bethlehem to make a sacrifice. The ark was still at Kirjath-jearim. It is known that the sanctuary was in Nob during at least a portion of Saul’s reign (ch. 21:1-6), but we are not told whether the yearly feasts were held there as they had been in Shiloh. Since the cessation of sacrificial offerings at Shiloh, these had been conducted at various cities throughout the land (PP 609). At such sacrificial gatherings the prophet would instruct the people concerning the great plan of salvation and would encourage them to send their young men to the various schools of the prophets, in order to raise the intellectual and spiritual tone of the nation. The king would thus have no question about Samuel’s visiting Bethlehem. So far as the people were concerned, it was a routine ministration by the prophet, similar to a district meeting today.

Say, I am come to sacrifice. It was not in the public interest that the act of anointing David be known at once. Was not Saul’s anointing conducted in much the same way? Did the 30 elders who then responded to the invitation to attend the feast know why Samuel had given Saul the seat of honor? They were not present while Samuel and Saul communed together after the feast (ch. 9:25). Neither they nor even Saul’s servant witnessed the early morning anointing (chs. 9:27 to 10:1). Nor did Saul’s family learn of the anointing until the time of the Mizpah meeting for selecting a king (ch. 10:20-27). The anointing of Saul was to him a declaration of God’s plan for his life. He was invited, but not compelled, to accept God’s summons. Such anointing gave him no license to initiate action to bring about his actual installation, publicly, as king. The record shows clearly that even after his selection at Mizpah, Saul returned to his home and waited for the Lord to lead in the next move.

The only difference between Samuel’s anointing of Saul and his trip to Jesse’s home was that at this time there was already a king, suspicious of every move the prophet made since he had announced the Lord’s rejection of Saul. This sensitiveness was no doubt greatly increased by Samuel’s hesitancy to join his king in worship. There may have been a considerable interval of time between chs. 15 and 16.

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Ellen G. White
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 43-4

As a church, as individuals, if we would stand clear in the judgment, we must make more liberal efforts for the training of our young people, that they may be better fitted for the various branches of the great work committed to our hands. We should lay wise plans, in order that the ingenious minds of those who have talent may be strengthened and disciplined, and polished after the highest order, that the work of Christ may not be hindered for lack of skillful laborers, who will do their work with earnestness and fidelity. CT 43.1

The church is asleep, and does not realize the magnitude of this matter of educating the children and youth. “Why,” one says, “what is the need of being so particular to educate our youth thoroughly? It seems to me that if you take a few who have decided to follow a literary calling or some other calling that requires a certain discipline, and give due attention to them, that is all that is necessary. It is not required that the whole mass of our youth be so well trained. Will not this answer every essential requirement?” CT 43.2

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Ellen G. White
Education, 266

The elder brothers, from whom Samuel would have chosen, did not possess the qualifications that God saw to be essential in a ruler of His people. Proud, self-centered, self-confident, they were set aside for the one whom they lightly regarded, one who had preserved the simplicity and sincerity of his youth, and who, while little in his own sight, could be trained by God for the responsibilities of the kingdom. So today, in many a child whom the parents would pass by, God sees capabilities far above those revealed by others who are thought to possess great promise. Ed 266.1

And as regards life's possibilities, who is capable of deciding what is great and what is small? How many a worker in the lowly places of life, by setting on foot agencies for the blessing of the world, has achieved results that kings might envy! Ed 266.2

Let every child, then, receive an education for the highest service. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that,” Ecclesiastes 11:6, R.V. Ed 266.3

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Ellen G. White
Patriarchs and Prophets, 592

The Lord Himself directed the education of Israel. His care was not restricted to their religious interests; whatever affected their mental or physical well-being was also the subject of divine providence, and came within the sphere of divine law. PP 592.1

God had commanded the Hebrews to teach their children His requirements and to make them acquainted with all His dealings with their fathers. This was one of the special duties of every parent—one that was not to be delegated to another. In the place of stranger lips the loving hearts of the father and mother were to give instruction to their children. Thoughts of God were to be associated with all the events of daily life. The mighty works of God in the deliverance of His people and the promises of the Redeemer to come were to be often recounted in the homes of Israel; and the use of figures and symbols caused the lessons given to be more firmly fixed in the memory. The great truths of God's providence and of the future life were impressed on the young mind. It was trained to see God alike in the scenes of nature and the words of revelation. The stars of heaven, the trees and flowers of the field, the lofty mountains, the rippling brooks—all spoke of the Creator. The solemn service of sacrifice and worship at the sanctuary and the utterances of the prophets were a revelation of God. PP 592.2

Such was the training of Moses in the lowly cabin home in Goshen; of Samuel, by the faithful Hannah; of David, in the hill dwelling at Bethlehem; of Daniel, before the scenes of the captivity separated him from the home of his fathers. Such, too, was the early life of Christ at Nazareth; such the training by which the child Timothy learned from the lips of his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15), the truths of Holy Writ. PP 592.3

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Ellen G. White
Patriarchs and Prophets, 637-42

This chapter is based on 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

A few miles south of Jerusalem, “the city of the great King,” is Bethlehem, where David, the son of Jesse, was born more than a thousand years before the infant Jesus was cradled in the manger and worshiped by the Wise Men from the East. Centuries before the advent of the Saviour, David, in the freshness of boyhood, kept watch of his flocks as they grazed on the hills surrounding Bethlehem. The simple shepherd boy sang the songs of his own composing, and the music of his harp made a sweet accompaniment to the melody of his fresh young voice. The Lord had chosen David, and was preparing him, in his solitary life with his flocks, for the work He designed to commit to his trust in after years. PP 637.1

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Cross References

How can I go