Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
If the sons of Jesse were told that God would provide himself a king among them (as he had said, Sa1 16:1), we may well suppose they all made the best appearance they could, and each hoped he should be the man; but here we are told, I. How all the elder sons, who stood fairest for the preferment, were passed by. 1.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 16:6-13
And Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy children?.... For neither of these being the person God would have anointed king, and yet it was one of Jesse's sons that was to be anointed, he concluded he must have more, at least one more, and therefore puts this question to him: and he said, there remaineth yet the youngest; or, "the little one" (c)...
HE ANOINTS DAVID. (Sa1 16:11-14) There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep--Jesse having evidently no idea of David's wisdom and bravery, spoke of him as the most unfit. God, in His providence, so ordered it, that the appointment of David might the more clearly appear to be a divine purpose, and not the design either of Samuel or Jesse.