1 Samuel 16
Bob Utley · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Samuel 16
Utley - YHWH revealed Himself to humans in several ways. direct revelation (i.e., Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, etc.), dreams (Joseph) visions (Ezekiel and Daniel), Urim and Thummim (priests), His acts and their interpretation Samuel, like the Patriarchs, had a direct encounter with YHWH. (ED: Compare Hebrews 1:1,2+). Since I have rejected (ma'as) him from being king over Israel? - NLT ="You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel." Yahweh repeats His previous immutable decree regarding Saul and tells His prophet that it is time to move on and so He gives him his next assignment. Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons - This word from Yahweh should have encouraged Samuel. Recall God would choose the king for we read in Dt 17:15+ "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses." Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ru 4:17, 22+) and was in the line of the Messiah (see Jesse's family tree below).
1 Samuel 16
Utley on heifer - This referred to a young female cow which had not yet had a calf. Heifers were never used for burnt offerings or sin offerings (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 320), so this must have been a peace offering (selem/shelem) and involved a communal meal. (ED: For more on Peace Offerings see comments on Leviticus 3). Walter Kaiser - go to page 182 in Hard Sayings of the Bible for discussion of 1 Samuel 16:3 Does God Authorize Deception? - See page 182 in Hard Sayings of the Bible On the face of it, God appears to be telling Samuel to lie or, at the very least, to be deceptive. Is this an indication that under certain circumstances God approves of lying in order to accomplish some higher good? It is always wrong to tell a lie. Never does the Scripture give us grounds for telling either a lie or a half-truth. The reason for this is because God is true and his nature is truth itself. Anything less than this is a denial of him as God. But what about the divine advice given to Samuel in this text when he objects to anointing David when Saul was already so jealous that he would kill the prophet Samuel should he be so presumptuous as to anoint someone else in his place? Is God’s advice a mere “pretext” as some commentators conclude? Or is it tacit approval for persons in a tight spot to lie? The most important word in this connection is the word how. Samuel did not question whether he should go or even if he should anoint the one God had in mind; he just wanted to know how such a feat could be carried out. The divine answer was that he was to take a sacrifice and that would serve as a legitimate answer to Saul, or any other inquirer, as to what he was doing in those parts, so obviously out of his regular circuit of places to minister. He was there to offer a sacrifice. Should Saul have encountered Samuel and asked him what he was doing in those parts at that time, Samuel could correctly answer, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” Some will complain that this is a half-truth. And isn’t a half-truth the same as speaking or acting out a lie? It is at this point where the discussion of John Murray is so helpful.
1 Samuel 16
Utley - It is surprising to me that music calmed Saul, but this was an ANE and Greek thought (cf. 1 Sam. 10:5). Music could summon a good spirit or help with an evil spirit. Obviously this is mental illness, not an evil spirit. At this point in my discussion of Saul's illness, let me reaffirm my belief in the demonic. I wish we had more biblical information on this subject.