Passage

1 Samuel 16.7

Book: 1 Samuel · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"5. And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto Jehovah: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah's anointed is before him."

"7. But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart."

"8. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this. 9. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this." (1 Samuel 16:5-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"5. He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. When they had come, he looked at Eliab, and said, “Surely Yahweh’s anointed is before him.”"

"7. But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”"

"8. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one, either.” 9. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one, either.”" (1 Samuel 16:5-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"5. And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. ^{Eliab: called Elihu}"

"7. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. ^{outward: Heb. eyes}"

"8. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this." (1 Samuel 16:5-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"5. and he saith, 'Peace; to sacrifice to Jehovah I have come, sanctify yourselves, and ye have come in with me to the sacrifice;' and he sanctifieth Jesse and his sons, and calleth them to the sacrifice. 6. And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, that he seeth Eliab, and saith, 'Surely, before Jehovah [is] His anointed.'"

"7. And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, 'Look not unto his appearance, and unto the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for [it is] not as man seeth, for man looketh at the eyes, and Jehovah looketh at the heart.'"

"8. And Jesse calleth unto Abinadab, and causeth him to pass by before Samuel; and he saith, 'Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.' 9. And Jesse causeth Shammah to pass by, and he saith, 'Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.'" (1 Samuel 16:5-9, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH, addressing the prophet Samuel
Audience: Samuel (the prophet); the narrative records the divine word for Israel's instruction
Location: Bethlehem, at the house of Jesse during a sacrificial meal
Time period: c. 1025-1020 BC, in the closing decade of Saul's reign

Theological reading

1 Sam 16:7 is the locus classicus of the biblical heart-priority doctrine: God's judgment is on the lebab, not on outer appearance. The narrative context heightens the contrast: Samuel arrives to anoint Saul's successor; he sees Eliab, the firstborn, tall and impressive, and assumes Eliab is the chosen one. YHWH corrects him explicitly. The text repeats the same lesson in narrative form that Saul's own anointing taught and Saul's career undid, Saul was "a choice young man, and goodly... from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people" (1 Sam 9:2), and his outer impressiveness masked an inner failure to remain faithful.

The theological move is double. Positively, it grounds biblical accountability on inner reality: behavior expresses lebab; YHWH examines lebab without being misled by performance (cf. 1 Kgs 8:39; 1 Chr 28:9; Jer 17:10; Ps 139:23). Negatively, it warns against human assessment by outer appearance, physical impressiveness, status, social presentation. The NT inherits this directly: the Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12) reward inner conditions (poor in spirit, pure in heart), Jesus repeatedly criticizes Pharisaical outer-religion ("ye are like unto whited sepulchres", Matt 23:27), and Paul names God as the one who "judgeth the secrets of men" (Rom 2:16). The verse is also a foundational text for the doctrine that true religion is interior, a constant theme from Augustine through the Reformation to evangelical conversionist theology. The shepherd-boy who is chosen here will himself, three decades later, pray "create in me a clean lebab, O God" (Psalms 51.10), the lebab-Anointed will pray for a lebab-cleansing.

Key words

H3824 - lebab, lebab (Strong's H3824). The inner self that YHWH sees and judges, against outer appearance.

Quoted in

Notes

Stub. Promote to rich hub when warranted.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.