1 Samuel 16 in the early church
[LXX: 1 Kingdoms; Vulgate: 1 Kings]
144 passages quote, allude to, or echo 1 Samuel 16, grouped by verse; passages on the same verse are in date order. Verse text from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References use the Protestant English Bible's numbering, with a writer's own numbering in brackets where it differs.
Verses: 1 · 2 · 6 · 7 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 23
1 Samuel 16:1
Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:1–13 | Demonstration 14.27 · Aphrahat | allusion, high confidence | 337-345 |
| 1 Sam 16:1–2 | On Saint Athanasius 1.13 · Lucifer of Cagliari | quotation, high confidence | ca. 356–361 |
| 1 Sam 16:1 | On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 4 · Lucifer of Cagliari | quotation, high confidence | ca. 356–361 |
| 1 Sam 16:1–13 | Psalm 151 · Apollinaris of Laodicea | allusion, high confidence | uncertain (fourth to sixth century) |
| 1 Sam 16:1 | To Theodosius on the Witch of Endor, part 1 · Gregory of Nyssa | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 380–394 |
| 1 Sam 16:1 | Homilies on Matthew 5.4 · John Chrysostom | quotation, high confidence | ca. 390 |
| 1 Sam 16:1 | Against Faustus the Manichaean 12.33 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 398–400 |
| 1 Sam 16:1–13 | City of God 16.24 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, medium confidence | 413–426 |
1 Samuel 16:2
“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!” The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:2 | On Elkanah and Hannah, fragment 1 · Hippolytus of Rome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 200–235 |
1 Samuel 16:6
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:6 | The Instructor 3.2.12 · Clement of Alexandria | allusion, high confidence | ca. 190–200 |
| 1 Sam 16:6–7 | Demonstration 14.29 · Aphrahat | quotation, high confidence | 337-345 |
| 1 Sam 16:6–13 | Tractates on the Psalms 118.18.6 · Hilary of Poitiers | quotation, high confidence | ca. 360–367 |
| 1 Sam 16:6 | Letter 36.15 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Sentences of Sextus 426 · Anonymous | echo, low confidence | 2nd-early 3rd cent. |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | The Instructor 3.2.12 · Clement of Alexandria | quotation, high confidence | ca. 190–200 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Against Heresies 4.26.3 · Irenaeus of Lyons | echo, medium confidence | ca. 180–190 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | On the Dress of Women 2.13 · Tertullian | echo, medium confidence | ca. 197–206 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | On Prayer 17 · Tertullian | echo, medium confidence | ca. 198–206 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Prescription against Heretics 3 · Tertullian | quotation, high confidence | ca. 203 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Commentary on John 19.52 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 230–248 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | On Prayer 16.1 · Origen | echo, low confidence | ca. 233–234 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Homilies on Numbers 10.2 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Commentary on Romans 4.1 · Origen | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | To Quirinus 3.56 · Cyprian of Carthage | quotation, high confidence | ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 55.18 · Cyprian of Carthage | echo, medium confidence | 249/250–258 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | On the Lapsed 27 · Cyprian of Carthage | quotation, high confidence | 251 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Against the Nations 4.30 · Arnobius of Sicca | echo, low confidence | ca. 297–303 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Divine Institutes 4.17.17 · Lactantius | echo, medium confidence | ca. 303–311 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Catechetical Lecture 0.7 · Cyril of Jerusalem | echo, low confidence | ca. 350 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Oration 4.28 · Gregory of Nazianzus | allusion, high confidence | ca. 362–383 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Oration 36.7 · Gregory of Nazianzus | quotation, high confidence | ca. 362–383 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Oration 40.26 · Gregory of Nazianzus | quotation, high confidence | ca. 362–383 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Tractates 1.7.2 · Zeno of Verona | quotation, high confidence | ca. 362-380 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Question 18, section 1 · Ambrosiaster | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–384 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Question 126, section 9 · Ambrosiaster | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 370–384 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 22.38 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 36.15 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 125.19 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 133.2 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letter 140.11 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | On Noah 37 · Ambrose | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 378-384 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 36 · Faustinus | echo, low confidence | ca. 383–384 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Homilies on Matthew 29.1 · John Chrysostom | quotation, high confidence | ca. 390 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Hexameron (Exameron) 2.3 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 387-390 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Sermon 291.5 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 391-430 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Poem 14, lines 1–35 (XIIII) · Paulinus of Nola | echo, medium confidence | ca. 393–431 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Tractates 11 · Gaudentius of Brescia | quotation, high confidence | ca. 397-410 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Letters 1.6 · Anastasius I | quotation, high confidence | ca. 400-402 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Commentary on Jeremiah 3.15 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 414-419 |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | Carmina 5.147–176 · Orientius of Auch | echo, low confidence | 5th-6th century(?) |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | The Conferences 17.17 · John Cassian | echo, medium confidence | ca. 426–429 |
1 Samuel 16:10
Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:10–11 | Against Heresies 1.18.3 · Irenaeus of Lyons | allusion, high confidence | ca. 180–190 |
| 1 Sam 16:10 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.16.6 · Epiphanius of Salamis | allusion, medium confidence | 374-377 |
1 Samuel 16:11
And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:11 | On the Incarnation 35.8 · Athanasius of Alexandria | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 318–325 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Tractates on the Psalms 130.3 · Hilary of Poitiers | allusion, high confidence | ca. 360–367 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Oration 2.41 · Gregory of Nazianzus | allusion, high confidence | ca. 362–383 |
| 1 Sam 16:11–13 | Tractates 1.7.4 · Zeno of Verona | allusion, high confidence | ca. 362-380 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Homilies 23.2 · Basil of Caesarea | allusion, high confidence | ca. 363-378 |
| 1 Sam 16:11–13 | Epigram 1 · Damasus I of Rome | allusion, high confidence | 366–384 |
| 1 Sam 16:11–13 | 6.1 · Asterius of Amasea | allusion, high confidence | ca. 380-410 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Exposition of Psalm 118 18.24.1 · Ambrose | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386-397 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Letter 138.19 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| 1 Sam 16:11 | Homilies on Matthew 48.1 · John Chrysostom | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 390 |
| 1 Sam 16:11–13 | Part 2, chapter 25 · Quodvultdeus of Carthage | allusion, high confidence | ca. 445-450 |
1 Samuel 16:12
So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:12 | Eclogae on 1 Kingdoms, column 993 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| 1 Sam 16:12 | Life of Antony 67 · Athanasius of Alexandria | allusion, high confidence | ca. 357–360 |
| 1 Sam 16:12 | Liber Orsiesii 52 · Orsiesius | quotation, high confidence | ca. 380-390 |
| 1 Sam 16:12–13 | Book of Heresies 120.4 · Philastrius of Brescia | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 380s |
1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:14
Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.
1 Samuel 16:23
And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.