When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”
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 it came to pass, when they were come,.... Jesse and his sons, into the house where the entertainment was; and perhaps before they sat down, went into a private apartment by the direction of Samuel, where he acquainted Jesse with the business he came upon: that he looked on Eliab; who was Jesse's firstborn, Ch1 2:13, called Elihu, Ch1 27:18.
Samuel said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him--Here Samuel, in consequence of taking his impressions from the external appearance, falls into the same error as formerly (Sa1 10:24).