שמואל א, פרק ט״ז, פסוק י׳

The dramatic selection of a new king reaches its climax as Jesse’s sons pass before the prophet one by one, yet none are chosen. Jesse presents seven of his sons, but the prophet informs him that God has not selected any of them. This makes it clear that David, who has not yet been brought forward, is actually the eighth son [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The specific count of seven sons presented at this moment creates a historical puzzle, as the genealogical records in the book of Chronicles list David as the seventh and final son. To resolve this contradiction, it is explained that Jesse did indeed have eight sons, a fact explicitly confirmed later in the book of Samuel. The additional son, who is missing from the later records, is named Elihu.

Elihu was likely left out of the later genealogy because he was born to a different mother. The sisters of the family, Zeruiah and Abigail, shared a mother with the seven other brothers but were fathered by a man named Nahash. Consequently, they were not related to Elihu at all. Because the genealogical records list the sons alongside their sisters, Elihu, lacking this maternal connection, was omitted. However, an alternative tradition argues that Nahash was not a different man, but rather another name for Jesse himself [מצודת דוד].

A subtle linguistic parallel connects this moment of rejection to another famous event in David's life. The specific phrasing used to declare that God has not chosen "these" sons appears only one other time in the entire Bible. It emerges again just before David faces Goliath, when he attempts to wear King Saul's armor but ultimately rejects it, declaring that he cannot walk in "these" [רד״ק, מנחת שי].