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, 1 Chronicles 2:13, called Elihu, 1 Chronicles 27:18
and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before him; or this is the person it is his pleasure should be anointed king.