And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
Eliab his oldest brother heard ... and Eliab's anger was kindled against David. The language of Eliab is very churlish, and shows very clearly that he spoke, not under the influence of sudden and momentary irritation, but of a settled dislike and rooted jealousy.
With whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? David himself was young, and he may have had to commit his flock to the care of one younger than himself. In the East, particularly among the Arab nomads, when the warriors of a tribe are engaged in distant forays, or in war, their tents and flocks are frequently left to the care of a mere child. Whilst the child in a civilized country is still under the care of its nurse, the Bedouin boy is compelled to exercise his highest faculties; and on his prudence or sagacity may sometimes depend the safety of his tribe.
I know thy pride, х zªdonªkaa (H2087)] - thy insolence, from a root signifying to boil over as water; and the reference seems to have been to the proud, ambitious aspirations of David, as indicated by the prevailing tenor of his words and actions. [The Septuagint, teen hupereefanian sou, thy excessive pride.]
And the naughtiness of thine heart, х wª'eet (H853) roa` (H7455) lªbaabekaa (H3824); Septuagint, And the naughtiness of thine heart, х wª'eet (H853) roa` (H7455) lªbaabekaa (H3824); Septuagint, kai teen kakian tees kardias] - and the evil or perversity of thy heart.
For thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. Under his jaundiced impressions, this oldest brother misconstrued the demonstrations of joy which David testified on learning that his brothers were well, alleging that the real object of David's journey to the camp was to see the battle. 'Such an idea,' as Kitto well remarks, 'could not have occurred to him, had not the warlike tastes of David already been well known to his family. It is more than probable, from this and other circumstances, that he had already wished to join in the first instance with his brothers, but had not been allowed by his friends to do so. But this is hardly sufficient to account for the expressions of Eliab, which must have been founded on wider experience; and to those who have studied the character of David it will appear almost certain that he had often been led to speak of his desire to see Israel rid of the oppressors who had laid her honour in the dust, and of his hope to take some part in the great work of rending the Philistine yoke from her fair neck' (Journal of Sacred Literature, July, 1848).