Lives of Scripture

Abinadab was Jesse's second son, David's older brother (1 Chronicles 2:13). When Samuel came to Bethlehem to anoint Israel's next king at God's command, Jesse presented his sons one by one, beginning with the eldest, Eliab. Abinadab passed before Samuel next, and like Eliab, was rejected: "the LORD has not chosen him" (1 Samuel 16:8). It was in this moment that God gave Samuel His now-famous instruction: "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (16:7). Abinadab reappears later serving with his eldest brother Eliab and third brother Shammah in Saul's army, encamped against the Philistines in the Valley of Elah during the standoff with Goliath -- the same campaign their youngest brother David visited bringing supplies, and where David killed the giant while Abinadab and the rest of Israel's soldiers had been too afraid to fight (17:13-14, 17:24). Abinadab himself performs no recorded action beyond standing in the ranks; Scripture uses him chiefly as a foil, the passed-over older brother against whom David's unlikely selection and courage are measured.