1 Samuel 16:7

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵ֗ל אַל־תַּבֵּ֧ט אֶל־מַרְאֵ֛הוּ וְאֶל־גְּבֹ֥הַּ קוֹמָת֖וֹ כִּ֣י מְאַסְתִּ֑יהוּ כִּ֣י ׀ לֹ֗א אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִרְאֶה֙ הָאָדָ֔ם כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ יִרְאֶ֣ה לַעֵינַ֔יִם וַיהוָ֖ה יִרְאֶ֥ה לַלֵּבָֽב׃

Transliteration

And wə-yōʾmer Yəhwāh to Šəmûʾēl, "Do not tabbēṭ at his marʾēhû and at the gəbōah of his qômātô, for I have məʾastîhû. For not as yirʾeh hāʾādām, for hāʾādām yirʾeh to the lāʿênayim, but Yəhwāh yirʾeh to the lallēbāb."

Grammar Details

• *wə-yōʾmer*: waw consecutive + Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *Yəhwāh*: proper noun, divine name - LORD/YHWH
• *Šəmûʾēl*: proper noun - Samuel
• *tabbēṭ*: Hiphil imperfect, 2nd masculine singular jussive - look at/regard
• *marʾēhû*: noun, masculine singular construct + 3rd masculine singular suffix - his appearance
• *gəbōah*: adjective, masculine singular - height/tallness
• *qômātô*: noun, feminine singular construct + 3rd masculine singular suffix - his stature
• *məʾastîhû*: Qal perfect, 1st singular + 3rd masculine singular suffix - I have rejected him
• *yirʾeh*: Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he sees
• *hāʾādām*: definite article + noun, masculine singular - the man/human
• *lāʿênayim*: preposition + definite article + noun, feminine dual - to the eyes
• *lallēbāb*: preposition + definite article + noun, masculine singular - to the heart

Word Meanings

• *tabbēṭ*: look at/regard/consider
• *marʾēhû*: his appearance/his form/what is visible of him
• *gəbōah*: height/tallness/elevation
• *lallēbāb*: heart/mind/inner being

Referenced Verses

• John 7:24 : 24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
• Jer 17:10 : 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
• Luke 16:15 : 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
• Isa 55:8-9 : 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
• 1 Chr 28:9 : 9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
• 1 Kgs 8:39 : 39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest;(for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
• Ps 147:10-11 : 10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
• Prov 16:2 : 2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
• 1 Pet 3:4 : 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
• Prov 31:30 : 30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
• Jer 20:12 : 12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
• 1 Pet 2:4 : 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
• 1 Sam 10:23-24 : 23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
• 2 Chr 16:9 : 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
• Ps 7:9 : 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
• Ps 139:2 : 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
• Prov 15:11 : 11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
• Acts 1:24 : 24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
• 2 Cor 10:7 : 7 Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.
• 2 Cor 10:10 : 10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
• Heb 4:13 : 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
• Rev 2:23 : 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
• Job 10:4 : 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
• 2 Sam 14:25 : 25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
• 1 Sam 9:2 : 2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
• Jer 11:20 : 20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.