It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him.
"Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel"  (1 Samuel 16:8).  Everything in this passage indicates the secrecy of the proceedings.  Each son who came before Samuel had to be "called," which, in context, probably means "sent for," just as David was.  Furthermore, the statement in  1 Samuel 16:13 that David was anointed "in the midst of his brethren" could not mean that all of his brothers witnessed the anointing, but that he was chosen from "the midst of his brethren," just as Moses had promised with reference to the Messiah that God would raise him up from "the midst of thee and of thy brethren"  (Deuteronomy 18:15 AV).  As Willis said, "There is no indication in this text, nor even in  1 Samuel 16:13, that the elders, Jesse, or Jesse's seven eldest sons realized the primary purpose of Samuel's visit."[5]  It was exactly like it was when Saul was anointed, not even the members of his family knew of it at first.  In this anointing of David, "Even David's brothers knew nothing about the meaning and object of the anointing."[6]