Directing his words to David, Eliab said: “Why is it that you have come down? And in whose charge did you leave those few sheep behind in the wilderness? I myself well know your presumptuousness and the badness of your heart, because you have come down for the purpose of seeing the battle.” (1 Sam. 17:28) Eliab did not try to ascertain the facts but jumped to a rash conclusion respecting his brother. He implied that David did not care about the few sheep, the loss of even one of which would have been a serious blow to the family. But nothing could have been farther from the truth. In defense of his father’s flock, David had previously killed both a bear and a lion. (1 Sam. 17:34, 35) In expressing this concern about sheep, Eliab also manifested an unbalanced attitude. He was getting heated up about a minor matter when compared with the far greater issue that Goliath had raised. The Philistine was actually reproaching Jehovah, the God of Israel​—something that David clearly recognized.

Based on mere assumption, Eliab went even farther. He accused David of being presumptuous, of arrogantly taking it upon himself to come to the scene of battle. He also judged David as being wrongly motivated, as having a bad heart. The reason Eliab presented for this was: “Because you have come down for the purpose of seeing the battle.” This implies that Eliab felt that his young brother wanted to run off from his work in order to see something exciting.

How forcefully the aforementioned incident illustrates why Eliab was not the best choice for the kingship! Without any real evidence, he quickly imputed wrong motives to his brother David. He lacked full faith in Jehovah, doing nothing about the taunt of the Philistine Goliath. He failed to see the vital importance of having Jehovah’s name cleared from the Philistine’s reproach, seemingly being more concerned about a few sheep. Certainly, a man who showed such deficiency in faith, courage and balanced judgment would not be Jehovah’s choice for the kingship. The Examiner of hearts, Jehovah, had not made a mistake in choosing the youngest son of Jesse, David, instead of the firstborn.​—1 Sam. 13:14.