וַיַּעַן֩ אֶחָ֨ד מֵהַנְּעָרִ֜ים וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּ֨ה רָאִ֜יתִי בֵּ֣ן לְיִשַׁי֮ בֵּ֣ית הַלַּחְמִי֒ יֹדֵ֣עַ נַ֠גֵּן וְגִבּ֨וֹר חַ֜יִל וְאִ֧ישׁ מִלְחָמָ֛ה וּנְב֥וֹן דָּבָ֖ר וְאִ֣ישׁ תֹּ֑אַר וַיהוָ֖ה עִמּֽוֹ׃
Da hub einer von den Knaben an und sprach: Ich habe einen Sohn des Jischaj aus Bet-Lehem gesehen, der des Spielens kundig ist, ein tapferer Jüngling und ein Kriegsmann und der Rede verständig, ein Mann von schöner Gestalt, und der Herr ist mit ihm.
Likutei Moharan
Therefore David was [thus] praised in the presence of Shaul (Shmuel I 16): "who is skilled at playing," for playing is building the Malkhut, therefore he was fit for Kingship. And this explains the scripture about him (Ps. 78): "from following the nursing ewes He brought him," i.e. from following the nursing ones, i.e. Netzach and Hod [see Appendix]. For they nurse the prophets, and they are the construction of the Malkhut:
Kedushat Levi
In Samuel II 23,8 the author lists 30 “heroes” that surrounded David, there is an interesting comment by Rashi on verse 18 about Avishai, described as the ראש השלישי, being the leader of a group of “three.” Rashi says that this group of three was free from sin. This sounds plausible as the attributes possessed by David, as listed in Samuel I 16,18 are גבור חיל, נבון, ואיש תאר, “a capable, stalwart fellow, sensible, and of handsome appearance.” These three attributes distinguished Joseph from his early youth. When Joseph had a vision of David who possessed attributes similar to his own, this prompted him to donate 37 years of his life so that David would be able to accomplish his purpose in life. He most certainly did not want to commit a sin that would make him forfeit the chance of being compared with the illustrious David.