1 Samuel 21

Then David came to the town of Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met David, and he asked him, "Why are you by yourself? Why is no one with you?"

1Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

NoteNob was a town just north of Jerusalem where a large community of priests lived and where the tent-shrine holding Israel's holy objects then stood; David is going to the nation's main place of worship. Ahimelech's fear is because a senior officer of the king traveling with no escort was an alarming sight: it suggested something had gone badly wrong. (Hebrew Bibles count the verses of this chapter one step differently, so what is 21:1 here may appear as 21:2 in some editions.)

2David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has given me a job to do. He told me, 'Do not let anyone know anything about the errand I am sending you on, or about what I have ordered you to do.' As for my young men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

2And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

Note"Young men" here means fighting men under David's command, not boys; the same word covers soldiers, servants and attendants.

3So now, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread to take with me, or whatever you can find."

3Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

4The priest answered David, "I have no ordinary bread on hand, but there is holy bread, if only the young men have kept away from women."

4And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

Note"Ordinary" (King James "common") and "holy" are opposites in Israelite practice: holy things were set apart for God and the priests and could not be used for everyday purposes. Bread offered at the shrine normally belonged to the priests alone. Keeping away from women refers to a rule of ritual purity, sexual contact made a person temporarily unfit to handle holy things, and men on military campaign were expected to abstain.

5David answered the priest, "Women have certainly been kept away from us, as they always are when I set out. The young men's gear is holy even on an ordinary trip, and all the more so today."

5And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is difficult and translators divide over it. The word rendered "gear" can mean a soldier's equipment or, as a figure of speech, the men's own bodies; David's final clause has been read either as "the bread will only become ordinary once it is in their bags" or as "how much more will they be holy today." The general force is clear, David argues his men meet the purity requirement, but the details are genuinely uncertain.

6So the priest gave him the holy bread, since there was no bread there except the bread that was set out before the LORD. It had been taken away and replaced with fresh, warm bread on the day it was removed.

6So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

NoteThe King James "shewbread" is bread "set out for showing." Twelve loaves, one for each tribe of Israel, were placed on a table before the LORD and replaced with freshly baked loaves once a week; the loaves taken away were eaten by the priests. David arrives on the day of the changeover, so the old loaves are available.

7Now one of Saul's servants was there that day, kept at the place of worship before the LORD. His name was Doeg, an Edomite, and he was the chief of the herdsmen who worked for Saul.

7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

Note"Detained before the LORD" is obscure in the Hebrew and may mean Doeg was fulfilling a vow, undergoing a period of purification, or being held at the sanctuary for some other reason. An Edomite was a member of the neighboring people living south-east of Judah, traditionally traced back to Esau, Jacob's brother; they were foreigners and often hostile, which makes Doeg's presence at Israel's shrine and in Saul's service notable. His witnessing this scene matters for what follows in the next chapter.

8David also asked Ahimelech, "Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I did not bring my sword or my other weapons with me, because the king's errand was so urgent."

8And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

9The priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, the man you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take it if you want it, for there is no other sword here but that one." David said, "There is none like it. Give it to me."

9And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

NoteGoliath was the Philistine champion David killed in single combat in the Valley of Elah, west of Bethlehem (the story is in chapter 17); his sword had been kept at the shrine as a war trophy dedicated to God. An ephod was a priestly garment worn over the chest, used in seeking answers from God; it was stored at the shrine, and the sword was kept behind it.

10That day David got up and ran away from Saul, because he was afraid of him, and he went to Achish, the king of the Philistine city of Gath.

10And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

NoteGath was one of the five main Philistine cities, on the coastal plain west of Judah, and Goliath's home town. The Philistines were Israel's chief enemies at this period. David is fleeing to the one place Saul cannot follow him, at the cost of putting himself in the hands of the people whose champion he killed.

11The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sang about as they danced, saying, 'Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

11And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

NoteCalling David "king of the land" is the Philistines' own assessment, not a statement of fact, David has been secretly anointed but Saul still reigns. The song they quote had been sung by Israelite women celebrating David's victories (chapter 18); it is the very thing that turned Saul against him.

12David took these words to heart, and he became very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

12And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

13So he acted differently in front of them and pretended to be out of his mind while they held him. He scratched marks on the doors of the town gate and let his spit run down his beard.

13And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

14Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you can see the man is out of his mind. Why have you brought him to me?

14Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?

15Do I need crazy men? Is that why you have brought this fellow to act crazy in front of me? Should this man come into my house?"

15Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?