Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 21:1-7
As A Refugee David Visits Ahimelech The Priest And Obtains Provisions And Weapons (1 Samuel 21:1).
Recognising that he dare not return home to obtain food or weapons, the refugee David seeks help from Ahimelech the Priest (High Priest). He tells him a false story about being on a secret mission for Saul, and obtains his assistance, with the result that Ahimelech provides him with provisions and a weapon. But unfortunately an Edomite servant of Saul is present at the Sanctuary and misinterprets what has happened, something which will later have unfortunate results.
Analysis.
a Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech came to meet David deferentially, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?” (1 Samuel 21:1).
b And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me an affair of state (a business), and has said to me, ‘Let no man know anything of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you,' and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place” (1 Samuel 21:2).
c “Now therefore what is under your hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever there is present” (1 Samuel 21:3).
d And the priest answered David, and said, “There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread, if only the young men have kept themselves from women” (1 Samuel 21:4).
e And David answered the priest, and said to him, “Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days” (1 Samuel 21:5 a)
d “When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey, how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” (1 Samuel 21:5 b).
c So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread (literally ‘bread of the presence'), that was taken from before YHWH, to put (be replaced by) hot bread in the day when it was taken away (1 Samuel 21:6).
b Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before YHWH (1 Samuel 21:7 a).
a And his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul (1 Samuel 21:7).
Note that in ‘a' the lone David, the apparent servant of Saul comes to Ahimelech, and in the parallel the lone Doeg, who is a servant of Saul, is present. In ‘b' David says that he acts on the king's business, and in the parallel Doeg is one who belongs to the king and acts on his business. In ‘c' David asks for bread, and in the parallel is given the showbread. In ‘d' the condition is that the young men must be holy, and in the parallel David confirms their holiness. Centrally in ‘e' is the fact that they have kept themselves from women for three days. We know that the reason for this is because David has been in hiding.
‘ Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling (deferentially), and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?” '
Now that he was a man on the run, without provisions or weapons, and dared not go back to his hometown Bethlehem, David came to Nob, a town just north of Jerusalem (and within sight of it) where the Tabernacle had been set up and where Ahimelech was High Priest. David's hope was that news had not yet reached there of Saul's antagonism towards him. When Ahimelech saw Saul's great general he met him with great deference, expressing surprise that he was alone. It was not usual for such an important man to be on his own. The question was due rather to puzzlement, than suspicion.
Ahimelech was of the house of Ithamar (and Eli) of which God had forecast that it would be decimated and cease to be holders of the High Priesthood (1 Samuel 2:27). But that was yet to happen.
‘ And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me an affair of state (a business), and has said to me, ‘Let no man know anything of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you,' and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place.”
David's reply was that he was on a secret mission about which he had been commanded not to talk, and that his young men were waiting for him elsewhere. There was no reason why Ahimelech should have doubted the truth of his words. In fact it is doubtful if there were any young men waiting, (none are mentioned elsewhere), and what is certain is that he was not on a mission for Saul. So the whole thing was probably a fabrication.
“ Now therefore what is under your hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever there is present.”
David then asked him for bread for ‘his men', and himself. If possible, he explained, he wanted at least five loaves, but if not, as many as could be provided. The fact that it was a secret mission would prevent Ahimelech from looking more widely, even if such bread would have been available on the Sabbath day (the showbread had just been changed). He would have considered that the whole request was subject to the utmost secrecy. But from where was he to obtain sufficient bread without disclosing David's presence or objective?
The fact that David was looking for bread so urgently is significant. It suggests that he had not in fact been in Bethlehem, where he could have found some and provisioned himself before he left, but had been in hiding in the countryside unable to let anyone know that he was there. That being so he would be hungry and would know that he had to find some provisions from somewhere. And Saul he knew that Saul would be merciless with anyone who tried to help him, except surely to YHWH's High Priest. That he was desperate comes out in the fact that he had been prepared to take this risk of ‘exposing' himself so close to Gibeah in order to try to find bread.
‘ And the priest answered David, and said, “There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread, if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” '
The answer was probably hesitant. He had no ordinary (unholy) bread available. But what he did have was the showbread which had just been taken from the golden table in the Holy Place and had been replaced by new hot showbread (see Exodus 25:23; Leviticus 4:5). This was, however, holy and strictly only for priests. However that had been before there was a king, which might have been seen as altering the situation, (he also was YHWH's anointed), and anyway you did not argue with Saul's representatives. It would thus appear that by this time the levitical restrictions had been relaxed somewhat, so that it was now seen as possible for it to be eaten by anyone who was in a ‘holy' state in the service of YHWH and His anointed, that is, in the service of the king.
Thus he argued that as long as the young men were in a ‘clean' state and had not recently had sexual intercourse, they could be permitted to eat the bread. Sexual relations were seen as making a man mildly ‘unclean', a condition which would continue ‘until the evening'. Compare Exodus 19:15; Leviticus 15:16.
The fact that the Table for the showbread was there confirms the fact that the Tabernacle was there, for the two went together. It would appear that all normal ‘services' had been resumed under Saul now that there was an Aaronic High Priest who qualified for the position (compare 1 Samuel 14:3).
‘ And David answered the priest, and said to him, “Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days. When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey, how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” '
David's reply was that his men had abstained from sex for the past three days. This would not seem strange as it was in fact quite normal for military personnel in Israel to avoid sex while on a mission. Compare how Uriah the Hittite refused to go home to his wife because he saw himself as on active service (2 Samuel 11:11). Furthermore he stated that their ‘vessels' (pouches) had been ritually clean when they had set out, having touched nothing ‘unclean'. How much more then must that be so after three days on their mission when they were being careful to avoid all that was ‘unclean'. Thus the holy bread could be put into them without qualms.
“Though it was but a common journey.” The idea was that when they had first set out they had not known that they would shortly be allocated to a secret mission, and would see it as a ‘common' journey. Once they were aware of their secret mission it would make their journey ‘holy'.
Whether there were such men waiting to receive the bread must be seen as possible, but doubtful. There is no mention of them elsewhere, and five loaves were not many for such a company, whilst they would be very necessary for a David who would not know where he could next obtain bread.
‘ So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before YHWH, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.'
So the priest gave him some of the holy bread (you did not say ‘no' to the general of the ‘anointed of YHWH' unless you had to), because that was all the bread that was available. It had been taken off the Table that day and replaced by hot bread.
This example is taken by Jesus in order to illustrate the fact that a greater than David had come, and that as such He had the right to be Lord of the Sabbath. For both were seen as being able to override the Law (Mark 2:25). (It should be noted that the statement there that it was ‘in the section called Abiathar the High Priest' was not an error, but an indication of where the lectionary reading was to be found).
‘ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before YHWH, and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.'
But unfortunately for all concerned there was another servant of Saul present at the Tabernacle that day, ‘detained before YHWH'. That would either be because he was in process of becoming a proselyte, or because he was undergoing a vow, or because he was being purified. His name was Doeg, and he was an Edomite. He was the chief of Saul's herdsmen. Not as important as a general, but important in his own way. And he observed the welcome that Ahimelech gave to David, although he would not realise its significance until later.