1 Samuel 20:6

a yearly sacrifice there for all the family This request incidentally throws light on the religious customs of the age. The annual meeting of the family or clan for sacrifice may have been a partial observance of the command in Deuteronomy 12:5 ff.; but in the unsettled state of religion the obligation to go up to the central sanctuary was neglected. It is not clear whether David really wanted to go to Bethlehem, and meant to hide "in the field" afterwards, or whether he regarded the story as a justifiable deception to avoid exciting Saul's anger.