1 Samuel 21:1-9

David's Flight to Gath, 1 Samuel 21:1-15.

David At Nob. 1 Samuel 21:1-9

Then 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?

2 And 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.

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

4 And 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.

5 And 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.

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

7 Now 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.

8 And 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.
9 And 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.

1.

To what place did David first flee? 1 Samuel 21:1

David fled first of all to Nob, to Abimelech the high priest, to inquire the will of God through him concerning his future course and induced him to give him bread and the sword of Goliath also, under the pretext of having to perform a secret commission from the king with greatest speed. The town of Nob, or Nobeh, was at that time a priests-' city, in which, according to the following account, the Tabernacle was then standing and the legal worship carried on. According to Isaiah 10:30; Isaiah 10:32, it was between Anathoth and Jerusalem: and in all probability it had been preserved in the village of el-lsawiyeh, an hour's distance from Jerusalem and the same distance to the southeast of Gibeah of Saul.

2.

Why did David say he was alone? 1 Samuel 21:2

The high priest was surprised to see David, the son-in-law of the king and a chieftain among the soldiers, without a company of men with him. He asked David about this, and David replied that he had been sent on a certain business that was secret, therefore, he said he was traveling alone. He explained further that he had dispatched his soldiers to other places. He must have had some young men, but not his usual soldiers, with him.

3.

Was it right for him to eat the bread? 1 Samuel 21:3

For David and the young men to eat the shew bread was a departure from the Levitical Law. As is stated in the Law (Leviticus 24:9), the bread was for the priests. According to a higher law of love for a fellow man in need, the high priest may have justified himself in giving this bread to David. Jesus made reference to this incident when the Pharisees found fault with the disciples for being hungry and plucking ears of corn to eat on the Sabbath day. Jesus did not expressly justify David in his taking the shew bread, but He referred to the matter in order to give pause to the Pharisees. Jesus might have expected them to find fault with David rather than with his disciples (Matthew 12:1-4).

4.

Why did the high priest ask if the young men were clean? 1 Samuel 21:4-5

The high priest was reluctant to give the holy bread to men who were ceremonially unclean. A part of the sanctification of a people for a holy occasion was their refraining from their normal relationships with their wives (Exodus 19:15). If the young men of David were ceremonially clean, the high priest would not feel as reluctant to give them the holy bread. J.

5.

Who was Doeg? 1 Samuel 21:7

Doeg was an Edomite. The Edomites were descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:1). These people lived in the country south of the Dead Sea. As the brother of Jacob, Esau was given a secondary blessing of Jacob. Esau had many descendants, and they grew into a prosperous nation. They had kings ruling over them before the monarchy was established in Israel (Genesis 36:31). Doeg the Edomite was a chief herdsman among Saul's servants. He may have come to Israel as a mercenary and been given the responsibility of tending to the king's flocks and herds. If this were the case, he was no doubt grazing the royal herds near Nob and thus in a position to overhear the conversation of David.

6.

Why did the priest have Goliath's sword? 1 Samuel 21:9

After the battle in the valley of Elah David put Goliath's armor in his own tent. At that time he took the head of Goliath and brought it to Jerusalem. Nothing is said at that time about the ultimate destiny of Goliath's armor, but it was customary for a victorious people to bring some spoils of war to their temple as an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, who had given victory. It was no doubt that spirit which prompted David to leave the disposition of Goliath's armor with Saul. Saul had evidently sent the sword, at least, to the Tabernacle at Nob.