1 Samuel 21
21
David Takes Consecrated Bread
1Then David went to #The city of the priests was located on Mt. Scopus about a mile northeast of Jerusalem.Nob to #Ahimelech was also known as Ahijah.Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling [in fear] to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has told me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you. I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is #I.e. the bread of the Presence (showbread) was an offering dedicated to God and was to be eaten only by the priests. The ancient rabbis maintained that any law may be superseded to save life, and that David’s life was in danger from hunger.consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5David answered the priest, “Be assured that #I.e. intimate contact with women.women have been kept from us in these three days since I set out, and the #Lit vessels, a euphemism for the human body.bodies of the young men were consecrated (ceremonially clean), although it was an ordinary (unconsecrated) journey; so how much more will their vessels be holy today?” 6So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the #Lit Face.Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.
7Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8David said to Ahimelech, “Do you not have a sword or spear here on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my [other] weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.” 9Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, do so. For there is no other here except for it.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
10Then David arose and fled from Saul that day, and went to Achish king of #This was a dangerous place to go since it was not only one of the Philistine’s five major cities, but also the former home of Goliath.Gath. 11The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing in praise of this one as they danced, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
12David took these words to heart and was greatly afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13So [fearing for his life] he changed his behavior in their sight, and acted insanely in their hands, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. 14Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see that the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15Do I lack madmen, that you bring this one to behave like a madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
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1 Samuel 21
21
David Flees from Saul
1 #
Mt 12.3–4; Mk 2.25–26; Lk 6.3 David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, “Why did you come here all by yourself?”
2“I am here on the king's business,” David answered. “He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3Now, then, what supplies have you got? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”
4The priest said, “I haven't any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently.”
5“Of course they haven't,” answered David. “My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!”
6 #
Lev 24.5–9
So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread.
7(Saul's chief herdsman, Doeg, who was from Edom, happened to be there that day, because he had to fulfil a religious obligation.)
8David said to Ahimelech, “Have you got a spear or a sword you can give me? The king's orders made me leave in such a hurry that I didn't have time to get my sword or any other weapon.”
9 #
1 Sam 17.51
Ahimelech answered, “I have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah; it is behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it — it's the only weapon here.”
“Give it to me,” David said. “There is not a better sword anywhere!”
10So David left, fleeing from Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath. 11#1 Sam 18.7; 29.5The king's officials said to Achish, “Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”
12 #
Ps 56 (Title) Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish. 13#Ps 34 (Title)So whenever they were around, David pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city#21.13 city; or palace. gates and dribble down his beard. 14So Achish said to his officials, “Look! The man is mad! Why did you bring him to me? 15Haven't I got enough madmen already? Why bring another one to annoy me with his daft actions right here in my own house?”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.