1 Samuel 21
21
David Flees from Saul
1 #
Matt 12.3,4; Mark 2.25,26; Luke 6.3. Then came David to Nob to Ahim´elech the priest: and Ahim´elech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2And David said unto Ahim´elech 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. 3Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 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. 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. 6#Lev 24.5-9. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Do´eg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
8And David said unto Ahim´elech, 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#1 Sam 17.51. And the priest said, The sword of Goli´ath 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.
10And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11#1 Sam 18.7; 29.5. And 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?
12 #
Ps 56 Title. And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13#Ps 34 Title. And he changed his behavior 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 said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 15Have I need of madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
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1 Samuel 21: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Samuel 21
21
Ahimelech Helps David
1 #
Mt 12.3,4; Mk 2.25,26; Lk 6.3,4. David went to see Ahimelech, a priest who lived in the town of Nob. Ahimelech was trembling with fear as he came out to meet David. “Why are you alone?” Ahimelech asked. “Why isn't anyone else with you?”
2“I'm on a mission for King Saul,” David answered. “He ordered me not to tell anyone what the mission is all about, so I ordered my soldiers to stay somewhere else. 3Do you have any food you can give me? Could you spare five loaves of bread?”
4“The only bread I have is the sacred bread,” the priest told David. “You can have it if your soldiers didn't sleep with women last night.”#21.4 night: Having sex was one of the things that would make someone temporarily unfit to take part in worship or a sacred meal (see Exodus 19.15; Leviticus 15.18).
5“Of course we didn't sleep with women,” David answered. “I never let my men do that when we're on a mission. They have to be acceptable to worship God even when we're on a regular mission, and today we're on a special mission.”
6 #
Lv 24.5-9. The only bread the priest had was the sacred bread that he had taken from the place of worship after putting out the fresh loaves. So he gave it to David.
7It so happened that one of Saul's officers was there, worshiping the Lord that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite,#21.7 Edomite: A person from the country of Edom, to the south of Israel. and he was the strongest of#21.7 the strongest of: Or “in charge of.” Saul's shepherds.
8David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or a sword? I had to leave so quickly on this mission for the king that I didn't bring along my sword or any other weapons.”
9 #
1 S 17.51. The priest answered, “The only sword here is the one that belonged to Goliath the Philistine. You were the one who killed him in Elah Valley, and so you can take his sword if you want to. It's wrapped in a cloth behind the statue.”
“It's the best sword there is,” David said. “I'll take it!”
David Tries To Find Safety in Gath
10David kept on running from Saul that day until he came to Gath,#21.10 Gath: One of the five main Philistine towns. where he met with King Achish. 11#1 S 18.7; 29.5. The officers of King Achish were also there, and they asked Achish, “Isn't David a king back in his own country? Don't the Israelites dance and sing,
‘Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand’?”
12 #
Ps 56 Title. David thought about what they were saying, and it made him afraid of Achish. 13#Ps 34 Title. So right there in front of everyone, he pretended to be insane. He acted confused and started making scratches on the doors of the town gate, while drooling in his beard.
14“Look at him!” Achish said to his officers. “You can see he's crazy. Why did you bring him to me? 15I have enough crazy people without your bringing another one here. Keep him away from my palace!”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.