1 Samuel 21
21
1And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, ‘Wherefore [art] thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?’
2And David saith to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king hath commanded me a matter, and he saith unto me, Let no man know anything of the matter about which I am sending thee, and which I have commanded thee; and the young men I have caused to know at such and such a place;
3and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.’
4And the priest answereth David, and saith, ‘There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.’
5And David answereth the priest, and saith to him, ‘Surely, if women have been restrained from us as heretofore in my going out, then the vessels of the young men are holy, and it [is] a common way: and also, surely to-day it is sanctified in the vessel.’
6And the priest giveth to him the holy thing, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which is turned aside from the presence of Jehovah to put hot bread in the day of its being taken away.
7And there [is] a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name [is] Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath.
8And David saith to Ahimelech, ‘And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for neither my sword nor my vessels have I taken in my hand, for the matter of the king was urgent.’
9And the priest saith, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst smite in the valley of Elah, lo, it is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod, if it thou dost take to thyself, take; for there is none other save it in this [place].’ And David saith, ‘There is none like it — give it to me.’
10And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath;
11and the servants of Achish say unto him, ‘Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, ‘Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?’
12And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath,
13and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard.
14And Achish saith unto his servants, ‘Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me?
15A lack of madmen [have] I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?’
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1 Samuel 21: YLT98
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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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