1 Samuel 21
Christian Standard Bible
David Flees to Nob
21 David went to the priest Ahimelech(A) at Nob.(B) Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”
2 David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place. 3 Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread,(C) but the young men may eat it[a] only if they have kept themselves from women.”(D)
5 David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle.(E) The young men’s bodies[b] are consecrated(F) even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,(G) for there was no bread there except the Bread of the Presence(H) that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.
7 One of Saul’s servants, detained before the Lord, was there that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite,(I) chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t even bring my sword or my weapons since the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine,(J) whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn’t another one here.”
“There’s none like it!” David said. “Give it to me.”
David Flees to Gath
10 David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath.(K) 11 But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands?” (L)
12 David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath, 13 so he pretended to be insane in their presence.(M) He acted like a madman around them,[c] scribbling[d] on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 “Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?” (N)
1 Samuel 21
New English Translation
21 1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met[a] David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?” 2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’[b] I have told my soldiers[c] to wait at a certain place.[d] 3 Now what do you have at your disposal?[e] Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers[f] have abstained from relations with women.”[g] 5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’[h] equipment[i] is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”
6 So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the Bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away. 7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.) 8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”
David Goes to Gath
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that one, there’s no sword here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it. Give it to me.” 10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,
‘Saul struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David thought about what they said[j] and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. 13 He altered his behavior in their presence.[k] Since he was in their power,[l] he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I have a shortage of fools so that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:1 tn Heb “trembled to meet.”
- 1 Samuel 21:2 tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”
- 1 Samuel 21:2 tn Heb “servants.”
- 1 Samuel 21:2 tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.
- 1 Samuel 21:3 tn Heb “under your hand.”
- 1 Samuel 21:4 tn Heb “servants.”
- 1 Samuel 21:4 tn Heb “have kept themselves from women” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “haven’t had sexual relations recently”; NLT “have not slept with any women recently.” sn Temporary sexual abstinence was part of the requirements of a war campaign (Deut 23:9-14), since God was pictured as coming among the camp (compare the abstinence in Exod 19:15). Besides David’s claim that it was standard practice for he and his men, it is also evident through the account of Uriah (2 Sam 11:11-12).
- 1 Samuel 21:5 tn Heb “servants’.”
- 1 Samuel 21:5 tn Or “things”; or “weapons”; Heb “vessels,” which some understand as a reference to the soldiers’ bodies (so NIV).
- 1 Samuel 21:12 tn Heb “placed these matters in his heart.”
- 1 Samuel 21:13 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
- 1 Samuel 21:13 tn Heb “in their hand.”
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