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.”
1 Samuel 21
Expanded Bible
David Goes to See Ahimelech
21 David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech ·shook with fear [trembled; C perhaps rumors of Saul’s displeasure were circulating] when he saw David, and he asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David answered him, “The king ·gave me a special order [sent me on a mission; commissioned me]. He told me, ‘No one must know ·what I am sending you to do or what I told you to do [about the mission I am sending you on].’ I told my [L young] men ·where to meet me [to meet me at a certain place]. 3 Now, what ·food do you have with you [L is at hand]? Give me five loaves of bread or anything you find.”
4 The priest said to David, “I don’t have any ·plain [ordinary; regular] bread here, but I do have some ·holy [consecrated; holy] bread [C from the Table of Presence; Ex. 25:23–30]. You may eat it if your men have ·kept themselves from [not recently slept with] women [C sexual relations rendered a man ritually unclean; Lev. 15:16–18].”
5 David answered [L the priest and said to him], “No women have been near us ·for days [or as usual on a campaign]. My men always keep ·themselves [their bodies/L vessels] holy, even ·when we do ordinary work [on an ordinary/common journey]. And this is especially true when the ·work [journey] is holy.”
6 So the priest gave David the ·holy [consecrated] bread ·from the presence of God [—the bread of the Presence—] because there was no other. Each day the holy bread was replaced with ·hot [fresh] bread.
7 One of Saul’s servants happened to be there that day. He had been ·held there [detained] before the Lord [C for some unspecified ritual purpose]. He was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword here? The king’s business was very ·important [urgent], so I ·left without [brought neither…nor] my sword or any other weapon.”
9 The priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, the one you ·killed [L struck] in the Valley of Elah [ch. 17], is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ·holy vest [ephod; Ex. 28:6–14]. If you want it, you may take it. There’s no other sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is ·no other sword [none] like it. Give it to me.”
David Goes to Gath
10 That day David ·ran away [L fled] from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath [C a major Philistine town]. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “·This is [L Isn’t this…?] David, the king of the ·Israelites [L land]. ·He’s [L Isn’t he…?] the man they dance and sing about, saying:
‘Saul has ·killed thousands of his enemies [T slain his thousands],
·but [and] David has ·killed [T slain his] tens of thousands [18:7].’”
12 David ·paid attention to [L took to heart] these words and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he ·pretended to be crazy in front of Achish and his servants [L changed his behavior in their eyes/presence]. ·While he was with them [L In their hands], he acted like a madman and ·clawed [scratched; scribbled] on the doors of the gate and ·let spit run [drooled] down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He’s crazy! Why do you bring him to me? 15 ·I [Don’t I…?] have enough madmen. I don’t need you to bring him here to act like this in front of me! ·Don’t let him in [Must this one come into…?] my house!”
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