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1 Samuel 21:1-9
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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 21:1 tn Heb “trembled to meet.”
  2. 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.”
  3. 1 Samuel 21:2 tn Heb “servants.”
  4. 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.
  5. 1 Samuel 21:3 tn Heb “under your hand.”
  6. 1 Samuel 21:4 tn Heb “servants.”
  7. 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).
  8. 1 Samuel 21:5 tn Heb “servants’.”
  9. 1 Samuel 21:5 tn Or “things”; or “weapons”; Heb “vessels,” which some understand as a reference to the soldiers’ bodies (so NIV).
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1 Samuel 21:1-9
International Standard Version

David Flees to Nob

21 [a]David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was trembling as he came[b] to meet David. Ahimelech[c] told him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”

2 David told Ahimelech the priest, “The king commanded me about a matter, saying to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the matter I’m sending you to do[d] and about which I’ve commanded you. I’ve directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 Now, what do you have available?[e] Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you have.”[f]

4 The priest answered David: “There is no ordinary bread available;[g] only consecrated bread, provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”

5 David answered the priest, saying to him, “Indeed, women were kept from us as is usual[h] whenever I go out on a mission,[i] and the equipment[j] of the young men is consecrated even when it’s an ordinary journey, so how much more is their equipment[k] consecrated today?” 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread because no bread was there except the Bread of the Presence that had been removed from the Lord’s presence and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.

7 Now, Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s officials,[l] was there that day, detained in the Lord’s presence. He was the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

David Takes Goliath’s Sword

8 David told Ahimelech, “Is there no spear or sword available[m] here? I took neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s mission is urgent.”

9 The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah is wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod.[n] If you want it, take it because there is no other except it here.”

So David said, “There is none like it. Give it to me.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 21:1 This verse is 21:2 in MT
  2. 1 Samuel 21:1 The Heb. lacks as he came
  3. 1 Samuel 21:1 Lit. He
  4. 1 Samuel 21:2 The Heb. lacks to do
  5. 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit. under your control
  6. 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit. what is found
  7. 1 Samuel 21:4 Lit. under my control
  8. 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit. as previously
  9. 1 Samuel 21:5 The Heb. lacks on a mission
  10. 1 Samuel 21:5 Or vessels
  11. 1 Samuel 21:5 Or are their vessels
  12. 1 Samuel 21:7 Or servants
  13. 1 Samuel 21:8 Lit. under your control
  14. 1 Samuel 21:9 The ephod was a type of vest normally worn by the priests
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