1 Samuel 21
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
1 Samuel 21
NJB (MT versing) David Takes Consecrated Bread David and the Holy Bread David Escapes to Nob David Flees from Saul 21:1-7 21:1-9 21:1-6 21:1 21:1 David and the Priests at Nob 21:2-3 21:2-5 21:4 21:5 21:6 21:6-7 21:7 21:7 21:8-9 21:8-9 21:8 21:8 21:9 21:9-10 David Flees to Gath David Flees to Gath 21:10-15 21:10-15 21:10-15 21:10-11 David with the Philistines (11b) (11b) (11b) 21:11-12 (11b) 21:12-15 21:13-14 21:15 Etc.
1 Samuel 21:1-7
21:1 "Nob" This (BDB 611) became the site of YHWH's tabernacle after the destruction of Shiloh. It was a short distance north of Jerusalem. ▣ "Ahimelech the priest" He was the son of Ahitub, son of Eli (cf. 1 Sam. 14:3, i.e., great grandson of Eli, priest at Shiloh). Because of Mark 2:26 (i.e., name reversal), see my exegetical note from my commentary on Mark: Mark 2:26 "Abiathar" There is a historical problem between 1 Sam. 21:1ff, when compared to 2 Sam. 8:17 and 1 Chr. 18:16 over the name Abiathar or Abimelech: both the father and the son are called High Priest Jesus used a PREPOSITION, epi, with a GENITIVE in the sense of "in the days of" which meant "during his time" (cf. Acts 11:28; Heb. 1:2). We know that shortly after this event King Saul killed Abimelech and Abiathar fled to David (cf. 1 Sam. 22:11-23) and became one of two recognized high priests (i.e., Abiathar and Zadock). This is one example of the kinds of problems that simply cannot be explained away. This is not Greek manuscript variation. If it was one has to assume an early scribal error before the papyri manuscripts were hand copied (which is speculation). It bothers all Bible teachers that Jesus misquotes a part of the OT history, especially since in this context Jesus is chiding the Pharisees for not reading the Scripture. There are some books that try to deal with the conservative options in interpreting difficult texts. Hard Sayings of the Bible by Walter C Kaiser, Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce and Manfred T. Branch Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason L. Archer Answers to Questions by F. F. Bruce ▣ "came trembling to meet David" Obviously he was aware of Saul's irrational behavior toward David. 21:2 David lies in an attempt to protect Ahimelech and the other priest from Saul's wrath. 21:3 David asks for food (and weapons). He pretends it is for his young men (v. 2) but this is part of the lie. 21:4 "consecrated bread" In v. 6 it is called "the bread of the Presence." SPECIAL TOPIC: SHOW BREAD or BREAD OF THE PRESENCE ▣ "if only. . ." This is a strange question to moderns but we must remember how central ceremonial cleanliness (i.e., contact with bodily fluids made one unclean; blood, sores, sex, menstrual cycles, nocturnal emissions) was to the Israelites. These men were going into battle. They had to refrain from sexual activity to be holy (cf. Lev. 15:32-33; Deut. 23:9-14; 2 Sam. 11:8-13). 21:5 NASB, NKJV, NRSV, JPSOA "vessels" "things" REB (DSS) "bodies" "implements" Peshitta (from Deut. 22:5) "clothes" "equipment" The MT has a MASCULINE NOUN (BDB 479, KB 478, PLURAL) that has a wide semantic field, but I think the best guess is the "bag" they used to carry their food (JPSOA). 21:6 "before the Lord" This bread was placed on a table in the Holy Place and replaced once a week. SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE OF THE WILDERNESS SPECIAL TOPIC: SHOW BREAD OR BREAD OF THE PRESENCE 21:7 "Doeg" Notice how he is characterized. an Edomite a servant of Saul called "the chief shepherd" Josephus, Antiq. 6.12.2, says he was Syrian and that he kept the king's mules (i.e., royal mount). The IVP Bible Background Commentary (OT), p. 312, suggests he was a royal runner (emendation, cf. 1 Sam. 22:17) a mercenary in Saul's army a scribe (Ugaritic) ▣ NASB, NKJV, NRSV, REB, JPSOA, LXX, Peshitta "detained before the Lord" "had to fulfill a religious obligation" "detained in YHWH's presence" JPSOA footnote "because of ritual impurity" This VERB (BDB 783, KB 870, Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE) means "restrain" or "retain." You can see from the translations the meaning here is uncertain. The BDB suggests "kept by a vow." Possibly the completion of it was delayed because of his ritual uncleanness. Some scholars (NIDOTTE, vol 3, p. 501, #1) suggest the term is parallel to "chief shepherd," and so should be understood as "ruler-deliverer." Many of the connotations of the root imply a "divine purpose in relation to humans rather than human restraint of others" (p. 502, #4).
1 Samuel 21:8-9
21:8 This is still part of the lie to protect the priests at Nob from Saul's irrational wrath. ▣ NASB, NJB, REB, JPSOA "urgent" NKJV, NRSV, Peshitta "required haste" "in haste" "urgency" The MT has the Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE (BDB 637, KB 690) but it occurs only here in the OT. NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 83, suggests the root is used in Dan. 9:26, "decide" or "decree." 21:9 "the sword of Goliath" David had put it in the shrine earlier (cf. 1 Sam. 17:54). ▣ "ephod" See SPECIAL TOPIC: EPHOD.
1 Samuel 21:10-15
21:10 "Achish king of Gath" Gath was one of the five city-states of the Philistines. See note at 1 Sam. 4:1. 21:11 The servants of Achish knew a lot about David (i.e., Josh. 2:9; 5:1). It is possible that "the king of the land" refers to Achish, not David (see its use in Josh. 12:7-24). 21:12-13 David feared Achish (i.e., because he was alone, v. 1) and pretended to be mad (BDB 993, KB 1415). acted insanely scribbled on the doors of the gate (VERB occurs only here in the Piel stem and once in the Hiphil stem, Ezra 9:4; the LXX and Vulgate assume an emendation to "beat on the gate," BDB 1074, KB 1779, Piel IMPERFECT, NJB). let saliva run down into his beard This event appears in the traditional introduction to Psalm 34. It is possible that acting like a madman (i.e., ecstasy, cf. 1 Sam. 19:20-24; 2 Kgs. 9:11; Jer. 29:26; Hos 9:7) would have been seen as the acts of a prophet/wiseman and not a military man. 21:13 "disguised his sanity" The NOUN (BDB 381) translated "insanity" normally means "to taste" or "to sample" or metaphorically "to discern." Only here does it have the connotation of "change of mind" (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 379). Remember, words have meaning only in context!