1 Samuelchapter 21
15 verses · BSB1 Samuel book hub →
Key verse
So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.
It stands in scene A of the chapter, verses 1 to 9.
The chapter
Chapter summary
David flees alone to Nob, tells Ahimelech a story about the king's business, and asks for bread. There is none but the showbread taken from before Jehovah, and the priest gives it, the incident Jesus cites when the Pharisees attack his disciples for plucking grain on the sabbath (Matthew 12; Mark 2). He also gives him the only weapon in the sanctuary, the sword of Goliath, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: there is none like it. But Doeg the Edomite is detained there that day, and the reader is told so. David then runs to Gath, the giant's own city, is recognized, and escapes only by feigning madness, scrabbling on the doors and letting spittle fall down his beard.
Context
History · Samuel, Nathan, Gad · 1 Samuel overview
Where the chapter sits
1 Samuel 21 falls in David's rise in Saul's shadow (chapters 16–31). David anointed in secret; Goliath; Jonathan's covenant; Saul's pursuit; the cave of Adullam; Nabal and Abigail; the Philistine sanctuary; Saul's death at Gilboa.
Before it: Saul's reign: promise and rejection, chapters 9–15.
The whole shape of 1 Samuel→The world behind this chapter
1 Samuel 21The history
Nob is where the priesthood relocated after Shiloh fell, and Ahimelech is of Eli's line. Ahimelech trembles at David's arrival alone, because the king's champion traveling without an escort means something has gone badly wrong.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The bread of the Presence was twelve loaves set out on a gold table in the sanctuary each Sabbath in two rows, replaced weekly, and the loaves taken away were to be eaten by the priests in a holy place. Giving them to a layman was outside the Law's provision, and the priest gives them anyway, asking only that the men be ritually clean. A thousand years later Jesus cites this exact incident to argue that human need outweighs ceremonial rule, and that the Sabbath was made for man.
The sword of Goliath was being kept there wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod, stored as a memorial the way captured arms were dedicated at sanctuaries throughout the ancient world. David takes it, and the line is dry: there is none like it, give it to me.
Doeg the Edomite is named in one verse, detained before the LORD, possibly fulfilling a vow or under some ritual restriction, and the reader is told he is Saul's chief herdsman. That single verse detonates in the next chapter.
Gath is a strange destination, since it was Goliath's own city, and David is carrying his sword. The servants of Achish quote the very song that ruined David at Saul's court. His escape is to feign madness, scratching at the gate doors, letting spittle run into his beard, because the insane were widely believed to be touched by a god and were left alone rather than harmed. Two psalm superscriptions in Israel's songbook attach to this episode, which is how the nation remembered a man singing about God's protection while pretending to be out of his mind.
What it meant to them
The anointed king of Israel begs bread from a priest, borrows a dead giant's sword, and drools on his own beard in an enemy gate. First hearers were seeing what the road to the throne actually looked like.
And the chapter records David's one clear lie, that the king had sent him on urgent business. He gets bread and a sword out of it, and eighty-five priests will pay for it in two chapters.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
A. The showbread and Goliath's sword at Nob
1. (vv. 1-2)
a.David reaches Nob without the company he left with, and Ahimelech's question exposes the change before David explains anything. Ahimelech later tells Saul that he enquired of the Lord for David at this visit, in 1 Samuel 22:10, though the enquiry itself is not narrated here. The business David invents for the king is the first outright lie of his exile, and the older writers read it as fear overtaking faith rather than as calculated wickedness.
1 Samuel 21:1, 3 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
1 Samuel 21:1
“Nob was a city of the priests, the high priest resided there, and the tabernacle was pitched there 1Sa 21:4, 1Sa 21:6,1Sa 21:9; 1Sa 22:10. It was situated on the road from the north to Jerusalem, near Anathoth, and within sight of the holy city Isa 10:32; Neh 11:32. But the site has not been identified with certainty.”
1 Samuel 21:1
“To enquire of the Lord there, and to beg direction from him in the way both of duty and safety, his case being difficult and dangerous. That this was his business appears ch. xxii. 10 , where it is said that Ahimelech enquired of the Lord for him, as he had done formerly,”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Samuel 21:1
“Ahimelech the priest is surprised to see him in so poor an equipage; having heard that he had fallen into disgrace at court, he looked shy upon him, as most are apt to do upon their friends when the world frowns upon them. He was afraid of incurring Saul's displeasure by entertaining him, and took notice how mean a figure he now made to what he used to make: Why art thou alone?”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Samuel 21:2, 4 voices
1 Samuel 21:2
“No wonder that these dispensations were uprightly made use of in the Old Testament and that holy men sometimes lied in praiseworthy or at least in pardonable fashion, since we see that far greater things were permitted them because it was a time of beginnings.”
John Cassian· written before 435· CONFERENCE 17.18.1-2patristic
1 Samuel 21:2
“The king hath commanded me a business - All said here is an untruth, and could not be dictated by the Spirit of the Lord; but there is no reason to believe that David was under the influence of Divine inspiration at this time. It is well known that from all antiquity it was held no crime to tell a lie, in order to save life.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:2
“David probably supposed, like many other persons, that a lie is quite excusable which is told for the sole purpose of saving the speaker's life. But what is essentially sinful, can never, from circumstances, change its immoral character; and David had to repent of this vice of lying (Ps 119:29).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 21:2-3
“People should be free with their faithful ministers. David was a man of great faith and courage, and yet now both failed him, and he fell thus foully through fear and cowardice, and both owing to the weakness of his faith. Had he trusted God aright, he would not have used such a sorry sinful shift as this for his own preservation.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2. (vv. 3-4)
a.Give me five loaves of bread: David asks Ahimelech for whatever bread is at hand, five loaves or anything present, provision for a flight he will not explain. Ahimelech has no common bread, only the bread set apart for the priests, and he makes it conditional on the young men having kept themselves from women. The condition is real law and not delay: eating consecrated bread required the same ritual cleanness the priests themselves kept in the tabernacle service.
1 Samuel 21:3, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:3-6
“Even if they accuse, yet Christ excuses, and he makes the souls that he wishes, that follow him, similar to David, who ate the loaves of proposition outside of the law—for even then he foresaw in his mind the prophetic mysteries of a new grace.”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On Isaac and the Soul, 6.56patristic
1 Samuel 21:4, 2 voices
1 Samuel 21:4
“And the priest answered David, and said, there is no common bread under mine hand,.... In the tabernacle, though he might have such in his own house; which was common for any man to eat of, even such as were not priests; but he had none there, and David was in haste to be gone because of Doeg, and could not stay till such was fetched: but there is hallowed bread; such as was devoted to sacred use.”
1 Samuel 21:4
“Common - As opposed to holy. (See the marginal references, and compare the use of the word in Act 10:14-15, Act 10:28.) It gives an idea of the depressed and poor condition of the priesthood at that time, that Ahimelech should have had no bread at hand except the showbread.”
3. (vv. 5-6)
a.David answers that his men have kept from women and that their vessels are holy, satisfying the condition, and the priest hands over the bread that had just been taken from before the Lord and replaced with fresh loaves. This is the showbread of Exodus 25:30, lawful only for the priests to eat under Leviticus 24:9, given here to a fugitive and his hungry men. Jesus cites this exact episode by name at Matthew 12:3-4, arguing from David's case that mercy outweighs the ceremonial law when real need is at stake.
1 Samuel 21:5, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:5
“Vessels - That is, Either, 1. Their garments, or other utensils for their journey. The bread - Hebrew. and this bread; is in a manner common: that is, considering the time, and our necessity, this maybe used in a manner, like common bread.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:6, 3 voices
1 Samuel 21:6
“Our Lord put forward the clear example of David, who was not accused either over this, as he was over something else. It was not permissible, he said, for David to eat [the holy bread] since he was not a priest. However, he was a …”
Ephrem the Syrian· written before 373· COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 5.24patristic
1 Samuel 21:6
“So the priest gave him hallowed bread,.... Being satisfied with the account he gave of himself, and his young men, and of the lawfulness of it in case of necessity, acts of mercy being to be preferred to ritual services.”
1 Samuel 21:6
“So the priest gave him hallowed bread - To this history our Lord alludes, Mar 2:25, in order to show that in cases of absolute necessity a breach of the ritual law was no sin. It was lawful for the priests only to eat the shew-bread; but David and his companions were starving, no other bread could be had at the time, and therefore he and his companions ate of it without sin.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4. (v. 7)
a.Doeg the Edomite is in the sanctuary that day, detained before the Lord on some errand or vow the text does not name, and he sees everything that has just happened. He is introduced here as Saul's chief herdsman, a servant with every reason to report what he witnessed. The reader is meant to hold the name: it returns at 22:9 as an accusation and at 22:18 as a massacre of the priests of Nob.
1 Samuel 21:7, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:7
“Detained before the Lord - Either to fulfill a vow Act 21:23-27, or on account of uncleanness, or under the law of lepers Lev 13:4, Lev 13:11, Lev 13:21, or as a proselyte. It is not impossible that Doeg may have been in custody or in sanctuary for some crime.”
5. (vv. 8-9)
a.spear or sword: David has come without weapons because the king's business required haste, by his own invented cover story, and he asks Ahimelech for a spear or sword. The only sword at the sanctuary is Goliath's own, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod since the victory of chapter 17, kept as a trophy of what the Lord did that day. David's answer, there is none like that, closes a circle set up three chapters earlier, when the boy who fought with no sword in his hand now takes up the weapon he stripped from the giant.
1 Samuel 21:8, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:8
“There was not a sword to be found about the tabernacle but the sword of Goliath, which was laid up behind the ephod, as a monument of the glorious victory David obtained over him. Probably David had an eye to that when he asked the priest to help him with a sword; for, that being mentioned, O! says he, there is none like that, give it to me,”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Samuel 21:9, 3 voices
1 Samuel 21:9
“Wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod - Rather, “in the cloak,” Goliath’s military cloak, which was part of the dedicated trophy. The ephod was naturally hung up where the high priest alone could get at it.”
1 Samuel 21:9
“The giant's sword was deposited in that safe custody as a memorial of the divine goodness in delivering Israel. There is none like that--not only for its size and superior temper, but for its being a pledge of the divine favor to him, and a constant stimulus to his faith.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 21:9
“Note, What we devote to God's praise, and serve him with, is most likely to redound, one way or other, to our own comfort and benefit. Thus was David well furnished with arms and victuals; but it fell out very unhappily that there was one of Saul's servants then attending before the Lord, Doeg by name, that proved a base traitor both to David and Ahimelech.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
B. Scrabbling on the gate of Gath, feigning madness
1. (vv. 10-12)
a.David flees to Achish king of Gath, Goliath's own city, still carrying the sword he took from its champion. The servants of Achish greet him with the song Israel sang after that victory, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands, the same words that first turned Saul against him at 18:7. David lays the words up in his heart and grows sore afraid of the king whose champion he killed. Two psalm titles set their psalms in this scene, Psalm 34 and Psalm 56, though this database stores the Psalms without their Hebrew titles and the link cannot be shown from the floor by query.
1 Samuel 21:10, 3 voices
1 Samuel 21:10
“Went to Achish the king of Gath - This was the worst place to which he could have gone: it was the very city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he now wore; and he soon found, from the conversation of the servants of Achish, that his life was in the most imminent danger in this place.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:10
“In this place his person must have been known, and to venture into that country, he their greatest enemy, and with the sword of Goliath in his hand, would seem to have been a perilous experiment; but, doubtless, the protection he received implies that he had been directed by the divine oracle. Achish was generous (1Sa 27:6).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Samuel 21:10
“The king elect is here an exile: anointed to the crown, and yet forced to run his country. So do God's providences sometimes run counter to his promises, for the trial of our faith, and the glorifying his name in accomplishing his counsels, notwithstanding the difficulties that lie in the way.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:11, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:11
“King of the land - Of Canaan. They call him king, either more generally for the governor, the most eminent captain and commander, or, as the king elect, the person designed to be king: for, by this time, the fame of Saul's rejection, and David's destination to the kingdom, was got abroad among the Israelites, and from them, probably to the Philistines.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:12, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:12
“Was afraid - Lest either their revenge or policy should prompt them to kill him. Perhaps he was the more apprehensive, because he wore Goliath's sword, which was probably well known at Gath.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2. (vv. 13-15)
a.David changes his behavior and feigns madness in front of the men of Gath, scrabbling on the doors of the gate and letting spittle run down his beard, since no other way out of the city presents itself. Achish reads it as genuine and turns him away rather than harm him, asking his servants why they brought him a madman at all. The older writers weigh the deception honestly: some read it as a sinful shift born of weak faith, matching the lie at Nob, while others call it a lesser evil that cost no one their life. Psalm 34's title places its writing at this scene, in words close to this verse's own, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, using a throne name for the same king called Achish here.
1 Samuel 21:13, 1 voice
1 Samuel 21:13
“Scrabbled - literally, made marks (margin), namely, the mark of the “tau” (t), which in the ancient Hebrew and Phoenician was in the shape of a cross. (See Eze 9:4.) On the doors of the gate - The gate of Achish’s palace-yard or court, in which the attendants waited. The house itself stood in this court. (Compare Est 2:19, Est 2:21.)”
1 Samuel 21:15, 2 voices
1 Samuel 21:15
“Shall this fellow come into my house? - I will not take into my service a man who is liable to so grievous a disease. Chandler, who vindicates David’s feigning himself, mad, concludes thus: “To deceive the deceiver is in many instances meritorious, in none criminal. And what so likely to deceive as the very reverse of that character which they had so misconstrued? He was undone as a wise man, he had a chance to escape as a madman; he tried, and the experiment succeeded.” I confess I can neither feel the force nor the morality of this.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Samuel 21:15
“Mad men - It is highly probable, Achish was aware, that this madness was counterfeit. But being desirous to preserve David, he speaks as if he thought it real.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 1 Samuel 21. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 11 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Ambrose of Milan, On Isaac and the Soul, 6.56; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 5.24; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Cassian, CONFERENCE 17.18.1-2; John Gill; John Wesley; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry.
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