1 Samuel 21:4 BSB — MannaFest

1 Samuel 21:4

“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

KJV

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

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Commentary

3 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On Isaac and the Soul, 6.56 (397)

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

21 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיַּ֨עַן	vai.Ya.'an	and he answered	H6030 →
הַכֹּהֵ֤ן	ha.ko.Hen	the priest	H3548 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
דָּוִד֙	da.Vid	David	H1732 →
וַיֹּ֔אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
אֵֽין־	'ein-	there not	H369 →
לֶ֥חֶם	Le.chem	[is] bread of	H3899 →
חֹ֖ל	chol	profaneness	H2455 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
תַּ֣חַת	Ta.chat	under	H8478 →
יָדִ֑י	ya.Di	hand my	H3027 →
כִּֽי־	ki-	that	H3588 →
אִם־	'im-	except	H518 →
לֶ֤חֶם	Le.chem	[is] bread of	H3899 →
קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙	ko.desh	holiness	H6944 →
יֵ֔שׁ	Yesh	there	H3426 →
אִם־	'im-	if	H518 →
נִשְׁמְר֥וּ	nish.me.Ru	they have kept themselves	H8104 →
הַנְּעָרִ֖ים	ha.ne.'a.Rim	the young men	H5288 →
אַ֥ךְ	'akh	only	H389 →
מֵאִשָּֽׁה׃ פ	me.'i.Shah	from a woman	H802 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 7:5
Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack…
leads to
- Joel 2:16
  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Exodus 19:15
  “Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”
Through
Exodus 19:15
“Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 7:5
  Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 21:4–5
  “There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Zechariah 7:3
by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
leads to
- Zechariah 8:19
  “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of…
- James 4:8–10
  Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Through
Exodus 25:30
And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.
leads to
- Leviticus 24:5–9
  You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
- Matthew 12:4
  He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through 1 Samuel 21

Taw — The Mark of God

The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet — drawn in the Sinaitic script as a cross — appears at the decisive moments of judgment and rescue: the doorposts of Goshen, the foreheads in Jerusalem, the sealing of the 144,000, and the cross at Golgotha.

Open the study →

Walks through 1 Samuel 21

The Showbread

Open the study →

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

1 Samuel: the study guide →Read chapter 21 →The featured study →

Continue: 1 Samuel 21 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Samuel

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Samuel