1 Samuel 22:18
in 1 Samuel 22So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
KJV
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 22
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAnd Doeg - fell upon the priests - A ruthless Edomite, capable of any species of iniquity. Fourscore and five persons - The Septuagint read τριακοσιους και πεντε ανδρας, three hundred and five men; and Josephus has three hundred and eighty-five men. Probably the eighty-five were priests; the three hundred, the families of the priests; three hundred and eighty-five being the whole population of Nob. That did wear a linen ephod - That is, persons who did actually administer, or had a right to administer, in sacred things. The linen ephod was the ordinary clothing of the priests.
This site's exposition
fourscore and five persons
on 1 Samuel 22:18-19
Doeg alone does what Israel's own soldiers would not, killing fourscore and five men who wore the linen ephod, then putting the whole city of Nob to the sword, men, women, children and cattle together. Wesley calls it the worst deed of Saul's entire reign, plain evidence of the evil spirit that had long tormented him. Henry and Gill both read the slaughter as the sentence spoken over Eli's house at 2:27 to 36 and again at 3:11 to 14 falling due, God's justice riding on Saul's injustice without excusing the man who carried it out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
While the holy man David was on the run from Saul's persecution, he fled to a place where he thought he would be safe. He passed by the house of a priest named Ahimelech and accepted loaves from him. In so doing, he acted in the role not of a king only, but of a priest too, because he ate the bread of the presence which "it was unlawful for anyone other than the priests to eat," as the Lord reminds us in the Gospel. Saul, when later he began to hunt him, was angry with his retainers because none of them was willing to betray David. The story has just been read from the book of the Kingdoms [Samuel]. But there was a man present that day named Doeg, who was an Edomite and the principal herdsman in Saul's service; he too had come to Ahimelech the priest. He was present again when Saul raged against his followers because none of them would betray David. Doeg revealed where he had seen him. Saul immediately sent for the priest and all his family to be brought before him, and [he] ordered that they be killed. Not one of Saul's entourage dared raise a hand against the priests of the Lord, even under orders from the king. But this Doeg, who had betrayed David's whereabouts, was like Judas; he did not recoil from his evil purpose but persisted in bringing forth fruit from that same root even to the end, the kind of fruit typical of a rotten tree. So at the king's order Doeg killed the priest and all his family, and afterwards the city of the priests was demolished.We have seen, then, that this man Doeg was the enemy of both David the king and Ahimelech the priest. Doeg was a single person, but he represents a whole class of people. Similarly David embodies both king and priest, like one man with a dual personality, though the human race is one. […]
Indeed, when Saul heard that the priests had helped David unwittingly, he had them brought to him, and he killed them. It was fitting for you too that innocent blood be hung about your neck, as was Saul's case. But the Son of David escaped …
You put in the front of your letter what would be pleasing, that it is written in the book of 1 Kings [Samuel]: "Samuel served as a boy before the Lord, girded in a linen ephod and having a small duplicate cloak which his mother had made for him and would bring to him day after day when she went up with her husband to offer sacrifice on the day of sacrifice."
When David was fleeing from Saul, he came to the priest Abimelech. He was received by him and obtained the loaves of proposition and the sword with which he had slain Goliath. The loaves of proposition denoted his role as priest, the consecrated sword his …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And the king said to Doeg the Edomite: Turn you, etc. Which the impious persecutors said to the most wicked ministers, evidently moved from every state of rectitude and further defiled by the innocent blood of the steadfast: Turn to evil, and after the crime …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he slaughtered, etc. Eighty-five men slaughtered on that day signify those who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 22); undoubtedly strong in deeds, and perfected equally in the spiritual observance of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Edomite - This is noted to wipe off the stain of this butchery from the Israelitish nation, and to shew, why he was so ready to do it, because he was one of that nation which had an implacable hatred against all Israelites, and against the priests of the Lord.
), and perhaps appeared at this time before Saul in their habits, and were slain in them. This (one would think) was enough to satiate the most blood-thirsty; but the horseleech of persecution still cries, "Give, give." Doeg, by Saul's order no doubt, having murdered the priests, went to their city Nob, and put all to the sword there (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And the king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priests,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
We are not to suppose that Doeg killed them all with his own hand. He had a band of men under his command, many or all of whom were perhaps foreigners like himself, and very likely of a Bedouin caste, to whom bloodshed would be quite natural, and the priests of the Lord of no more account than so Early sheep or oxen.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
To the runners who stood near him. Referring to Avneir and Amoso.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לְדוֹאֵ֔ג | ledoyeg | to Doeg | H1673 → | 5 times |
| סֹ֣ב | so | turn round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אַתָּ֔ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וּפְגַ֖ע | ufega' | and fall | H6293 → | 46 times |
| בַּכֹּהֲנִ֑ים | bakohanim | on the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וַיִּסֹּ֞ב | vaiyiso | and he turned round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| דּוֹאֵ֣ג | doyeg | Doeg | H1673 → | 5 times |
| הָאֲדֹמִ֗י | haadomi | the Edomite | H130 → | 11 times |
| וַיִּפְגַּע־ | vaiyifga'- | and he fell | H6293 → | 46 times |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| בַּכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים | bakohanim | on the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וַיָּ֣מֶת׀ | vaiyamet | and he killed | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֗וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| שְׁמֹנִ֤ים | shemonim | eighty | H8084 → | |
| וַחֲמִשָּׁה֙ | vachamishah | and five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| נֹשֵׂ֖א | nose' | [who] carried | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֵפ֥וֹד | ʾefod | an ephod of | H646 → | 49 times |
| בָּֽד׃ | bad | linen | H906 → |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
לְדוֹאֵ֔גto Doeg
ledoyegH1673 →5 times
סֹ֣בturn round
soH5437 →161 times
אַתָּ֔הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וּפְגַ֖עand fall
ufega'H6293 →46 times
בַּכֹּהֲנִ֑יםon the priests
bakohanimH3548 →750 times
וַיִּסֹּ֞בand he turned round
vaiyisoH5437 →161 times
דּוֹאֵ֣גDoeg
doyegH1673 →5 times
הָאֲדֹמִ֗יthe Edomite
haadomiH130 →11 times
וַיִּפְגַּע־and he fell
vaiyifga'-H6293 →46 times
הוּא֙he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
בַּכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔יםon the priests
bakohanimH3548 →750 times
וַיָּ֣מֶת׀and he killed
vaiyametH4191 →839 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֗וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
שְׁמֹנִ֤יםeighty
shemonimH8084 →
וַחֲמִשָּׁה֙and five
vachamishahH2568 →343 times
אִ֔ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
נֹשֵׂ֖א[who] carried
nose'H5375 →656 times
אֵפ֥וֹדan ephod of
ʾefodH646 →49 times
בָּֽד׃linen
badH906 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hosea 7:3They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
it leads to
- Romans 1:32
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Micah 7:3
Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Jeremiah 28:1–4
In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to…
- Romans 1:32
Through
1 Samuel 2:36And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:27
So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.
- 1 Kings 2:27
Through
2 Chronicles 24:21But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Acts 7:58–59
They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Jeremiah 38:4–6
Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to…
- Jeremiah 18:18
Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us…
- Nehemiah 9:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 51; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 51.1-2; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 3.3; Jerome, LETTER 29; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.