1Sa 21 | TNotes | STEP | 21:1 Nob was just north of Jerusalem, in the southern part of the territory of Benjamin. • Ahimelech the priest was a descendant of the condemned family of Eli (14:3 ; 22:9 ). • The elders of Bethlehem had also trembled when Samuel unexpectedly came to their city to anoint David as Saul’s replacement (16:4 ). On both occasions, a prominent individual who had strained relations with Saul showed up unannounced. Both Ahimelech and the Bethlehem elders were concerned about being suspected of supporting an enemy of the king, which could result in death. In this case, what was feared came about (see 22:9-19 ).

21:1 ^a Nob was just north of Jerusalem, in the southern part of the territory of Benjamin.

• Ahimelech the priest was a descendant of the condemned family of Eli (14:3 ^b; 22:9 ^c).

• The elders of Bethlehem had also trembled when Samuel unexpectedly came to their city to anoint David as Saul’s replacement (16:4 ^d). On both occasions, a prominent individual who had strained relations with Saul showed up unannounced. Both Ahimelech and the Bethlehem elders were concerned about being suspected of supporting an enemy of the king, which could result in death. In this case, what was feared came about (see 22:9-19 ^e).
21:2 ^f The king has sent me: David lied to conceal his outlaw status and to dispel Ahimelech’s worries.
21:4 ^g Only priests were permitted to partake of holy bread (see Exod 25:22-30 ^h; Lev 24:5-9 ⁱ), and only within the sacred precincts.

• slept with any women: The consecrated bread was to be eaten only by the ritually pure, so the priest verified that David’s men were free from ritual impurity caused by sexual activity (see Lev 15:16-18 ^j). Typically, such bread would not be available for consumption by laity. The priest made an exception in this case probably because he sensed the men’s physical needs and he believed they were on a royal mission.
21:6 ^k gave him the holy bread: Jesus referred to this incident to teach that meeting people’s physical needs takes precedence over rigid adherence to sacred institutions (see Matt 12:1-8 ^l; Mark 2:23-28 ^m; Luke 6:1-5 ⁿ).

• The Bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves (possibly one representing each tribe) that were laid out on a table in the Holy Place. They were replaced every Sabbath (see Exod 25:30 ^o; Lev 24:5-9 ^p).
21:7 ^q having been detained before the Lord: Ahimelech sought guidance from God on others’ behalf (22:15 ^r), so it is possible that Doeg was awaiting a response to an inquiry.
21:9 ^s The sword of Goliath, which David used to decapitate the giant (17:51 ^t), had been taken as war spoils, as had Goliath’s head (17:54 ^u).

• The ephod mentioned here might not have been the priestly garment of the same name; some passages give the impression that an ephod could also be a statue (Judg 8:27 ^v; 18:17 ^w).
Summary for 1Sam 21:10-15: 21:10-15 ^x Gath, a major Philistine city and the hometown of Goliath, was a clever but dangerous place for David to seek refuge from Saul.
21:11 ^y the king of the land: David’s reputation as a mighty warrior even greater than King Saul (see 18:7 ^z) had grown to the point where foreigners began referring to him as Israel’s king.
Summary for 1Sam 21:12-13: 21:12-13 ^aa The lengthy title of Ps 34 ^ab refers to this incident but names the Philistine king Abimelech rather than Achish. “Abimelech” might have been the common title for Philistine kings (in Hebrew it means “my father the king”). The name Abimelech also appears in Gen 20:2 ^ac; 26:1 ^ad.