Outline of Chapter 21:

       vv.    1–9        David Gets Supplies from Ahimelech, a Priest at Nob

       vv.   10–15      David Goes to Gath and Goes Before King Achish

Charts and Maps:

       v.      1           A Summary of the Events Which Have Occurred between 1Sam. 7 and 1Sam. 21

       v.      1           The Lineage to and From Ahimelech

       v.      1           Possible Reasons Why Ahimelech is Trembling When He Meets David

       v.      2           Why Will David Spend So Much Time as a Refugee?

       v.      4           An Explanation of Jesus’ Answer to the Pharisees Regarding David and the Consecrated Bread

       v.      4           Why Didn’t Jesus Simply Come Out and Say What He Meant?

       v.      7           Where is the Ark and Why is it not in the Tabernacle of God?

       v.     15           Why Did Achish Allow David to Leave?

       v.     15           Arguments in Favor of David Traveling Alone at this Time

       v.     15           Arguments in Favor of David Traveling With Others at this Time

I ntroduction: 1Sam. 21 is a relatively short chapter (particularly compared to the previous chapter), but it relates to us two very different incidents in the life of David. He comes to the priests in Nob and lies about the reason for his presence there. David asks for Goliath’s sword, which is given to him. He will be recognized by one of Saul’s shepherds, who will report him to Saul.

It is important that you recognize that David’s going to the city of priests was not a matter of spiritual wisdom on his part. He did not go in order to ascertain God’s will or to get some encouragement. He will lie to the head priest there, which means that gaining either encouragement or direction is out of the question. Furthermore, David’s reasons for going to Nob seem to be secular one: he needs food and a weapon. He knows that he can find both in Nob.

In part 2 of this chapter (which is a very easy chapter to outline), David then changes direction (he had gone southeast from Gibeah to Nob and now he will go south-west) and goes to the city of Gath to the governor of Gath, Achish (actually, he is brought before Achish). David will feign madness and Achish will dismiss him, having already enough madmen in his own cabinet.

There are two striking features to this narrative: (1) the vocabulary is markedly different; I find myself going into the Hebrew lexicon for more and more words that have not been used ever in the book of Samuel. This of course, could be passed off as, new situations and therefore, a new vocabulary. In any case, the result is going to be an increased amount of information concerning the vocabulary and usage of certain words. (2) However, you will recall that in previous chapters, there was really more intimate information about Jonathan and the things which occurred in his life than in David’s, even though since 1Sam. 16, this book has been about David. Except for chapter 16, scenes with Jonathan and without David tend to be more detailed than scenes with David without Jonathan. At this point, it is all about David, and we get more details of his interactions than we had before. My point is, we may be dealing with a difference source. I would guess that Jonathan recorded much of what we have previous studied and that it is possible that David is recording this information. Given David’s burst of psalms at this point (at least three), gives us even greater reason to think that David might record this history (at least in retrospect).

With this chapter, David leaves the capital of Gibeah, and forges a life as a fugitive. He will move from city to city, from mountain to mountain, from cave to cave. However, interestingly enough, David will always remain relatively close to Jerusalem. Edersheim suggests a twofold reason: (1) he can keep closer tabs on Saul by tapping informants for information in Jerusalem (this point is not really substantiated in Scripture); and (2) he would be reasonably close to his family. On the second point, David moved at least his mother and father to Moab in order to insure their safety (1Sam. 22:3). It is not clear where his brothers went, or whether they remained in Jerusalem. I suspect that as a shepherd, David had taken his sheep out all around Jerusalem and that he stayed in this generally vicinity because he knew it well.

A minor point: Then end of 1Sam. 20:42 is v. 1 in the Hebrew. All of the verses which follow are therefore out of synch by one verse. In the Hebrew, there are 16 verses in this chapter.

David Gets Supplies from Ahimelech, a Priest at Nob

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so comes David to Nob unto Ahimelech the priest and so trembles Ahimelech And so comes David to Nob unto Ahimelech the priest and so trembles Ahimelech to meet David and so he says to him, “Why [are] you to your separation and no man [is] with you?” to meet David and so he says to him, “Why [are] you to your separation and no man [is] with you?”

Septuagint                             And David comes to Nomba to Abimelech the priest; and Abimelech was amazed at meeting him, and said to him, “Why [are] you alone and nobody [is] with you?”

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       David went to see Ahimelech, a priest who lived in the town of Nob. Ahimelech was trembling with fear as he came out to meet David. “Why are you alone?” Ahimelech asked. “Why isn't anyone else with you?”

TEV                                       David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, “Why did you come here all by yourself?”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. “Why are you alone?” he asked David. “Why is no one with you?”

JPS (Tanakh)                        David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech came out in alarm to meet David, and he said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” [This is, of course, v. 2 in the JPS].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, “Why are you alone and no one with you?”

Young's Updated LT              And David comes in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembles at meeting David, and says to him, “Why are you yourself alone, and no man with you?”

What is the gist of this verse? David goes to a priest at Nob and the priest is apparently very nervous to meet David. He asks David why he is alone.

Translation: Then David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. This is the first mention of a priest or of anything to do with the Tabernacle since 1Sam. 14. There are several misconceptions which could have been gotten from 1Sam. 14. In v. 3, we see Ahijah wearing the ephod in Saul’s camp. Apparently, he functioned as their itinerant priest. Although the city of Shiloh is mentioned, this is in reference to Eli, who was the priest of Jehovah at Shiloh. The camp priest’s credentials were that he was the grandson of Eli (and, as you will recall, his grandfather was a corrupt priest). My point is, there is not necessarily an active priesthood functioning in Shiloh in this context of 1Sam. 14. In 1Sam. 14:18, in the Hebrew, Saul calls for the Ark of God, but it is actually the ephod that he calls for. When a king needed divine guidance, he called for the ephod, not the Ark (even though the wearer of the ephod may have been a charlatan). And even had Saul called for the Ark, it was never brought to him, as the camp of Philistines suddenly became quite noisy and confused. So, even though a priest is mentioned, along with his ephod (and possibly the Ark); this is simply a camp priest who traveled with Saul, and primarily for good luck, one might reasonably suppose.

There are Philistine priests mentioned in 1Sam. 5 and 6; but our last true reference to God’s plan for spiritual growth for the nation is at the beginning of 1Sam. 7, where the Ark of God has been returned by the Philistines and it is kept by Eleazar ben Abinadab (this is after the Israelites treat the Ark with disrespect). You may recall that in 1Sam. 7, we dealt with a long list of questions, e.g., Why do we not have a Biblical record of the destruction of the Tent of God? Why did Samuel not set up the Ark as a part of Tent service? Was Samuel properly the High Priest successor to Eli? In 1Sam. 6, we studied the destruction of Shiloh and the movement of the Ark.

We find out here that there is a functioning priesthood, they live in Nob, and the context will indicate to us that there are some traditions which are still being followed.

Nob is a city which is northeast of Jerusalem and south of Gibeah. You may recall from 1Sam. 17:54, David took the head of Goliath to Jerusalem and kept his weapons in his tent. Apparently, these were David’s original intentions. However, at some point in time, Goliath’s weapons ended up here in Nob (v. 9), which is fairly close to Jerusalem. Given that David’s family lived in Bethlehem and that David probably traveled there on occasion, he probably kept the weapons there and they were later taken to the Tabernacle (either by David or a member of his family). Again, this is one of the many unrecorded incidents of Scripture which must be inferred. Since the Bread of Presence is mentioned, that means that some of the functions of the priesthood are being carried out.

Nob is actually mentioned very few times in Scripture. This is the first time that the city is named. We may surmise that Nob became the new location for the Tabernacle of God, given that Shiloh had been destroyed (see 1Sam. 4:2–3 Jer. 7:12 and The Destruction of Shiloh, which is covered in detail in 1Sam. 7:2). One might say that this is a meek establishment of the holy city, as there are only 86 priests here (1Sam. 22:18–19) and no Ark (compare 1Sam. 7:1–2 with 2Sam. 6:4); however, they did have the ephod (1Sam. 21:9 23:6) and they baked Showbread (1Sam. 21:4, 6). It was as though they were tentatively setting up a holy city. Later on, we are going to learn reasons why this was probably an apostate priesthood when we examine Where is the Ark and Why is it not in the Tabernacle of God?, a study located in this chapter (v. 7).

In 1Sam. 22:9, Doeg the Edomite will report that David was seen at Nob. Saul sends for the priests who are at Nob (1Sam. 22:11) and summarily executes them and almost everyone who lives in this city (which is also known as the City of the Priests in 1Sam. 22:19).

Nob was eventually resettled as a part of Benjamin in Neh. 11:31–35 and its residents may have included some priests. Our final reference to Nob is in Isa. 10:32; the context is the predicted assault of the Assyrian forces and from Nob, Sennacherib would temporarily halt (probably to organize his forces before assaulting Jerusalem) and from Nob, he would shake his fist at Jerusalem.

Nob is to be identified today with Ras Umm et-Tal or with Mount Scopus on the northern part of the Olivet ridge. This general location is in agreement with all of the Scriptures referring to Nob; plus, in 2Sam. 15, David will ascend Olivet, where God was worshiped (2Sam. 15:30–32). S. R. Driver suggests a place on the Râs el-Meshârif, which is a mile north of Jerusalem, from which a person coming from the north road catches his first glimpse of Jerusalem.

We have already studied the Movement of the Ark and the Tent of God in 1Sam. 10. Samuel, in 1Sam. 10, prophesies to Saul how he will meet three men on the way to the hill of God which appears to be in Bethel (1Sam. 10:3–5). Gilgal, however, is given as the place where Saul should go to meet Samuel for the sacrifices. So, we really do not know exactly where the tent is set up during this time, if anywhere. It was in Shiloh; however, sometime during the time of Samuel and Saul, Shiloh was probably destroyed, although the Tabernacle of God had been saved. Whether it was reassembled elsewhere is never told to us (until Solomon fetches it). Throughout much of Saul’s early reign, many religious activities take place in Gilgal (1Sam. 10:8 11:14–15 13:4–15 15:21). For that reason, it is possible that there was some sort of a priesthood functioning in Gilgal for several years. In any case, by this time, many of the priests were living in Nob and that the Tent of God is set up is implied, as they do replenish the Table of Showbread regularly (as we will see in this chapter) and the ephod is kept here as well (1Sam. 21:9). Interestingly enough, none of the cities mentioned here are specifically Levite cities (see Joshua 21).

This is the first mention of Ahimelech and, as you will read, there is no information given to us concerning his ancestry. As mentioned above, we are unclear as to the relationship between Ahimelech and Ahijah. Ahijah is first mentioned back in 1Sam. 14:3, where his lineage is given (and reproduced above). At that time, Ahijah is a priest who travels with Saul and his military. Ahijah is one of Saul’s advisors because Ahijah has the ephod (which is used to determine God’s will). This is all we really know about Ahijah. Ahijah and Ahimelech are never mentioned together and neither man is found in 1Chron. 6, which is the Levite line. However, they are both clearly priests and important figures during this time period. One could argue that, since Ahijah traveled with Saul and Ahimelech is found in Nob with the priests, that these are clearly different men. However, bear in mind that 1Sam. 14 occurred several years previous (perhaps as many as 10 years ago); and, if Ahijah is no longer traveling with Saul’s military (which apparently functions almost apart from Saul’s direct supervision during these times), then he must have some sort of function; hence, he gathers the priests at Nob. That Saul did not retain him (again, a speculative point) is simply further evidence that Saul became more and more estranged from God. Furthermore, the ephod is no longer with Saul but with the priests (see 1Sam. 23:6 30:7). So, no matter how you slice it, there are reasonable arguments for Ahijah and Ahimelech being brothers, being father and son, or being the same man. For these reason, we will treat these men separately, bearing the thought in the back of our minds that they could be one and the same.

The term High Priest is never applied to Ahimelech, although it is reasonable to assume that he is the man in charge in Nob; however, no one in the book of Samuel is ever called a High Priest. Ahimelech is clearly the man in charge and therefore the man that David speaks to. He authorizes David to take the sacred bread, which is not the sort of decision an underling would make. Ahimelech is also mentioned in the inscription of Psalm 52, one of the psalms that we will study in the near future. Given the destruction of Shiloh, it is reasonable to assume that the priests are at an uncertain stage in their existence. They do not have the approbation of Saul; Samuel is busy with his school of prophets in Naioth; and we have no mention of God speaking to any of these priests (which is a very rare event anyway). Saul no longer consults them for direction, as his estrangement from God has become more and more dramatic, as his hatred for David increases (we know this because the ephod is with Saul’s army in 1Sam. 14:3, but is with a priest from Nob in 23:6). And, instead of feasts held at the holy city (which is wherever the Tabernacle is), Saul is holding feasts at the palace (1Sam. 20:24–29). Given all of this information, it would be reasonable to suppose that Ahimelech ran the show at Nob (what show there was to run), but that things were not back to normal, and that he was at best the unofficial High Priest.

It is very possible that the Tabernacle of God had just been recently revived and that those priests who remained functioned there. There is no mention in this chapter of the High Priest; and it is possible that no one had been selected as the High Priest yet. Samuel was still alive and that appeared to be his general function (although Samuel is never referred to as High Priest). It is important to note, however that no one in the book of Samuel is called a High Priest; this designation occurs only a moderate number of times and in specific books (Numbers, Kings, Nehemiah, Chronicles, Haggai and Zechariah). Samuel does not appear to be a part of the Tabernacle ministry, as he has a seminary near his own home in Naioth (1Sam. 19:18) and that ministry seems to be tied to the prophets at this point in time rather than to the priests.

So, here we have David at the city of Nob. We might expect him to consult with Ahimelech about the will of God. We might expect some conversation to take place about David’s plight. However, even though David is first drawn to the city of the prophets and then to the city of priests, his interests are completely self-serving, and he does not express any real interest in the will of God. He knows that there is food there and he apparently knows that the priests have at least Goliath’s sword there.

Translation: Ahimelech was trembling to meet David... Ahimelech is clearly nervous about meeting up with David, and we are never really told why. Whether he knew that Saul was after David is not told to us (what is recorded does not seem to indicate that Ahimelech had any idea about the estrangement between these two men). It is important to bear in mind that Jonathan was not aware of his father’s intense hatred for David until a day or so previous to this. However, being priests, they may have been aware of Saul’s men coming for David at Naioth (something that they might know about, but that Jonathan would not). On the other hand, given the lie that David will tell Ahimelech, this would also suggest that he was not aware of David and Saul’s estrangement (obviously, Ahimelech could have chosen to believe David’s lie). It is possible that a person of David’s political stature showing up made Ahimelech nervous. It is possible that Ahimelech was afraid when he met David simply due to a premonition of impending doom, although he could not have clearly stated himself why he was trembling. Having a premonition of fear will prove to be justified in the next chapter. Keil and Delitzsch suggest The unexpected appearance of David, the son-in-law of the king, without any attendants, alarmed Ahimelech, who probably imagined that he had come with a commission from the king which might involve him in danger. All we know for certain is that Ahimelech is somewhat taken aback—even frightened—to meet David. David will lie to him and get both food and weapons from Ahimelech in this chapter. The result will be that Ahimelech will be seen by Saul to be in cahoots with David; by extension, Saul sees the entire city of priests being in cahoots with David. Therefore, in a rage, he will kill all of the priests in 1Sam. 22:9–19.

It is Ahimelech’s son, Abiathar, who will escape Saul’s attack, and who will become the High Priest during David’s reign. As you will see, he will name his own son Ahimelech, in honor of his father.