I Samuel

David then went his way, and Jonathan returned to the town.

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? Not a soul is with you!”

David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king has ordered me on a mission, and he said to me, ‘Absolutely no one must know anything about the mission on which I am sending you and for which I have given you orders.’ So I have directed [my] young men toadirected [my] young men to Meaning of Heb. uncertain. 4QSamᵇ (cf. Septuagint) reads “made an appointment with [my] young men at…” such and such a place.

Now then, what have you got on hand? AnybAny Lit. “five.” loaves of bread? Let me have them—or whatever is available.”

The priest answered David, “I have no ordinary bread on hand; there is only consecrated bread—provided the young men have kept away from women.”

In reply to the priest, David said, “I assure you that women have been kept from us, as always. Whenever I went on a mission, even if the journey was a common one, the vessels of the young men were consecrated; all the more then may consecrated food be put into their vessels today.”cmay consecrated food … today Meaning of Heb. uncertain in part.

So the priest gave him consecrated bread, because there was none there except the bread of display, which had been removed from GOD’s presence to be replaced by warm bread as soon as it was taken away.—

Now one of Saul’s officials was there that day, detained before GOD;ddetained before GOD I.e., excluded from the shrine, perhaps because of ritual impurity. his name was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman.echief herdsman Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

David said to Ahimelech, “Haven’t you got a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t take my sword or any of my weapons with me, because the king’s mission was urgent.”

The priest said, “There is the sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you slew in the valley of Elah; it is over there, wrapped in a cloth, behind the ephod. If you want to take that one, take it, for there is none here but that one.” David replied, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

That day David continued on his flight from Saul and he came to King Achish of Gath.

The courtiers of Achish said to him, “Why, that’s David, king of the land! That’s the one of whom they sing as they dance:Saul has slain his thousands;David, his tens of thousands.”

These words worried David and he became very much afraid of King Achish of Gath.

So he concealed his good sense from them; he feigned madness for their benefit.ffor their benefit Lit. “in their hand”; meaning of Heb. uncertain. He scratched marks on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

And Achish said to his courtiers, “You see the man is raving; why bring him to me?

Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to rave for me? Should he enter my house?”