King James Version
1 Samuel 21
15 verses with commentary
David at Nob
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?</strong><br><br>David's flight to Nob marks a pivotal moment in his wilderness years. The Hebrew verb 'charad' (was afraid) indicates Ahimelech's trembling at David's unexpected arrival without his usual retinue. Nob had become the p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Then came David to Nob.**—Before leaving his native land, David determined once more to see, and if practicable to take counsel with, the old high priest of Israel, with whom, no doubt, in the past years of his close connection with Samuel, he had had frequent and intimate communion. He hoped, too, in that friendly and powerful religious centre to provide himself and his few companions with ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. between the passages--**that is, the deep and great ravine of Suweinit.
**Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison--**a distance of about three miles running between two jagged points; Hebrew, "teeth of the cliff."
**there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side ... Bozez--**("shining") from the aspect of the chalky rock.
**Seneh--**("the th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
--Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way...
Read full commentary →And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.</strong><br><br>David's deception raises difficult ethical questions that Scripture does not sanitize. The Hebrew phrase 'davar sat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **The king hath commanded me.**—This is one of the sad episodes in a glorious life. Overwhelmed with dismay at his sudden fall, home and wife, friends and rank, all had been taken from him, and he who had been on the very steps of the throne, the darling of the people, strangely successful in all that he had up to this time put his hand to, was now a proscribed exile, flying for his life. Thes...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
--Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way...
Read full commentary →Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. present: Heb. found
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.</strong><br><br>David's request for 'five loaves' reveals his desperate circumstances—he fled with nothing. The Hebrew 'mah yesh' (what is there) indicates he would accept whatever was available. Five loaves would sustain a small group for several days. This humble petition from the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. it may be that the Lord will work for us--**This expression did not imply a doubt; it signified simply that the object he aimed at was not in his own power--but it depended upon God--and that he expected success neither from his own strength nor his own merit.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
--Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way...
Read full commentary →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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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong><br><br>Ahimelech's response introduces a profound tension between ritual law and human necessity. The Hebrew 'lechem chol' (common bread) versus 'lechem qodesh' (holy bread) distinguishes ordinary food from the s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **There is no common bread.**—The condition of the priests in these days of Saul was evidently a pitiable one. The terrible massacre related in the next chapter seems not to have excited the wail of indignation and woe which such a wholesale murder of the priests of the living God should naturally have called out from the entire people. They were evidently held in little esteem, and their murd...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
--Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way...
Read full commentary →And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. yea: or, especially when this day there is other sanctified in the vessel
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.</strong><br><br>David's response employs sophisticated theological reasoning. The Hebrew 'kelim' (vessels) metaphorically ref...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **The vessels.**—Their clothes and light, portable baggage—answering to the modern “knapsack.” The Vulg. renders the Hebrew word by “vasa.” David means to say, “Since we have just left home, you may readily suppose that no impurity has been contracted; it would be different if we were returning home from a journey, when on the way—especially in war—uncleanness might be contracted by the blood ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
--Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way...
Read full commentary →So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread , that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.</strong><br><br>The priest's decision to provide the showbread represents a remarkable pastoral judgment. The Hebrew construction emphasizes that this was the only bread available—literally 'there was no bread except...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. if they say, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand--**When Jonathan appears here to prescribe a sign or token of God's will, we may infer that the same spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its execution, and put into his heart what to ask of God. (See on Ge 24:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.</strong><br><br>This ominous verse introduces Doeg with foreboding detail. The Hebrew 'ne'etsar' (detained) suggests he was there for ritual purposes—perhaps fulfilling a vow or undergoing purification. The irony is de...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **A certain man.**—Among the personages who surround Saul in the Bible story appears incidentally the keeper of the royal mules, and chief of the household slaves, the “Comes stabuli,” “the constable of the king,” as appears in the later monarchy. “He is the first instance of a foreigner employed in a high function in Israel, being an Edomite, or Syrian, of the name of Doeg—according to Jewish...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. if they say, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand--**When Jonathan appears here to prescribe a sign or token of God's will, we may infer that the same spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its execution, and put into his heart what to ask of God. (See on Ge 24:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.</strong><br><br>David's request for weapons continues his deceptive narrative but reveals genuine need. The Hebrew 'chanith' (spear) and 'chereb' (sword) were primary military weapons. His explanation a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Spear or sword?**—We may well suppose *to what *David pointed when he made his request—the famous sword, the trophy of the combat which had for ever made his name illustrious. In the first flush of gratitude to the invisible One who had stood by him in the hour of peril, he had doubtless taken and presented to the sanctuary guardians, as an offering to be kept for ever, a memorial of the vic...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes--**As it could not occur to the sentries that two men had come with hostile designs, it was a natural conclusion that they were Israelite deserters. And hence no attempt was made to hinder their ascent, or stone them.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.</strong><br><br>The appearance of Goliath's sword creates powerful narrative symmetry. David's exclamation 'there...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **The sword of Goliath the Philistine.**—It was in safe guardianship, that trusty sword of the mightiest of the Philistines, stained perhaps with the blood of the brave but unworthy priests, Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, whom Goliath was believed to have slain in the fatal battle when the Ark was taken, and the power of Israel shattered for many a long year. It was wrapped up and lying ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →David Flees to Gath
And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.</strong><br><br>David's flight to Gath represents desperate, fear-driven decision-making. The Hebrew 'mipne' (from the face of) emphasizes he fled from Saul's threatening presence. Gath was Goliath's hometown—arguably the most dangerous place for David to seek refuge. Yet in his panic, David may have ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **And David arose and fled·**—The cause of this sudden flight was, of course, the fear of Doeg, one of Saul’s most trusted servants. Not an hour must be lost, thought David; my deadly foe will hear that I am here, and I shall be trapped like a hunted beast of prey. It seems at first sight strange that David should dare to go among the Philistines, who had such good cause to hate and fear him,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?</strong><br><br>The Philistine servants' recognition exposes David's perilous position. Their reference to the victory song (first recorded in 18:7) shows how David's fame had spread even to ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Is not this David?**—Some expositors have supposed, but quite needlessly, that it was the sword of Goliath which betrayed the identity of the hero; but although David in his humility did not suspect how widely spread was his fame, he was evidently as well known in Philistia as in his own land. That popular lilt, the folk-song of the Israelitish maidens, which sang of the prowess of David, t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-15. that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow--**This was a very ancient mode of measurement, and it still subsists in the East. The men who saw them scrambling up the rock had been surprised and killed, and the spectacle of twenty corpses would suggest to others that they were...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.</strong><br><br>The Hebrew phrase 'vayasem et-haddevarim' (laid up these words) indicates David carefully considered the implications of what he heard. His fear intensified—'vayira me'od' (was exceedingly afraid). This internal response contrasts sharply with the David who faced Goliath without trem...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **And David laid up these words.**—Now, for the first time, David saw how widely travelled was a renown of which he in his humbleness of heart had thought so little, and at once a deadly fear took possession of him. The life he held so cheaply when in battle with the enemies of his country now, strange to say, in his deep degradation and poverty, became of real value to him, and he adopted th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-15. that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow--**This was a very ancient mode of measurement, and it still subsists in the East. The men who saw them scrambling up the rock had been surprised and killed, and the spectacle of twenty corpses would suggest to others that they were...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. scrabbled: or, made marks
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.</strong><br><br>David's feigned madness represents desperate improvisation. The Hebrew 'vayishanneh et-ta'amo' literally means 'he disguised his judgment/discernment'—ironic since this very act displayed remarkable discernme...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **He changed his behaviour.**—These very words (with the substitution of Abimelech for Achish, a name which, as has been above suggested, seems to have been the “nomen dignitatis” for generations of Philistine kings) are found in the title of Psalms 34. The poem in question is, however, of a general, not of an historical character, and especially celebrates Jehovah’s guardian care of the righ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. the watchmen of Saul ... looked--**The wild disorder in the enemies' camp was described and the noise of dismay heard on the heights of Gibeah.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? is mad: or, playeth the mad man
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?</strong><br><br>Achish's response indicates David's ruse succeeded. The Hebrew 'hinneh' (behold/lo) introduces his observation with dramatic emphasis. His irritated question to the servants deflects responsibility for David's presence onto them. The king's annoyance reveals he considere...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Then said Achish . . . the man is mad.**—The Philistine king would look with peculiar sorrow and repulsion on a madman if, as according to Jewish tradition (see Philippson), *his own wife and daughter were insane.*
The device, however, succeeded, as David hoped it would, and he was suffered to depart in safety—nay, was even hurried out of the Philistine country. In old times, as now, in man...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-19. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us--**The idea occurred to him that it might be some daring adventurer belonging to his own little troop, and it would be easy to discover him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear. Naomi seems to have been a person of faith and piety. She dismissed her daughters-in-law with prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to part with them thus part in lo...
Read full commentary →Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?</strong><br><br>Achish's rhetorical questions complete David's deliverance through dismissal. The Hebrew 'chaser meshugga'im' (lacking madmen) sarcastically implies he already has enough troubled individuals around him. His refusal to allow David into his 'hous...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-19. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us--**The idea occurred to him that it might be some daring adventurer belonging to his own little troop, and it would be easy to discover him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-18**
See Ruth's resolution, and her good affection to Naomi. Orpah was loth to part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave Moab for her sake. Thus, many have a value and affection for Christ, yet come short of salvation by him, because they will not forsake other things for him. They love him, yet leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love other thing...
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