1 Samuel 21:1 - Meaning and Application

David, in his distress, fled to God’s tabernacle, which was then set up at Nob, likely a town in Benjamin. Since Shiloh had been abandoned, the tabernacle often moved, though the ark still remained at Kirjath-jearim. David came there while fleeing from Saul’s anger (1 Samuel 21:1), and he went to Ahimelech the priest. Samuel the prophet could not protect him, and Jonathan the prince could not. So he turned next to Ahimelech.

David seems to have come to the tabernacle for two reasons. First, he wanted a sad farewell, because he did not know when he would see it again. He expected exile, and nothing would trouble him more than being far from God’s house and cut off from public worship. This shows up often in his psalms. He had already said goodbye to Jonathan, and now he could not leave without, as it were, saying goodbye to the tabernacle too. Second, he came to ask the Lord for direction, since his situation was both dangerous and hard. We learn later that Ahimelech did ask God for him, as he had done before (1 Samuel 22:10; 1 Samuel 21:15). It is a great comfort in trouble that we have a God to go to, one who lets us open our hearts and ask for guidance.

Ahimelech was surprised to see David in such poor condition. He had heard that David had fallen out of favor at court, so he looked at him with caution, as people often do when a friend becomes unpopular. He was afraid of bringing Saul’s anger on himself by helping David. He also noticed how different David looked from the way he used to appear. “Why are you alone?” he asked. David did have some men with him, as Mark 2:26 shows, but they were only his own servants. He had none of the court officials or men of rank who used to be around him when he came to ask the Lord. He once went to God’s house with a crowd (Psalm 42:4), but now he had only a few with him. David had gone quickly from the loneliness of shepherd life to the noise of the army camp, and now just as quickly down to the lonely life of an exile. So it is in this world. Those who are honored today may be abandoned tomorrow.

David then asked Ahimelech to help him with his needs, pretending that Saul had sent him on public business (1 Samuel 21:2, 1 Samuel 21:3). Here David did not act like himself. He told Ahimelech a serious lie, saying Saul had given him secret orders, that his men were waiting in another place, and that he could not even tell the priest what he was doing. All of that was false. Scripture does not hide this, and we must not excuse it. It was wrong, and it led to terrible results, because it helped bring about the death of the Lord’s priests, something David later regretted deeply (1 Samuel 22:22). He did not need to mislead Ahimelech. If he had told the truth, the priest likely would have helped and protected him, just as Samuel had done, and he would have known better how to advise him and ask God for him. People should be open with faithful ministers.

David was a man of great faith and courage, but at this moment both failed him. Fear and weakness led him into this sin, and it came from the weakness of his faith. If he had trusted God rightly, he would not have used such a sinful escape to save himself. Scripture records this, not for us to imitate, even in great danger, but to warn us. Let anyone who thinks he stands take care not to fall, and let us all pray daily, “Lord, do not lead us into temptation.” From this we should grieve for two things. First, the weakness of good people, because the best people are still not perfect in this life. There can be true grace, and still many failures. Second, we should grieve for the evil of hard times, which can push good people into pressure so strong that it becomes a temptation. Oppression can make even a wise man act foolishly.

David asked Ahimelech for two things, bread and a sword. First, he needed bread, five loaves (1 Samuel 21:3). Travel then was hard, since people usually carried their food with them. Money was scarce, and there were no public inns, so David had to ask for bread. It seems he knew, as Psalm 37:25 says, that the righteous may sometimes beg for bread, though not always. Ahimelech objected that he had only holy bread, the showbread, which had stood for a week on the golden table in the sanctuary and was then taken for the priests and their families (1 Samuel 21:4). It seems the priest did not keep much food on hand, either because he lacked generosity or lacked supplies. Ahimelech thought David’s men could not eat it unless they had kept from women for a time. That was required when the law was given (Exodus 19:15), but we do not find it made a general rule for ceremonial purity, so the priest here seems to be overly strict, if not a little superstitious.

David answered that in this case of need, he and his men could lawfully eat the holy bread. They had kept from women for three days, and the young men’s bodies were holy, meaning they were to be kept pure and honorable at all times (1 Thessalonians 4:4, 1 Thessalonians 4:5). God would therefore take care that they were not left without necessary food, and he would have his priest do the same. If they were holy, then holy things were not forbidden to them. Poor and godly Israelites were, in a sense, priests to God, and rather than starve, they might eat bread set apart for the priests. Believers are spiritual priests, and the Lord’s offerings are their inheritance. They eat the bread of their God.

David also argued that the bread was, in a sense, common now that its main sacred use had passed, especially because there was other bread, hot bread, sanctified that same day in its place and set on the table (1 Samuel 21:6). That was David’s plea, and the Son of David, Jesus, approved the principle. He showed from it that mercy is better than sacrifice, that outward ritual must yield to moral duty, and that an urgent need allowed what would not otherwise be proper. Jesus used this same example when defending his disciples for plucking grain on the sabbath, when the Pharisees blamed them (Matthew 12:3, Matthew 12:4).

So Ahimelech gave him the holy bread (1 Samuel 21:6), and some think this was the matter he later asked about from the Lord (1 Samuel 22:10).

As a faithful servant, he would not hand out his master’s supplies without permission. We may suppose this bread seemed even better to David because it was holy, since sacred things were precious to him. The showbread was only twelve loaves in all, yet Ahimelech, the priest, gave David five of them (1 Samuel 21:3), even though there was no more bread in the house. He trusted God to provide.

David also needed a sword. In that day, men of rank, even army officers, did not always wear swords as constantly as people do now, so it is no surprise that David had none with him. It is strange that Jonathan had not supplied him with one, as he had before (1 Samuel 18:4). Still, David had no weapons with him at this moment, and he later said he had come away in great haste (1 Samuel 21:8).

Those who are equipped with the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith cannot be stripped of what they need, nor should they ever be left helpless. The priests, however, did not have swords, since their warfare was not worldly. The only sword there at the tabernacle was Goliath’s sword, placed behind the ephod, the priestly vest, as a memorial of David’s great victory over him. David likely had this in mind when he asked for a sword, and when the priest mentioned it, he said, “There is none like that; give it to me” (1 Samuel 21:9).

He could not use Saul’s armor, because he had not tested it. But he had already used Goliath’s sword and proved what it could do. This also shows that David was now fully grown and strong enough to wield such a weapon. God had trained his hands for battle, so that he could do mighty things (Psalm 18:34).

We should notice two things about this sword. First, God had graciously given it to David as a sign of special favor. So whenever David drew it, and even whenever he saw it, it could strengthen his faith by reminding him of God’s careful protection over his life. Second, David had given it back to God in thankfulness, setting it apart for God’s honor. Now, in his trouble, it became a great help to him. What we devote to God’s praise and use in his service often comes back to us for our own comfort and good. What we gave, we have.

David was thus supplied with both food and weapons. But it turned out very badly that one of Saul’s servants was there, a man named Doeg, who betrayed both David and Ahimelech. Doeg was an Edomite by birth (1 Samuel 21:7), and although he had become part of Israel’s religion to gain Saul’s favor, he still kept the old hatred that Edom had for Israel. He was the chief of Saul’s herdsmen, which may have been an honor similar to the chief of the royal stables today.

He had some reason to be at the priest’s side then, perhaps to be cleansed from some uncleanness or to fulfill a vow. Whatever his errand was, Scripture says he was detained before the Lord. He had to stay, but he was unhappy about it. Like the people in Malachi’s day, he treated God’s service as a burden and said, “What a weariness” (Malachi 1:13). He would rather have been anywhere else than before the Lord. So instead of caring about the task that brought him there, he was already planning harm against David and revenge against Ahimelech for keeping him there.

God’s sanctuary could not protect a wolf in sheep’s clothing. See (Galatians 2:4).