The Life and Times of

A Brief Review

Things have not always been bad between Saul and David. At one time, Saul felt very warmly toward David (16:21), and there was a time when he rejoiced in David’s victory over Goliath and the Philistines (19:5). David’s anointing as Saul’s replacement was not due to David’s ambition, but the result of Saul’s own folly. In a moment of panic, Saul disobeyed Samuel’s instructions to wait for him (10:8) and offered sacrifices himself (chapter 13). Samuel rebuked Saul for this, but Saul never really repented of this sin. Later, Saul failed to totally annihilate the Amalekites as God had instructed him in chapter 15. All of this spelled the end of Saul’s dynasty, and this Samuel told to Saul.

We know the Spirit of God departed from Saul and was replaced by an “evil spirit from the Lord.” We know too that the Spirit of God then descended with power upon David (16:13-14). This opened the door for David’s employment by Saul to soothe his troubled spirit by playing his harp (16:14-23). Although Saul loved David in the beginning, he soon became intensely jealous of him. He could even hear it in the songs the women sang about David (18:7), in the deep love and affection shown David by his own family (18:1-5, 20), and the respect and admiration he gained from those in Saul’s army (18:13-16, 30). Saul became suspicious of David’s every deed. The song the women sang, comparing and contrasting David’s victory with Saul’s, finally put Saul over the edge.

Saul made numerous attempts on David’s life. Some were concealed, such as offering David one of his daughters in marriage (which required David to act valiantly in war to prove his worthiness as a husband – 18:17-29). Other efforts were more open, such as Saul seeking to run David through with his spear (18:10-12). Finally, Saul gave orders for David to be killed (19:1). As a result of his son Jonathan’s appeal, this order was rescinded for a time (19:1-7), but before long Saul once again actively sought to kill David (19:8ff.). Jonathan and David met and devised a plan which would make it very clear that Saul indeed was intent on killing David. This resulted in David fleeing from Saul, and sadly parting from Jonathan (chapter 20).

Now in chapter 21, we find David a political refugee, a man without a country. We have come to a new chapter in David’s life. It is a painful time of separation from his wife, from his position in Saul’s employ, and from his beloved friend Jonathan. It is also a dangerous time, but one in which God’s anointed cannot be killed, no matter how great the danger might appear. It is a time of growth and preparation for David, a time that prepares him for the day he will rule over Israel as God’s anointed king.

Borrowed Bread (21:1-9)

1 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?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter, and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.' 3 “Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest and said to him, “Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away. 7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds. 8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's matter was urgent.” 9 Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

Where could David possibly go for refuge or even help? Surely Ahimelech the high priest can be trusted. And so David flees to Nob, the city of the priests, a few miles to the north and east of Jerusalem (a few miles south of Gibeah, Saul’s hometown). David is well aware of Saul’s influence and his potential for violence. So he keeps his true purpose for coming a secret, perhaps thinking he is doing the priest a favor. It does not turn out that way, as we shall see.

Ahimelech is no one’s fool either. When he sees David, he comes trembling to meet him (compare 16:1-5). He is especially troubled to see David coming alone and questions him about this. David has been made the commander of a thousand by Saul. If he is coming in an official capacity (as he has a number of times in the past – see 22:15), then he should be with his men. “Where are they?” the priest wonders. He asks David about his coming alone.

David has a ready-made story for the priest. I do not know whether or not the priest believes it, but he does know better than to press David on this point. He takes David’s words at face value. David believes that if he keeps Ahimelech ignorant, Saul will surely not harm him. David is wrong. David tells the priest he is on special assignment for King Saul, that the king has sent him on a top-secret mission, one he cannot even describe to Ahimelech. David tells Ahimelech he is not alone; his men are secretly hidden a short distance away. All of this cloak and dagger stuff adds importance to the mission, or at least David hopes it does.

David now comes to the reason for his visit: he needs some provisions. Carrying on with his deception, he tells Ahimelech that he needs some bread. The only bread the priest has on hand is sacred bread, the showbread, which is normally eaten only by the priests. If David and his men have not been rendered ceremonially unclean by sexual relations with women,²⁰ the priest will give five loaves of the consecrated bread to David. David assures him that this is the case. If, in normal circumstances this was always the case, how much more so in this instance. The priest gives David the sacred bread, but as he does so, Doeg the Edomite looks on with great interest. Doeg is the “chief of Saul’s shepherds,” a job David could handle very well. It will not be long before Doeg reports what he has seen to Saul, bringing death to almost every soul in the city of Nob (see 22:6-23).

David now asks Ahimelech for a sword. Few swords could be found in the entire kingdom, much less in the camp of the priests. What need had they for weapons? There was but one sword on the premises, the sword of Goliath, the sword David had obtained by his victory over this Philistine giant. The sword was a kind of trophy, a memorial of the victory God gave Israel through David. In truth, it belongs to David anyway, so the priest willingly gives it to him, no doubt wondering why David came so ill prepared for battle. David gives the excuse that he was in such a hurry he didn’t have time to get his sword or other weapons. This must have produced a puzzled look on the priest’s face, as David’s story becomes harder and harder to believe. Nevertheless, he gives David Goliath’s sword, and it appears David promptly leaves for Gath.