1 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?
2 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.
3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 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?
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 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.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
15 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?

1Then came Dauid to Nob, to Ahimelech the Priest, and Ahimelech was afraide at the meeting of Dauid, and said vnto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

2And Dauid said vnto Ahimelech the Priest, The king hath commanded me a businesse, and hath said vnto me, Let no man know any thing of the businesse whereabout I send thee, and what I haue commanded thee: and I haue appointed my seruants to such and such a place.

3Now therefore what is vnder thine hand? giue me fiue loaues of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

4And the Priest answered Dauid, and said, There is no common bread vnder mine hand, but there is hallowed bread: if the young men haue kept themselues at least from women.

5And Dauid answered the Priest, and said vnto him, Of a trueth women haue beene kept from vs about these three dayes, 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 vessell.

6So the Priest gaue him hallowed bread; for there was no bread there, but the Shewbread that was taken from before the Lord, to put hote bread in the day when it was taken away.

7Now a certaine man of the seruants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg an Edomite, the chiefest of the heardmen that belonged to Saul.

8 And Dauid said vnto Ahimelech, And is there not here vnder thine hand speare or sword? for I haue neither brought my sword nor my weapons with mee, because the kings businesse required haste.

9And the Priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whome thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is heere wrapt in a cloth behinde the Ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other saue that, here. And Dauid saide, There is none like that, giue it me.

10 And Dauid arose, and fled that day, for feare of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath.

11And the seruants of Achish sayd vnto him, Is not this Dauid the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in daunces, saying, Saul hath slaine his thousands, and Dauid his ten thousands?

12And Dauid layd vp these wordes in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

13And he changed his behauiour before them, and fained himselfe mad in their hands, and scrabled on the doores of the gate, and let his spittle fall downe vpon his beard.

14Then saide Achish vnto his seruants, Loe, you see the man is mad: wherefore then haue yee brought him to mee?

15Haue I need of mad-men, that ye haue brought this fellow to play the mad-man in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

I == 1sst Sam 14:3 ; 16:4 ; Mark 2:26 ; 16:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV == Ex 19:15 ; 25:30 ; Lev 24:5 ; Zech 7:3 ; Matt 12:4

 

V == Lev 8:26 ; 1st Thess 4:4

 

 

 

 

VI == Lev 24:8-9 ; Matt 12:3-4 ; Mark 2:25-26 ; Luke 6:3-4

 

VII == 1st Sam 22:9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IX == 1st Sam 17:2 , 50 ; 31:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

XI == 1st Sam 18:7 ; 29:5

 

 

 

XII == Luke 2:19

1 Then David departed on his way, while Jonathan went back into the city.

2 David went to Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, who came trembling to meet him and asked, "Why are you alone? Is there no one with you?"

3 David answered the priest: "The king gave me a commission and told me to let no one know anything about the business on which he sent me or the commission he gave me. For that reason I have arranged a meeting place with my men.

4 Now what have you on hand? Give me five loaves, or whatever you can find."

5 But the priest replied to David, "I have no ordinary bread on hand, only holy bread; if the men have abstained from women, you may eat some of that."

6 David answered the priest: "We have indeed been segregated from women as on previous occasions. Whenever I go on a journey, all the young men are consecrated - even for a secular journey. All the more so today, when they are consecrated at arms!"

7 So the priest gave him holy bread, for no other bread was on hand except the showbread which had been removed from the LORD'S presence and replaced by fresh bread when it was taken away.

8 One of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; his name was Doeg the Edomite, and he was Saul's chief henchman.

9 David then asked Ahimelech: "Do you have a spear or a sword on hand? I brought along neither my sword nor my weapons, because the king's business was urgent."

10 The priest replied: "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Vale of the Terebinth, is here (wrapped in a mantle) behind an ephod. If you wish to take that, take it; there is no sword here except that one." David said: "There is none to match it. Give it to me!"

11 That same day David took to flight from Saul, going to Achish, king of Gath.

12 But the servants of Achish said, "Is this not David, the king of the land? During their dances do they not sing, 'Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands'?"

13 David took note of these remarks and became very much afraid of Achish, king of Gath.

14 So, as they watched, he feigned insanity and acted like a madman in their hands, drumming on the doors of the gate and drooling onto his beard.

15 Finally Achish said to his servants: "You see the man is mad. Why did you bring him to me?

16 Do I not have enough madmen, that you bring in this one to carry on in my presence? Should this fellow come into my house?"

v 1. Samuel or Jonathan could not help David, so he fled first to the tabernacle.  Abimelech was alarmed that David appeared with only two or three of his personal servants instead of the usual official court that had accompanied him. That he was not entirely alone is proven by mention of others three times in v 4, 5 as well as  Jesus’ words in Matt. 12:5, Mk. 2:25, where He expressed approval of David eating showbread. 

v 2-7. In his great stress and fear, David lied to the priest concerning his mission. The Lord would not deprive one of the holy things if there was a great need, so when the priest determined there was at least some degree of ceremonial cleanness, he gave him five loaves of the holy bread which had been replaced with fresh. Doeg, a proselyte Jew of prominence under Saul,  had been detained by the priest for some reason. Possibly to fulfill a vow. Even as he is observing, he is letting his Edomite background influence his desire to avenge them on two good Jews, David and Abimelech.

v 8,9. When David asked if there was a sword there, he probably had in mind the sword of Goliath which he had donated there. He also knew the quality of that sword.

v 10. Abimelech did not inquire of the Lord for David as Doeg lied, or assumed he had done, 22:10. Abimelech claims in 22:15 that he had not. If David had not lied to Abimelech, perhaps he could have inquired of God and given him better advice than to seek shelter with the Philistine enemy.

v 11-15. David was immediately recognized for his valor against the Philistines, and too late, realizes he has jumped from the frying pan into the fire. What a sad thing that this mighty warrior and Godly man has reduced himself to scribbling on a door and letting his spit run down his beard like an insane man. Tradition has it that king Achish had two sons who were insane. Regardless of that, it was superstitiously considered one would incur the wrath of the gods by harming an insane person, so rather than harm him, Achish has him be banished from his presence. It is indeed sad that sometimes believers neglect their faith and shame themselves before unbelievers. This was perhaps the lowest point on David’s lack of faith in exile.