Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 22:15

"Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more." — 1 Samuel 22:15 (ASV)

Did I then begin to inquire? —The English translation of the Hebrew here would imply that David had on many previous occasions received Divine directions from the Urim and Thummim through him (the high priest). “Did I that day begin to inquire?”

Abarbanel gives an alternative rendering: “That was the first day that I inquired of God for him, and I did not know that it was displeasing to you.” Another rendering is: “Did I inquire?” in a negative sense, suggesting the reply, “No, I did not.”

On the whole, the alternative rendering suggested by Abarbanel, quoted in Lange, is the best: “That was the first day, etc.” And the reason why Ahimelech allowed the sacred Urim to be consulted was that he supposed David had come (as he represented) on a mission direct from King Saul.

Surely, thought the blameless high priest, I never supposed my king would have been angry with me for that.

If we render as in the English Version, which has the support of many scholars and versions, the only possible explanation of the words, “Did I that day begin to inquire?” is to suppose that David had been in the habit of consulting the Urim on special occasions for the king.

The king, when there was a king in Israel, it is nearly certain, alone had this right. The Talmud teaching here is most definite, and it is a point in which the Talmud tradition may be regarded as authoritative.

“The Rabbis have taught—How were the Urim and Thummim oracularly consulted? The king or the chief of the legislative administration, who alone had the privilege of consulting the Urim, stood facing the priest, and the priest was facing the Shekinah and the ‘Shem-hammephorash,’ the ineffable name deposited with the Urim within the breastplate.”—Treatise Yoma, fol. 73, Colossians 1:2.