Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 22:18

"And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod." — 1 Samuel 22:18 (ASV)

And Doeg the Edomite ... fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons. —No doubt, assisted by his own attached servants, Doeg carried out this deed of unexampled barbarity. For this act, the Edomite servant of Saul has been execrated in the most ancient Jewish writings perhaps above any other of the famous wicked men we encounter in the Holy Scriptures. For instance, we read in the Babylonian Talmud how “Doeg the Edomite, after his massacre of the priests, was encountered by three destructive demons. One deprived him of his learning (concerning which see above, in Note on 1 Samuel 22:9), a second burned his soul, and a third scattered his dust in the synagogues”—Treatise Sanhedrin, folio 106, Column 2.

The Babylonian Talmud has a still more curious comment on the iniquity of Doeg, in which David is bitterly reproached by the Most High for being the cause of Doeg’s great sin and its terrible consequences. “Rav Yehudah recorded that Rav had said ... The Holy One, blessed be He! had said to David, How long shall this iniquity cling to you? Through you the priests of Nob were slain; through you Doeg the Edomite became a reprobate; and through you Saul and his three sons were slain.”—Treatise Sanhedrin, folio 95, Column 1.2.

A linen ephod. —The ordinary priests appear to have worn a linen over-garment, similar in form to the high priestly cape or ephod. They probably came from Nob to Gibeah (the distance was not great) clad in their official costume, out of respect to the king who sent for them. The murderous deed assumes a still more awful character when we remember who the victims were—the priests of the living God, clad in their white ministering robes!