John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 21

Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest
The high priest, as Abarbinel rightly calls him; he was the brother of Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, who being dead he succeeded him; though some say ^F1 he was the same; see (1 Samuel 14:3) (22:9) ; who was now at Nob, the tabernacle being there, where probably it was removed by Saul, and where and at Gibeon, according to the Jews ^F2 , it continued fifty seven years; as in the times of Joshua it was in Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim, of which tribe he was; and in the times of David it was placed in the tribe of Judah, to which he belonged; so in the times of Saul it was in Nob, a city of his tribe, twelve miles from Gibeah, according to Bunting ^F3 ; for that it was in the tribe of Benjamin appears by its being mentioned along with Anathoth, (Nehemiah 11:32) ; and according to Jarchi and Kimchi ^F4 it was near Jerusalem, and so near that it might be seen from thence; some say they are the same ^F5 ; Jerom ^F6 speaks of it as near Diospolis or Lydda.

David, before he departed further off, was willing to see the tabernacle once more, and there worship his God, and inquire of him by the high priest, as he did, (1 Samuel 22:10) ; to direct him what way he should take, and that he would prosper and succeed him in it, grant him his presence, and keep him in safety:

and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David ;
hearing that he was come or coming, he went out to meet him, but when he saw him alone he trembled; especially if he had heard of his having fallen under the displeasure of Saul, and that he now fled from him, therefore he might fear that he should fall into disgrace and danger should he entertain him:

and he said unto him, why [are] you alone, and no man with you ?
he might well wonder at it, and put such a question, seeing he was so great a man, both in the court and camp, and the king's son in law; he might therefore reasonably suspect something more than ordinary was the case, and which occasioned his fears.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 76. H.
• F2: Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Zebachim, c. 14. sect. 7.
• F3: Travels p. 136.
• F4: Comment. in lsa. x. 32.
• F5: Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 8. 1.
• F6: Epitaphium Paulae, fol. 59. A.

And David said to Ahimelech the priest
In reply to his question, and to account for such an appearance he made without an equipage:

the king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, let no
man know anything of the business concerning which I send you, and what I
have commanded you ;
he pretended he was upon a secret expedition, by the order of Saul, which none were to know of, no, not his own servants, and that was the reason why he came to him alone; which was a downright lie, and was aggravated by its being told only for the sake of getting a little food; and especially told to an high priest, and at the tabernacle of God, and when he was come to inquire of the Lord there; and was attended with a dreadful consequence, the slaughter of the Lord's priests there, which afterwards lay heavy on David's mind, (1 Samuel 22:22) ;

and is the very sin he is thought to refer to in (Psalms 119:28Psalms 119:29) . This shows the weakness of the best of men, when left to themselves; David who as much hated lying as any man did, fell into it himself:

and I have appointed [my] servants to such and such a place ;
to such a place, of such an one, not naming place nor person, that they might not be known; so the Targum calls it a place hidden and kept; and that David had some servants, though not now with him, who ate of the shewbread, appears from (Matthew 12:3) ; whom Jonathan might send after him, to a place agreed on and appointed between them; so that this might be true.

Now therefore what is under your hand ?
&c.] Meaning, what food had he in his house?

give [me] five [loaves of] bread in my hand ;
to take with him, for him and his servants in such a place:

or what there is present ;
or to be found ^F7 in the tabernacle; if not five loaves, two, or three, or four, or what food whatsoever he had by him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: (aumnh) "quicquid inveneris", V. L, "inventum", Montanus; "quicquid inventum fuerit", Tigurine version.

And the priest answered David, and said, [there is] no common
bread under my hand
In the tabernacle, though he might have such in his own house; which was common for any man to eat of, even such as were not priests; but he had none there, and David was in haste to be gone because of Doeg, and could not stay till such was fetched:

but there is hallowed bread ;
such as was devoted to sacred use. Kimchi's father thinks this was the bread of the thank offering, to which Ben Gersom inclines; otherwise the Jewish writers in general understand it of the shewbread; and it is clear it was that from (1 Samuel 21:6) and from what our Lord says, (Matthew 12:4) .

Now this the priest has under his hand, being just taken off of the shewbread table, and was the perquisite of the priests; and which, though it was not lawful for any but priests to eat of, yet in this case of necessity he seemed willing to give it to David and his men, on this condition: if the young men have kept themselves at least from women; from their wives or others, and from any pollution by them, in any way or manner; but as this was also only of a ceremonial kind, it might as well have been dispensed with, had this been the case, as the other.

And David answered the priest, and said to him
In reply to the case of the young men his servants, and of himself too, who also was intended by the priest, though out of reverence to him not mentioned:

of a truth women [have been] kept from us these three days since I
came out ;
reckoning either from the time he fled from Saul at Naioth, or from the time he left Jonathan, during which time both he and his men could have no converse with women, and receive no pollution by them; and this was the time which according to the law was required for the sanctifying of persons in this way, (Exodus 19:15) ;

and the vessels of the young men are holy ;
their garments, as Kimchi, not being defiled with any ceremonial uncleanness, as by the touch of any unclean person: or whatever instruments they were provided with for their journey; or rather their bodies; see (2 Corinthians 4:7) (1 Thessalonians 4:4) ; and with respect to the priest's saying that the bread he had was hallowed or sacred, and so not for common use, David replies,

and [the bread] is in a manner common ;
inasmuch as it was taken off of the shewbread table, and was now common to the priest and his family, though not to others, yet in case of necessity through hunger might be allowed to strangers:

yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel ;
even though it had been set but that day on the shewbread table, and so became holy to the Lord; and yet even in such a case and circumstances as David and his men were in, it might be taken from thence and eaten of; for, as Abendana observes, nothing stands in the way of preservation of life, but idolatry, adultery, and murder; everything else may be done for the sake of that but them: or as in the margin of our Bibles, "especially when there is this day other sanctified bread"; that is, since other bread is this day put upon the shewbread table, in the room of that which has been taken away, whereby it is become holy to the Lord; then that which is removed may be eaten, and be allowed to us in our circumstances.

It seems by this that this was the sabbath day; for on that day the removal of the shewbread loaves was made, (Leviticus 24:8) ; and R. Isaiah says, that it was at the going out of the sabbath that David came there; and which still makes it a more appropriate case, as produced by our Lord to justify his disciples in plucking ears of corn on the sabbath day, (Matthew 12:1–4) .