1 Samuel 21:7

7 And a man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within in the tabernacle of the Lord; and his name was Doeg of Idumea, the mightiest man of the herds(men) of Saul.

1 Samuel 21:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 21:7

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul [was] there that
day
When David came to Nob, and asked bread of the priest, and had it, which this man was an eyewitness of, ( 1 Samuel 22:9 1 Samuel 22:10 ) ;

detained before the Lord;
either because it was sabbath day, and so he might not travel, at least no more than two thousand cubits; or by some vow of his, which he was obliged to stay and perform; or on account of some impurity he had contracted, which he came to be cleansed from; or this detention was voluntary, in order to offer sacrifice to the Lord, or pray unto him, or to study the law of God in the tabernacle, pretending to be a very religious man:

and his name [was] Doeg, an Edomite,
being by birth an Idumean, but a proselyte to the Jewish religion; or he was of the seed of Israel, but because he had dwelt in Edom, he was called an Edomite, as Kimchi thinks; just as Uriah is called for a like reason the Hittite:

the chiefest of the herdmen that [belonged] to Saul;
Saul had his herds and men to look after them, and this man was set over them all, to see that they faithfully discharged their trust. The same officer the Romans called the praefect, or master of the cattle ^F11; (See Gill on 1 Chronicles 27:29), and (See Gill on 1 Chronicles 27:31); though this man was not only over the king's cattle, but over those that kept them; and was in the same office as Phorbas was, under Laius king of Thebes ^F12, and Melanthius in Homer ^F13, and Faustulus to Amulius ^F14: but Abarbinel is of opinion that this is to be understood not of the keepers of herds and flocks, but of the shepherds or rulers of the people; and that this man was set over all the other magistrates and rulers of the people, hence said to be "set over the servants of Saul", ( 1 Samuel 22:9 ) ; and so Jarchi calls him "Ab Beth Din", or father of the sanhedrim, or great court of judicature; who was detained in the tabernacle to learn the law there, that he might be the better qualified for his office; but Kimchi interprets it as we do, the chief of the keepers of the herd, and both the Septuagint and Josephus ^F15 say that he fed the king's mules.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Vid. Pignorium de servis, p. 539.
F12 Senecae Oedipus, Act. 4. v. 815, 816, 839.
F13 Odyss. 20. ver. 21.
F14 Aurel. Victor. orig. Gent. Roman.
F15 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 12. sect. 1.

1 Samuel 21:7 In-Context

5 And David answered to the priest, and said to him, And soothly if it is done of women, we have abstained us from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and the vessels, that is, (the) bodies, of the young men were clean; certainly this way is defouled, but and it shall be hallowed today in the vessels. (And David answered the priest, and said to him, If it is asked of women, we have abstained ourselves from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and so the young men's bodies be clean; truly, that way is defiled, but their bodies remain pure.)

6 Therefore the priest gave to him hallowed bread, for none other bread was there, but only loaves of setting forth, that were taken away from the face of the Lord, that hot loaves shall be set forth. (And so the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no other bread there, but only the loaves of setting forth, that is, the loaves of proposition, or the showbread, which had been taken away from before the Lord, and replaced with fresh hot loaves.)

7 And a man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within in the tabernacle of the Lord; and his name was Doeg of Idumea, the mightiest man of the herds(men) of Saul.

8 And David said to Ahimelech, If thou hast here at hand (a) spear, either (a) sword, give it to me; for I took not with me my sword, neither mine armours (nor my own arms, or my own weapons); for why the king's word constrained me to go in haste.

9 And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath (the) Philistine, whom thou killedest in the valley of Terebinth, is wrapped in a cloth next after [the] ephod; if thou wilt take this, take it; for (t)here is none other except that. And David said, None other is like this, give thou it to me. (And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou killedest in the Elah Valley, is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt have it, then take it; for there is nothing else here except that. And David said, There is no other like it, give it to me.)