1 Samuel 22:18

18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

1 Samuel 22:18 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
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 slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
English Standard Version (ESV)
18 Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and strike the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments.
The Message Bible (MSG)
18 Then the king told Doeg, "You do it - massacre the priests!" Doeg the Edomite led the attack and slaughtered the priests, the eighty-five men who wore the sacred robes.
American Standard Version (ASV)
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.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
18 So the king said to Doeg, "You turn and attack the priests." Doeg from Edom turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed 85 men wearing the linen priestly ephod.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
18 So the king said to Doeg, "Go and execute the priests!" So Doeg the Edomite went and executed the priests himself. On that day, he killed 85 men who wore linen ephods.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
18 Then the king ordered Doeg, "You go and strike the priests down." So Doeg, the Edomite, went and struck them down. That day he killed 85 men who wore linen aprons.

1 Samuel 22:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 22:18

And the king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the
priests
For determined he was they should die; if one would not put them to death, another should, and who so fit for this bloody work as the false accuser of them, and false witness against them? and Doeg the Edomite turned;
immediately, he at once obeyed the king's orders, as brutish as they were: and fell upon the priests;
with his sword in hand: and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen
ephod;
not the ephod of Urim and Thummim, which was only worn by the high priest, but a garment wholly linen, worn by common priests; the Targum is,

``who are fit to be clothed with a linen ephod;''
not that they were clothed with it, but were deserving of it; or it designs the great and more honourable among the servants of the Lord, as Kimchi observes, for such were clothed with this garment, as Samuel and David; and he thinks it suggests, that more were slain than these; and the Septuagint version makes them to be eight hundred five, and Josephus F8 three hundred eighty five; in the slaying of whom, as the same writer says, Doeg was assisted by some wicked men like himself; and the slaughter did not end here, as the ( 1 Samuel 22:19 ) shows.
FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 12. sect. 6.

1 Samuel 22:18 In-Context

16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S 1 Samuel 4:17
  • 2. S 1 Samuel 2:18,31
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