1 Samuel 22:11-21

11 So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him.

12 Saul said to Ahimelech, "Listen, Ahimelech!" "At your service, sir," he answered.

13 Saul asked him, "Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!"

14 Ahimelech answered, "David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court.

15 Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!"

16 The king said, "Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die."

17 Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the Lord's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord's priests.

18 So Saul said to Doeg, "You kill them!" - and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed eighty-five priests who were qualified to carry the ephod.

19 Saul also had all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep - they were all killed.

20 But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David.

21 He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord.

1 Samuel 22:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 22

This chapter gives us an account of the flight of David from place to place, from Gath to the cave of Adullam, where his relations came to him; from thence to Mizpeh in Moab, where he got leave of the king of Moab for his father and mother to dwell there; and from thence, by the advice of Gad the prophet, departed into the land of Judah, and came to the forest of Hareth, 1Sa 21:1-5; and of the complaint of Saul to his servants of their unfaithfulness to him, and indolence and unconcern at the behaviour of Jonathan and David to him, 1Sa 22:6-8; when Doeg the Edomite informed him of David being seen by him at Nob, and of his receiving food and a sword from Ahimelech the priest, who inquired of the Lord for him, 1Sa 22:9,10; upon which Saul sent for Ahimelech and all the priests at Nob, and charged them with a conspiracy against him; and notwithstanding the defence the priest made, Saul ordered him and the rest of the priests to be slain by his guards; which they refusing, Doeg became the executioner of them, and of all the inhabitants of the city of Nob, and the cattle in it, 1Sa 22:11-19; only Abiathar a son of Ahimelech escaped and fled to David with the sorrowful news; which greatly affected David, looking upon himself to be the occasion of this sad disaster, and he took Abiathar under his protection, and promised him safety, 1Sa 22:20-23.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Some ancient translations] captain of; [Hebrew] he turned to.
• [b]. Yes, I consulted . . . time; [or] Now, have I done something wrong today by consulting God for him? Not at all!