1 Samuel 21:4

1 Samuel 21:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.
• New International Version (NIV)But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the priest answered David, "I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

Context of 1 Samuel 21:4

2David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has told me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you. I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5David answered the priest, “Be assured that women have been kept from us in these three days since I set out, and the bodies of the young men were consecrated (ceremonially clean), although it was an ordinary (unconsecrated) journey; so how much more will their vessels be holy today?” 6So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4 word by word

וַיַּ֨עַן הַכֹּהֵ֤ן אֶת־דָּוִד֙ וַיֹּ֔אמֶר אֵֽין־לֶ֥חֶם חֹ֖ל אֶל־תַּ֣חַת יָדִ֑י כִּֽי־אִם־לֶ֤חֶם קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יֵ֔שׁ אִם־נִשְׁמְר֥וּ הַנְּעָרִ֖ים אַ֥ךְ מֵאִשָּֽׁה׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• no commonחֹלchôl · commonH2455
• breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · foodH3899
• under mine handיָדyâd · handH3027
• but there isיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• hallowedקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
• if the young menנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• have keptשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
• themselves at leastאַךְ'ak · surelyH389
• from womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 21:4

• 1 Samuel 21:6So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.
• Exodus 25:30You shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) on the table before Me at all times.
• Leviticus 24:5“Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes (bread of the Presence, showbread) with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake (loaf).
• Matthew 12:3He said to them, “Have you not read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who accompanied him—
• Exodus 19:15He said to the people, “Be prepared for the third day; do not be intimate with a woman.”
• Zechariah 7:3speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?”
• 1 Corinthians 7:5Do not deprive each other [of marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves [unhindered] to prayer, but come together again so that Satan will not tempt you [to sin] because of your lack of self-control.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 21:4

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Common - As opposed to holy. (See the marginal references, and compare the use of the word in Acts 10:14-15, Acts 10:28.) It gives an idea of the depressed and poor condition of the priesthood at that time, that Ahimelech should have had no bread at hand except the showbread.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Only priests could eat the holy bread (see Exodus 25:22–30; Leviticus 24:5–9), and only within sacred areas. kept themselves from women: The holy bread was for those who were ceremonially pure. The priest checked that David’s men were not ceremonially impure from sexual activity (see Leviticus 15:16–18). Normally, people who were not priests could not eat this bread. The priest made an exception because he saw the men's needs and believed they were on a…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. there is hallowed bread--There would be plenty of bread in his house; but there was no time to wait for it. "The hallowed bread" was the old shew-bread, which had been removed the previous day, and which was reserved for the use of the priests alone (Le 24:9). Before entertaining the idea that this bread could be lawfully given to David and his men, the high priest seems to have consulted the oracle (1Sa 22:10) as to the course to be followed in this…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 21:4

• Betrayal
• Confidence
• David
• Nob
• Tabernacle

In the dictionaries

• David
• Ahimelech
• Bread
• Judges, Book of
• Manner
• Quotations
• Require
• Shewbread
• Abiathar
• Ezekiel

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary