1 Samuel 22:18

1 Samuel 22:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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 King James Version (NKJV)And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod.

Context of 1 Samuel 22:18

16But Saul said, “Be assured that you shall die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household (extended family).” 17And the king said to the guards who stood around him, “Turn around and kill the priests of the Lord, because their loyalty also is with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not inform me.” But the servants of the king were not willing to put out their hands to attack the Lord’s priests. So the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the [priest’s] linen ephod. 19And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also he struck oxen and donkeys and sheep with the edge of the sword. 20But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David.

1 Samuel 22:18 word by word

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לְדוֹאֵ֔ג סֹ֣ב אַתָּ֔ה וּפְגַ֖ע בַּכֹּהֲנִ֑ים וַיִּסֹּ֞ב דּוֹאֵ֣ג הָאֲדֹמִ֗י וַיִּפְגַּע־הוּא֙ בַּכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים וַיָּ֣מֶת׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא שְׁמֹנִ֤ים וַחֲמִשָּׁה֙ אִ֔ישׁ נֹשֵׂ֖א אֵפ֥וֹד בָּֽד׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• to Doegדֹּאֵגdô'êg dô'êg · DoegH1673
• Turnסָבַבsâbab · to turn: turnH5437
• thou, and fallפָּגַעpâga‛ · to fall onH6293
• upon the priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• the Edomiteאֲדֹמִי'ĕdômîy · EdomiteH130
• and slewמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• on that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• fourscoreשְׁמֹנִיםshemônîym shemônîym · eightyH8084
• and fiveחָמֵשׁchâmêsh chămishshâh · fiveH2568
• personsאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• that did wearנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
• a linenבַּדbad · linenH906
• ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 22:18

• 1 Samuel 22:9Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s servants, replied, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech [the priest] the son of Ahitub.
• 2 Chronicles 24:21So they conspired against Zechariah and stoned him [to death] at the command of the king, in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.
• Hosea 5:11Ephraim is oppressed; he is broken and crushed by [divine] judgment, Because he was determined to follow man’s command (vanities, filth, secular precepts).
• Hosea 7:3They make the king glad with their wickedness, And the princes with their lies.
• Micah 6:16For [you have kept] the statutes of Omri [the idolatrous king], And all the works of the [wicked] house (dynasty) of Ahab; And you walk in their counsels and policies. Therefore, I shall hand you over for destruction and horror And your [city’s] inhabitants for ridicule, And you shall bear the rebuke and scorn of My people.”
• Zephaniah 3:3Her officials within her are roaring lions; Her judges are [as hungry as] the wolves at evening, They leave nothing for the morning.
• Acts 26:10And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God’s people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
• 1 Samuel 2:30Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and that of [Aaron] your father would walk [in priestly service] before Me forever.’ But now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant and contemptible.
• 1 Samuel 3:12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken concerning his house (family), from beginning to end.
• 1 Samuel 2:28Moreover, I selected him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me. And [from then on] I gave to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel.
• Exodus 28:40“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics and sashes and [ornamental] caps, for glory and honor and beauty.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 22:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18And Doeg - fell upon the priests - A ruthless Edomite, capable of any species of iniquity. Fourscore and five persons - The Septuagint read , three hundred and five men; and Josephus has three hundred and eighty-five men. Probably the eighty-five were priests; the three hundred, the families of the priests; three hundred and eighty-five being the whole population of Nob. That did wear a linen ephod - That is, persons who did actually administer, or had a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18We are not to suppose that Doeg killed them all with his own hand. He had a band of men under his command, many or all of whom were perhaps foreigners like himself, and very likely of a Bedouin caste, to whom bloodshed would be quite natural, and the priests of the Lord of no more account than so Early sheep or oxen.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-19Verses 6-19 See the nature of jealous malice and its pitiful arts. Saul looks upon all about him as his enemies, because they do not just say as he says. In Ahimelech's answer to Saul we have the language of conscious innocence. But what wickedness will not the evil spirit hurry men to when he gets the dominion! Saul alleges that which was utterly false and unproved. But the most bloody tyrants have found instruments of their cruelty as barbarous as…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Doeg the Edomite … struck down the priests: Doeg was not an Israelite, so he did not respect the holiness of priests chosen by God. He knew the priests were innocent, yet he still killed them. In this way, Doeg partly fulfilled God’s earlier judgment against the priestly family of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:27–34 and 1 Kings 2:27). men who wore the linen ephod: This incident shows how irrational Saul had become. Not even those in sacred office were safe.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-1817-18. the footmen that stood about him--his bodyguard, or his runners (1Sa 8:11; 2Sa 15:1; 1Ki 1:5; 1Ki 14:28), who held an important place at court (2Ch 12:10). But they chose rather to disobey the king than to offend God by imbruing their hands in the blood of his ministering servants. A foreigner alone (Psa 52:1-3) could be found willing to be the executioner of this bloody and sacrilegious sentence. Thus was the doom of the house of Eli fulfilled…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 22:18

• Abiathar
• Ahijah
• Ahimelech
• Doeg
• Ephod
• Government
• Holy Spirit
• Malice
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Edom, Edomite, Idumea
• That Day
• Abiathar
• Ahimelech
• David
• Ephod
• Mizpah
• Doeg
• Ephod (1)
• Images

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 22

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings