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 answered, ‘The king has asked me to do something special. He said to me, “Do not tell anyone where I have sent you. Do not say what I have told you to do.” So I have sent my soldiers to wait for me at a certain place. 3Do you have anything to eat here? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else that you have.’ The priest answered David, ‘I do not have any ordinary bread that I can give to you. There is only the special holy bread. You can take it for your men to eat only if they have not had sex with women.’ 5David replied, ‘We have not been near women since we left our homes. The young men always keep themselves clean, even on ordinary journeys. So for today's important journey, they will certainly be clean.’ 6So the priest gave the holy bread to David because he did not have any other bread. This was the bread which had been on the table in the Lord's tent. The priest would take it from there each day and he would put hot, fresh bread in its place.

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 the holy bread to David because he did not have any other bread. This was the bread which had been on the table in the Lord's tent. The priest would take it from there each day and he would put hot, fresh bread in its place.
• Exodus 25:30Put the Lord's special bread on this table. The bread must always be there for me.
• Leviticus 24:5The people must bake 12 loaves of bread. They must use the best flour. They must weigh the flour for each loaf. They must use two tenths (2/10) of an ephah (4 litres).
• Matthew 12:3Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry.
• Exodus 19:15Then Moses said to them, ‘Prepare yourselves for the third day. While you wait, do not have sex with your wives, or anyone.’
• Zechariah 7:3They came to the house of the Lord Almighty to speak to the priests and to the prophets. They asked, ‘Should we cry and not eat our food in the fifth month? We have done this for many years.’
• 1 Corinthians 7:5Do not refuse to have sex with each other, unless both of you agree to stop for a short time. Then you can use more time to pray. But you should come together again soon, as husband and wife. If not, Satan may try to make you do something wrong. You may want too strongly to have sex with someone else.

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