English Standard Version
1 Samuel 21:4
4And 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."
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.”
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)“We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.”
Context of 1 Samuel 21:4
2And David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, 'Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.' I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here." 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." 5And David answered the priest, "Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?" 6So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
Read all of 1 Samuel 211 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 holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
- Exodus 25:30And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.
- Leviticus 24:5"You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.
- Matthew 12:3He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
- Exodus 19:15And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."
- Zechariah 7:3saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, "Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?"
- 1 Corinthians 7:5Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you 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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries