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

2“The king ordered me to do something,” David answered the priest Ahimelech, “and he told me, ‘No one must know anything about this mission I’m sending you on and about the orders I’ve given you. I’ve stationed my young men at a certain place.’ ” 3⌞David added,⌟ “Now, what do you have ⌞to eat⌟? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.” “I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse ⌞today⌟.” 5David answered the priest, “Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go ⌞on a mission⌟. The young men’s bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?” 6So the priest gave him holy ⌞bread⌟ because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the Lord’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day.

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 holy ⌞bread⌟ because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the Lord’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day.
• Exodus 25:30Put the bread of the presence on this table so that it will be in front of me all the time.
• Leviticus 24:5“Also take flour and bake twelve rings of bread. Each ring will contain four quarts of flour.
• Matthew 12:3Jesus asked them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?
• Exodus 19:15Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready two days from now. Don’t disqualify yourselves by having sexual intercourse.”
• Zechariah 7:3They asked the priests from the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?”
• 1 Corinthians 7:5Don’t withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should get back together so that Satan doesn’t use your lack of self-control to tempt you.

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