Tyndale Open Study Notes1 Samuel 21

• Nob was just north of Jerusalem, in southern Benjamin's territory.

• Ahimelech the priest was a descendant of the condemned family of Eli (1 Samuel 14:3; 22:9).

• The elders of Bethlehem were afraid when Samuel suddenly came to their city to anoint David as Saul’s replacement (1 Samuel 16:4). A similar fear appears here. In both situations, a well-known person who had problems with Saul arrived without warning. Both Ahimelech and the elders of Bethlehem feared that Saul might accuse them of helping an enemy of the king. Such suspicion could lead to death. In this case, what they feared did happen (see 1 Samuel 22:9–19).

“The king has given me a mission,”: David lied to hide that he was an outlaw and to ease Ahimelech's concerns.

• Only 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 royal mission.

• gave him the consecrated bread: Jesus referred to this event to show that helping people is more important than strict obedience to religious rules (see Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5).

• The Bread of the Presence included twelve loaves, possibly one for each tribe. The priests placed them on a table in the Holy Place. They were replaced every Sabbath (see Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5–9).

detained before the LORD: Ahimelech asked God for guidance on behalf of others (1 Samuel 22:15). Because of this, Doeg may have been waiting for an answer to a question he had brought before God.

• David used Goliath's sword to cut off the giant's head (1 Samuel 17:51). Both the sword and Goliath's head were taken as war trophies (17:54).

• The ephod mentioned here might not be the priestly garment. Some passages suggest an ephod could also be a statue (Judges 8:27; 18:17).

Gath, a major Philistine city and the hometown of Goliath, was a clever but dangerous place for David to seek refuge from Saul.

king of the land: David’s reputation as a powerful warrior had become even greater than King Saul’s (see 1 Samuel 18:7). Because of this, people outside Israel began to speak of David as if he were already Israel’s king.

The long title of Psalm 34 mentions this event but calls the Philistine king Abimelech instead of Achish. "Abimelech" might have been a general title for Philistine kings (in Hebrew, it means "my father the king"). The name Abimelech also appears in Genesis 20:2 and 26:1.