1 Samuel 21:4

The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary bread here, but I have some of the sacred bread that was placed before Yahweh. Your men may eat it if they have not slept with [EUP] women recently.”

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

3Now I want to know, do you have any food here for me to eat [IDM]? Could you give me five loaves of bread, or whatever other food that you can find?”

5David replied, “They have not been near women for many days. I do not allow my men to defile themselves by sleeping with women while they are preparing to fight in battles. They must continue to keep themselves acceptable to God when they are on ordinary trips, and today they have kept themselves acceptable to God because now we are doing something very special/important.”

Read all of 1 Samuel 21

Cross References

Exodus 19:15Then Moses/I said to the people, “Be ready on the day after tomorrow. And you men must not have sex with [EUP] your wives until after then.”

Leviticus 15:18When a man has sex with a woman and some semen spills, both of them must bathe, and no one should touch them until that evening.

1 Samuel 21:6The only bread that the priest had was the sacred bread that had been placed in Yahweh’s presence in the Sacred tent. So the priest gave David some of that bread. On that day the priest had taken those loaves from the table and replaced them with ◄fresh/newly baked► loaves.

Matthew 12:3Jesus wanted to show them that the record in the Scriptures indicated that God permitted people to disobey certain religious laws when they needed food. So he said to them, “ It is written { Someone wrote} in the Scriptures [RHQ] what our revered ancestor King David did when he and the men with him were hungry. You have read about that, ◄ but you do not think about what it implies!/so why do you not think about what it implies?► [RHQ]

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 21:2-10

David Obtains the Show-Bread; David Gets the Sword of Goliath. ( b. c. 1057.) 1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study 1 Samuel 21:4