1 Samuel 21

1 Samuel 21

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission 1 Samuel Chart from Charles Swindoll TIMELINE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, KINGS & CHRONICLES 1107 1011 971 931 853 722 586 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 1 Kings 2 Kings 31 1-4 5-10 11-20 21-24 1-11 12-22 1-17 18-25 1 Chronicles 10 1 Chr 11-19 1 Chr 20-29 2 Chronicles 1-9 2 Chronicles 10-20 2 Chronicles 21-36 Legend: B.C. dates at top of timeline are approximate. Note that 931BC marks the division of the Kingdom into Southern Tribes (Judah and Benjamin) and Ten Northern Tribes. To avoid confusion be aware that after the division of the Kingdom in 931BC, the Southern Kingdom is most often designated in Scripture as "Judah" and the Northern Kingdom as "Israel." Finally, note that 1 Chronicles 1-9 is not identified on the timeline because these chapters are records of genealogy. The Ryrie Study Bible Map on Left ESV Global Study Bible, on right Jensen's Survey of the OT Overlappings in 1 Samuel First Three Kings of Israel Main Characters in 1 Samuel MAPS TRACING DAVID'S FLIGHT FROM SAUL 1 SAMUEL 19-24 Click here for an excellent map with DAVID'S FLIGHT FROM SAUL with Numbered Movements of David - Copyright Faithlife / Logos Bible Software (https://www.logos.com). Below is a summary from the ESV Global Study Bible of 18 places David fled The following notes are modified from ESV notes to include the related Scriptures. David’s growing reputation fueled Saul’s jealousy which soon flamed into a desire to murder David (1Sa 19:9-10). (1) David fled from Saul in Gibeah (1Sa 19:9-10) and then from his home (1Sa 19:11-17) (2) After Saul tried unsuccessfully to kill him in his home, he fled to Samuel at Naioth in Ramah (1Sa 19:18) (3), Saul sought David in Naioth of Ramah, but the Spirit saved him (1Sa 19:19-24), and he fled back to meet Jonathan in Gibeah where Jonathan sent an "arrow-gram" warning David of Saul’s determination to kill him(1Sa 20:1-42) (4). David then fled to Ahimelech the priest at Nob where he collected food and Goliath’s sword. (1Sa 21:1-9) (5), David briefly sought refuge in the Philistine city of Gath (1Sa 21:10-15) (6) David then escaped to set up headquarters at the cave of Adullam where his army swelled to 400 men. (1Sa 22:1-2) (7), In order to protect his parents from harm, David left them in the care of the king of Moab at Mizpah (1Sa 22:3-4) (8) and went to live in “the stronghold”, the cave of Adullam (1Sa 22:1, 4) (9). Prophet Gad warns Davie and he went to the forest of Hereth (1Sa 22:5) (10) and then left to rescue nearby Keilah from some Philistine raiding parties. (1Sa 23:1-5) (11) When David heard that Saul was coming to Keilah, he and his 600 men fled Keilah. (1Sa 23:9-13) David relocated to the wilderness of Ziph (1Sa 23:14) (12) After the men of Ziph betrayed David to Saul (1Sa 23:19-20), David and his men went to live in the wilderness of Maon (1Sa 23:24-25) and narrowly escaped capture there by Saul (1Sa 23:26-28) (13) . Fleeing the strongholds of Engedi (1Sa 23:29) David again evaded capture by Saul and refused an opportunity to take Saul’s life. (1Sa 24:1-22) (14) After Samuel's death (1Sa 25:1) David went to the wilderness of Paran (1Sa 25:1) (15). While he was there, David was again betrayed to Saul by the men of Ziph and refused another opportunity to take Saul’s life. (1Sa 26:1-25) (16) Finally, David and his men sought refuge with Achish, the king of Gath (1Sa 27:1-12) Below is another map from the Holman Bible Atlas (digital book; Hardcover) Click to enlarge - from the Holman Bible Atlas (digital book; Hardcover) copyright © 1998 B&H Publishing Group, used by permission, all rights reserved. This is one of the best resources for Bible maps. Please do not reproduce this map on any other webpage. Thank you. 1 Samuel 21:1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, "Why are you alone and no one with you?" BGT 1 Samuel 21:2 (follows Hebrew numbering) καὶ ἔρχεται Δαυιδ εἰς Νομβα πρὸς Αβιμελεχ τὸν ἱερέα καὶ ἐξέστη Αβιμελεχ τῇ ἀπαντήσει αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί ὅτι σὺ μόνος καὶ οὐθεὶς μετὰ σοῦ LXE 1 Samuel 21:1 And David comes to Nomba to Abimelech the priest: and Abimelech was amazed at meeting him, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and nobody with thee? KJV 1 Samuel 21:1 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? NET 1 Samuel 21:1 David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?" CSB 1 Samuel 21:1 David went to Ahimelech the priest at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, "Why are you alone and no one is with you?" ESV 1 Samuel 21:1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?" NIV 1 Samuel 21:1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" NLT 1 Samuel 21:1 David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. "Why are you alone?" he asked. "Why is no one with you?" NRS 1 Samuel 21:1 David came to Nob to the priest Ahimelech. Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?" NJB 1 Samuel 21:2 (follows Hebrew numbering) David then went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet David and said, 'Why are you alone? Why is nobody with you?' NAB 1 Samuel 21:2 (follows Hebrew numbering) David went to Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, who came trembling to meet him and asked, "Why are you alone? Is there no one with you?" YLT 1 Samuel 21:1 And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, 'Wherefore art thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?' Nob: Nob appears to have been a sacerdotal city of Benjamin or Ephraim. Jerome says, that in his time the ruins of it might be seen not far from Diospolis or Lydda. But the Rabbins assert that Jerusalem might be seen from this town. The tabernacle resided some time at Nob; and after it was destroyed, it was removed to Gibeon; "and the day of Nob and Gibeon were fifty-seven years." Maimonides in Bethhabbechirah, c. 1. 1Sa 22:19 Ne 11:32 Isa 10:32 to Ahimelech: 1Sa 14:3, called Ahiah, 1Sa 22:9-19, called also Abiathar, Mk 2:26 afraid: 1Sa 16:4 1 Samuel 21 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Picture of Nob from popular bible encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus (1892). DAVID BEGINS RUN FOR HIS LIFE FIRST STOP: NOB Then - Marks progression in the narrative and connects the present text with the previous text "Jonathan said to David, “Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’” Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city (GIBEAH)." (1Sa 20:42+) This marks the beginning of about 10-12 years of David fleeing for his life as Saul continually seeks to murder him. We reap wisdom from Psalms 7, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 22, 25, 31, 34, 35, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 63, 64,142,143 from what he learned during the 10-12 years of exile! THOUGHT - You have probably read every one of these psalms, but what you need to do now is read them in the light of wilderness experiences and I can assure you that you will experience a paradigm shift if regard to how you read them. I had never done that in the past 35 years, but in the inductive study from Precepts on 1 Samuel, they had us read 4 psalms that parallel 1 Samuel 21-23. I can personally testify (as can several of the students) that lesson 6 on First Samuel was revolutionary in regard to how we will approach the psalms of David the rest of our lives. These psalms are included in the commentary on chapters 21-23 to help you associate the specific events with specific psalms. Brian Bell - From these encouraging Psalms God’s people throughout the generations, & still today, can find strength & courage in our own times of testings. Even Jesus drew strength from them on the cross! Ps.22:1; Ps 31:5! The bible never flatters its heroes. It tells the truth about them no matter how unpleasant it may be. So we get to watch on as their character is developed, w/all the facts so we might study them. [Meet God’s man: in exile, running for his life, destitute of friends, begging bread, lying, pretending madness] Eugene Merrill notes that "As far as can be determined, David was a young man of no more than 20 when he was forced to leave Saul's palace and his own home because of Saul's relentless determination to destroy him. Driven to the wilderness area of Judah, the logical place because of his familiarity with it from childhood, David lived out a "Robin Hood" existence for nearly 10 years. This period of time is reckoned from the fact that David was 30 when he began to rule over Judah at Hebron (2 Sam. 5:4), his accession occurring immediately after Saul's death (2 Sam. 2:10-11). David had spent a year and four months among the Philistines just before that (1 Sam. 27:7) and, as just suggested, was only about 20 when exiled from Saul. The events of chapters 21-26 must then represent only a fraction of David's activity during this period. But God was teaching David many things in those days, lessons David still shares with all who read his psalms which find their setting in this turbulent period of his life (see, e.g., Pss. 18; 34; 52; 54; 56-57). All these things were surely working together to prepare David to be the kind of leader who would glorify God and inspire His people." (Borrow Bible Knowledge Commentary - Old Testament ) David came to Nob to Ahimelech ("Melek is father" or "my father is king") the priest - See the map above for location of Nob which is just south of Gibeah and about 2 miles north of Jerusalem. In 1Sa 22:19 we learn it was "the city of the priests." In Mark 2:26 Jesus says David "entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate some of the consecrated bread." Therefore at this time we can conclude that the Tabernacle or Sanctuary ("house of God") was present at Nob. Eugene Merrill points out that "It is difficult to trace the history of the tabernacle after the capture of the ark in 1104 b.c. The ark itself rested at Kiriath Jearim since then (7:2; 2 Sam. 6:3-4), but the tabernacle is not mentioned or even hinted at till 1 Samuel 21, when it was presumed to be at Nob, the "city of priests," where David fled after he made his final break with Saul. (Borrow Bible Knowledge Commentary - Old Testament ) and Ahimelech came trembling (charad) to meet David and said to him - Trembling describes a profound fear. Why did the priest tremble? (Note the Septuagint translations say he was "surprised.") The text is not clear, but trembling means he had fear and his fear was directed at David. He knew David was allied to the king's court (at least he had been) and that King Saul was known to be erratic, so it seems Ahimelech did not know what to expect, so like many of us in similar situations he "feared the worst!" And sadly, if that is the case, his premonition proved all too true in chapter 22. "Why are you alone and no one with you?" - David mentions he has men he will meet in a certain place, but at this time he is alone. Ahimelech is skeptical as to why David is traveling alone, since he is well-known as a member of the king's court by this time. Dale Ralph Davis - Ahimelech the priest smells something wrong. Otherwise, why “tremble” to meet David (v. 1)? Why was David alone, and so on? (Borrow Looking on the heart) Don Anderson on these next chapters in David's life - God is testing David's faith, and David is blowing it badly. But in all of this, God is molding David to be the kind of man that he intends for him to be when he is king. This is a hard principle for us to accept, but God allows some circumstances to come into our life that really test our faith in him, but only so he can accomplish his purpose for our lives in a way that he could never do if the path were always smooth and easy. GOLD IS REFINED THROUGH FIRE. It is when problems and difficulties seem to be overwhelming that the child of God learns some lessons that he could never learn otherwise. We can learn from David's experience here, first of all: fear set in. As we said before, fear is always the enemy of faith. To believe God, to rely on the Word of God, to claim the promises of God, is to conquer our fear. God is allowing David to go through some rough times now, not because of any failure or sin that he had committed but this testing period was to prepare David for the throne. It was all in the will of God. David should not have feared, but he did. We shouldn't fear, but we do. If we are really honest, we have to admit that sometimes our fear of our problems and circumstances are far more real to us than the presence of the Lord and the reality of his promises. Someone said one day, "But this is real life." It is easy to lose 20/20 spiritual vision. We can get a spiritual squint and see things in the wrong perspective and start to panic. We can well remember Peter walking on the water. When he got his eyes off the Lord and on his circumstances, he begun to sink. What caused David's panic when we was in the will of God but surrounded by bewildering circumstances? We have so many blind spots in our lives and so many things that we are not willing to face up to as far as our weaknesses and unbelief are concerned. And God just has to get our attention and to pinpoint these things for us by the curriculum of circumstances He allows to come into our lives Carl Laney points out, "David now entered a long period of separation from the royal court. Most of that time was spent fleeing from Saul, who saw David as his number one enemy. Through David's adventures as a fugitive, he learned lessons on prayer, trusting the Lord, and how to praise God. That is evidenced by many of the Davidic psalms that have their background in these chapters. (Borrow First and Second Samuel) It takes but a moment to make a convert; it takes a lifetime to manufacture a saint. Alan Redpath says, "At this particular point in David's history, God had shot an arrow beyond him. He was going through this situation not because of any failure of sin that he had committed, but simply because of God's purpose in proving the reality of his love, his devotion, his faith. This crucible of testing (see Pr 17:3) was to prepare David for a throne for which he had already received the anointing of the Spirit. I am underlining this because I want you to understand that what is happening to David at this point is all in the will of God to make of him a man of God. It takes but a moment to make a convert; it takes a lifetime to manufacture a saint. David is now looking at God through the threatening clouds of opposition and trouble, instead of looking down at circumstances through the rainbow of God's love. It is very easy to lose 20/20 spiritual squint, to see things in the wrong perspective and start to panic. But how does it all begin? How so you think it began in David's life?" (The Making of a Man of God - Life of David - online) Vos pictures well the scene before us: "As David fled from the fields at Gibeah, he was evidently in very dire straits. He presumably had not been able to return home after escaping out of a window and so had little or no baggage or food. Where should he go? The priestly village of Nob, a couple of miles away on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem was a likely source of help." (Borrow 1, 2 Samuel : Bible study commentary) Blaikie points out, "We enter here on a somewhat painful part of David's history. He is not living so near to God as before, and in consequence, his course becomes more carnal and more crooked." (1 Samuel 21) John Davis says, "Widespread popularity and permanent security were not often the lot of God's people in the Old Testament era. This was especially true with David during these tragic years of separation from the royal court. Perhaps one of the greatest frustrations experienced by David was the fact that his persecutors came from within Israel, as well as without. These chapters in the book of 1 Samuel are most important if one is to understand properly the background and circumstances of many of the psalms. One learns quite a bit about David the psalmist in these chapters as well as about David the fugitive." (Borrow The Birth of a Kingdom : Studies in I-II Samuel and I Kings 1-11) THOUGHT - ON DAVID GOING TO NOB - Getz raises the question, "What about you? Have you ever lost perspective, unable to remember God's promises and provisions in your own life? Do even the Lord's daily miracles in your life, such as health and strength, sometimes seem unrelated to the supernatural? Have you ever taken matters into your own hands and made a mess of things? It's at times like these that we too hurt those closest to us, cause innocent people to suffer, and then bring reproach on the name of Jesus Christ." (Borrow David: God's man in faith and failure - see page 83) A W