1 Samuel 21

1 And David came to Nob to Achimelech the priest; and Achimelech hastened trembling to meet David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man is with thee?

David fled from there and went to Nob [city to see] Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw David [because he was afraid that something bad had happened]. He said to David, “Why are you alone? Why have no men come with you?”

2 And David said unto Achimelech the priest, The king commanded me a business, and said unto me, Let not any man know the least of the business concerning which I send thee, and which I have commanded thee. And the young men have I appointed to such and such a place.

David [deceived Ahimelech] by replying, “The king sent me. But he does not want anyone to know anything about what he sent me to do. I have told my men where [they should meet me].

3 And now what hast thou on hand: put five loaves of bread into my hand, or what else can be found.

Now [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?”

4 And the priest answered David, and said, I have no common bread on hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have only withheld themselves from women.

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].”

5 And David answered the priest and said to him, To a certainty women have been denied us yesterday and the day before, when I went forth, and the vessels of the young men were holy: and if this was the custom with unholy things, how much more will it remain this day holy in the vessels.

David 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.”

6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread; for there was no bread there except the showbread, that was removed from before the Lord, so as to put down hot bread on the day when it was taken away.

The 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.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there on that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul.

It happened that Doeg, from the Edom people-group, was there on that day to make himself acceptable to Yahweh, [and he saw what Ahimelech did]. He was one of Saul’s officials and the leader of Saul’s shepherds.

8 And David said unto Achimelech, Hast thou not also here at hand a spear or sword: for both my sword as also my other weapons have I not brought with me, because the king's business was urgent.

David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or a sword [that I could use]? The king [appointed us to do] this task [and told us to leave] immediately, so I did not have time to bring any weapons.”

9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst slay in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that for thyself, take it; for there is no other save it here. And David said, There is none like that: give it to me.

Ahimelech replied, “I have only the sword that belonged to Goliath [the giant] from the Philistia people-group whom you killed in Elah Valley. It is wrapped in a cloth, and is behind the sacred vest [in the Sacred Tent]. If you want it, take it, because I have no other [weapon] here.” David replied, “Truly, there is no other sword that is [as good] as that one! Give it to me.”

10 And David arose, and fled on that day from before Saul, and came to Achish the king of Gath.

[So Ahimelech gave it to him], and David left there. He [and his men] and went to Gath [city in the Philistia region], to stay with King Achish.

11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not of this man sing one to another in the dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

But the officers of King Achish [objected to David being there. They] said to King Achish, “This man is [RHQ] David, the king of Israel! He is the one [RHQ] whom [our enemies], the [Israeli] people, [honored by] dancing and singing, ‘Saul has killed thousands [of his enemies], but David has killed tens of thousands of them!’”

12 And David took these words to his heart, and was greatly afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

David heard what those men were saying, so he was afraid of [what] King Achish [might do to him].

13 And he disguised his reason before their eyes, and played the madman in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down upon his beard.

So he pretended that he was insane. He started scratching on the gates [of the city] and allowing his saliva to run down his beard.

14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see, the man is mad: wherefore then will ye bring him to me?

Then King Achish said to his men, “Look at this man! He is acting like an insane man! Why have you brought him to me?

15 Have I lack of madmen, that ye have brought this man to play his pranks about me? shall this one come into my house?

Have you brought him because I do not have enough insane men here already [RHQ]? I do not want [RHQ] him to come into my house!”