1 Samuel 22:6-23--Saul Kills the Priests at Nob

1 Samuel 22:6-23
English Standard Version

Saul Kills the Priests at Nob
6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10 and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

11 Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.” 17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. 23 Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

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Saul is enraged that David has escaped him and he knows that Jonathan had to have had something to do with it.  He starts off by trying to make the tribe of Benjamin swear loyalty to him and make it as if this is some tribal dispute between the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of Judah (specifically the house of Jesse, to which David belonged).  Saul promised his relatives from the tribe of Benjamin power and wealth if they would stay loyal to him, but in this situation choosing to be loyal to Saul would mean choosing to be on the wrong side, for the LORD had already rejected him.

His chief herdsmen, Doeg the Edomite, the speaks and says that he saw David at the Tabernacle at Nob, and that the priest named Ahimelech gave David comfort and aid in the form of provisions for the journey and the sword of Goliath.  Ahimelech was innocent in all this as David had lied to him about his reason for him and his men needing rest and food, and David's story to Ahimelech seemed reasonable because David had been on similar missions for the king in the past, and many times, David had come to the priests for them to make inquiry of the LORD for him.  This was a privilege that belonged not only to the king of Israel, but to all the people of Israel, but especially those in leadership and command that needed to make decisions that affected the entire nation (like to ask if David should go to battle against the Philistines, which may break out into all-out war).

Saul's anger is kindled against Ahimelech, but also against all the other priests of Nob who would have been there and seen David, and none of them reported to Saul that they had seen David (this tells us a lot about Saul.  First, he thinks the priests work for him, and not for the LORD.  Second, he thinks that they should be able to know things that he has never told them--it was only that day that David had become a fugitive, and if the king had never made it known to the priests that he wanted to keep tabs on David, they had no reason to be suspicious of or to try to restrict David's movements, especially if it appeared to them that he was once again going to war against the Philistines).  Now Saul ordered his guards to turn and kill the priests, but they would not do so, for they feared the LORD (the same cannot be said for Saul), so we see Doeg the Edomite, who also has no fear of the LORD, turn and strike down eighty-five priests that day.  He also devoted to destruction the women and children and infants and donkeys and oxen--everyone and everything in the city that belonged to these priests was destroyed.  In so doing, Saul had openly declared war against the LORD for the priests and all that belonged to them belonged to the LORD and to His service.

One of Ahimelech's sons named Abiathar escaped the attack and made his way to David to share the news with him that Saul was out to kill David and had killed Ahimelech and all the priests of Nob for the aid they rendered to David and his men.  David says that he knew that day when he saw Doeg the Edomite there at the Tabernacle that there would be trouble, for he knew Doeg would eventually tell Saul that David was there and that the priests helped David and his men.  David blames himself for the deaths of all the priests because he involved them with his conflict with Saul (Saul would have eventually tried to force them to help him though as he viewed them much like pagan priests that were to inquire from the LORD whenever the king asked but to make sure to only deliver the message that the king wanted to hear).  David invites Abiathar to join his company and vows to keep him safe since David feels responsible for what happened to Abiathar's home and family.  So it will be that David will now have a faithful priest of the LORD travelling with him and Abiathar will make inquiry for David before the LORD as needed so that David knows which way he should go or not go and which battles he should pursue or not pursue.  David is in a tricky situation where he must act like the king that is protecting his people, even though his people don't recognize him as the rightful king (yet).  We'll look at one such decision that David needs to make to save the city of Keilah next time.