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Nob stood one and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem and two and one-half miles southeast of Gibeah. There Ahimelech served as high priest. Priestly activity and evidently the tabernacle were now there (cf. 17:54). It is significant that David's first place of refuge was among God's representatives on earth. He wanted to get help from the Lord through them (cf. 22:10) as he had done in the past (22:15). Apparently Ahimelech was trembling because David was alone (cf. 16:4). Had Saul sent him to harm the priests (cf. 22:6-23), or was David in some kind of trouble? Bear in mind that David was Saul's general, and as such he usually travelled with escorting soldiers.
David appears to have lied to Ahimelech (v. 2). However, he may have been referring to Yahweh when he mentioned "the king"who had sent him (cf. 20:22; 21:8). Even so he wanted Ahimelech to think that Saul had sent him. This was deception at best and a lie at worst rooted ultimately in selfishness and lack of faith in God. David made some mistakes in his early years as a fugitive. He handled himself better as time passed. During this time God was training him for future service. David proceeded to explain that the reason he was alone was that he had sent his soldiers elsewhere. He intended to rendezvous with them shortly and had come to Nob himself to obtain provisions, protection, and prayer (cf. 22:10).
Ahimelech gave David the showbread that the priests ate (Exod. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9). This was the bread that for a week lay on the table of showbread in the tabernacle. Each Sabbath the priests replaced this bread with fresh loaves. Ahimelech was careful that David's men were ritually clean, not having had sexual relations with women that day (v. 4; cf. Lev. 15:8; Exod. 19:141-5). David assured him that their bodies were clean ritually (v. 5). This made it permissible for them to eat the consecrated bread. Ahimelech correctly gave David the provisions he needed (v. 6).
Jesus said this was proper for David to have done (Matt. 12:1-4). The reason was human life takes precedence over ceremonial law with God.228David was probably not at the point of starvation. Certainly the Lord's disciples were not (Matt. 12). Nevertheless human need should always be a higher priority than the observance of a ritual used to worship God. We acknowledge the same priority today. Suppose you pass a house that is on fire. You stop, run up to the front door, bang on the door, and ring the doorbell. You look in the window and see someone lying on the floor. You then kick in the door and drag the unconscious person outside to safety. Even though breaking into someone else's house is a criminal offense, the law will not prosecute you since you saved that person's life.
The mention of Doeg, an Edomite who had risen high in Saul's government (v. 7), prepares the reader for his informing Saul about what happened at Nob (22:9-19). Perhaps Doeg was "detained before the Lord"because he had come to the tabernacle to present an offering or to conduct some other business there.
Having previously requested provisions of Ahimelech (v. 3) David now asked for protection, namely, a sword (v. 8). Goliath's huge sword, which had initially rested in David's tent (17:54), was now in the tabernacle wrapped in the priest's ephod, perhaps because it was a historic relic. David eagerly accepted it from Ahimelech since there was no sword like it. It is interesting that David, and later Solomon, used the same expression to describe the Lord (2 Sam. 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23). Though there was no better protection than Goliath's sword physically, the Lord was an even better protector spiritually. There is none like Him.
