“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”
- NASB The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread, if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
- NLT “We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ahimelech has only the holy bread, which he offers if the men are ceremonially clean.
Overview
The priest explains that ordinary bread is unavailable, but the consecrated showbread could be given if David's young men have kept themselves ceremonially pure. This sets up a tension between strict ritual law and pressing human need. The exchange shows a faithful priest seeking to help while honoring God's holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 12:3–4Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- Exod 19:15“Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”
- Exod 25:30And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.
- Lev 24:5–9You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
- 1 Sam 21:6So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.
- 1 Cor 7:5Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
- Zech 7:3by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
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The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
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Original language
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