1 Samuel 21:1
New International Version
David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

New Living Translation
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?”

English Standard Version
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?”

Berean Standard Bible
Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

King James Bible
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?

New King James Version
Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

New American Standard Bible
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?”

NASB 1995
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?”

NASB 1977
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?”

Legacy Standard Bible
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 is with you?”

Amplified Bible
Then David went to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling [in fear] to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”

Christian Standard Bible
David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
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?”

American Standard Version
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Jonathan arose and entered the city

Brenton Septuagint Translation
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?

Contemporary English Version
David went to see Ahimelech, a priest who lived in the town of Nob. Ahimelech was trembling with fear as he came out to meet David. "Why are you alone?" Ahimelech asked. "Why isn't anyone else with you?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David came to Nobe to Achimelech the priest: and Achimelech was astonished at David's coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

English Revised Version
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. "Why are you alone?" he asked David. "Why is no one with you?"

Good News Translation
David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself?"

International Standard Version
David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was trembling as he came to meet David. Ahimelech told him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him: 'Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?'

Literal Standard Version
And David comes to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembles at meeting David and says to him, “Why [are] you alone, and no man [is] with you?”

Majority Standard Bible
Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

New American Bible
David went to Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, who came trembling to meet him. He asked, “Why are you alone? Is there no one with you?”

NET Bible
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?"

New Revised Standard Version
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?”

New Heart English Bible
Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no man with you?"

Webster's Bible Translation
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

World English Bible
Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?”

Young's Literal Translation
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?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David Takes the Consecrated Bread
1Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 2“The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place.…

Cross References
Mark 2:26
During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well."

1 Samuel 16:4
So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, "Do you come in peace?"

1 Samuel 22:9
But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with Saul's servants, answered: "I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.

1 Samuel 22:19
He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

Nehemiah 11:32
in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,

Isaiah 10:32
Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.


Treasury of Scripture

Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no man with you?

1 Samuel 22:19
And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

Nehemiah 11:32
And at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,

Isaiah 10:32
As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

to Ahimelech

1 Samuel 14:3
And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.

called Ahiah

1 Samuel 22:9-19
Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub…

called also Abiathar

Mark 2:26
How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

afraid

1 Samuel 16:4
And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?

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Afraid Ahimelech Ahim'elech Alone David Meet Meeting Met Nob Priest Thyself Trembled Trembleth Trembling Wherefore
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Afraid Ahimelech Ahim'elech Alone David Meet Meeting Met Nob Priest Thyself Trembled Trembleth Trembling Wherefore
1 Samuel 21
1. David at Nob obtains Ahimelech's hallowed bread
7. Doeg is present
8. David takes Goliath's sword
10. David at Gath feigns himself insane














(1) Then came David to Nob.--Before leaving his native land, David determined once more to see, and if practicable to take counsel with, the old high priest of Israel, with whom, no doubt, in the past years of his close connection with Samuel, he had had frequent and intimate communion. He hoped, too, in that friendly and powerful religious centre to provide himself and his few companions with arms and other necessaries for his exile; nor is it improbable that he purposed, through the friendly high priest, to make some inquiry of the Divine oracle, the Urim and Thuinmim, concerning his doubtful future. The unexpected presence of Doeg, the powerful and unscrupulous servant of Saul, at the sanctuary, no doubt hurried him away in hot haste across the frontier.

The town of Nob, situated between Anathoth and Jerusalem--about an hour's ride from the latter--has been with great probability identified with the "village of Esau," El-Isaurizeb, a place bearing all the marks of an ancient town, with its many marble columns and ancient stones. There, in these latter days of Saul, "stood the last precious relic of the ancient nomadic times--the tabernacle of the wanderings, round which, since the fall of Shiloh, had dwelt the descendants of the house of Eli. It was a little colony of priests; no less than eighty-five persons ministered there in the white linen dress of the priesthood, and all their families and herds were gathered round them. The priest was not so ready to befriend as the prophet (we allude to David's reception by Samuel at Naioth by Ramah, 1 Samuel 19). As the solitary fugitive, famished and unarmed, stole up the mountain side, he met with but a cold welcome from the cautious and courtly Ahimelech."--Stanley, Lectures on the Jewish Church, Lect. 12

To Ahimelech the priest.--He was the great grandson of Eli, thus--

Died at Shiloh after news of capture of Ark,

Eli

Phinehas

Ahitub

Ichabod

Ahimelech

Abiathar.

Slain by Philistines in battle

Reign of Saul--High Priest, . . .

Ver 1. - Then came David to Nob. Nob means a knoll or hill, and apparently was situated a little to the north of Jerusalem on the road leading to Gath. The ark had evidently been removed thither by Saul early in his reign, after it had remained for twenty years in the house of Abinadab; and as eighty-five priests wearing an ephod were murdered there by Doeg at Saul's command (1 Samuel 22:18, 19), it is plain that the worship of Jehovah had been restored by him with something of its old splendour. And this agrees with Saul's character. At the commencement of his reign we find Ahiah with him as high priest, and even when he fell his excuse was the necessity for performing the public rites of religion (1 Samuel 15:15). But with him the king's will was first, the will of Jehovah second; and while he restores God's public worship as part of the glory of his reign, he ruthlessly puts the priests with their wives and families to death when he supposes that they have given aid to his enemy. Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David. More literally, "went trembling to meet David." Ahiah, described as high priest in 1 Samuel 14:3, was either dead or, more probably, was a younger brother, who, while Ahimelech remained with the ark, acted as high priest at the camp for Saul, especially in consulting God for him by means of the ephod with the breastplate. Why art thou alone? Nevertheless, in Mark 2:26 our Lord speaks of those "who were with David," and the "young men" are mentioned in vers. 4, 5. While David went alone to consult Ahimelech, that his visit might be kept quite secret, he had taken a few of his servants with him, and had left them somewhere in the neighbourhood, or even, more probably, had instructed some one to meet him with such men as he could collect. The arrival of the king's son-in-law without an escort would naturally strike the high priest as strange, and therefore as alarming.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then David
דָוִד֙ (ḏā·wiḏ)
0
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

came
וַיָּבֹ֤א (way·yā·ḇō)
0
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to Nob,
נֹ֔בֶה (nō·ḇeh)
0
Strong's 5011: Nob -- a priestly city, perhaps also a place North of Jerusalem

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
0
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Ahimelech
אֲחִימֶ֖לֶךְ (’ă·ḥî·me·leḵ)
0
Strong's 288: Ahimelech -- 'brother of a king', an Israelite name, also a Hittite name

the priest.
הַכֹּהֵ֑ן (hak·kō·hên)
0
Strong's 3548: Priest

And when Ahimelech
אֲחִימֶ֜לֶךְ (’ă·ḥî·me·leḵ)
0
Strong's 288: Ahimelech -- 'brother of a king', an Israelite name, also a Hittite name

met
לִקְרַ֣את (liq·raṯ)
0
Strong's 7122: To encounter, befall

David,
דָּוִ֗ד (dā·wiḏ)
0
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

he trembled
וַיֶּחֱרַ֨ד (way·ye·ḥĕ·raḏ)
0
Strong's 2729: To shudder with terror, to fear, to hasten

and asked
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

him,
לוֹ֙ (lōw)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

“Why [are]
מַדּ֤וּעַ (mad·dū·a‘)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4069: Why? for what reason?

you
אַתָּה֙ (’at·tāh)
Preposition
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

alone?
לְבַדֶּ֔ךָ (lə·ḇad·de·ḵā)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 905: Separation, a part of the body, branch of a, tree, bar for, carrying, chief of

Why is
וְאִ֖ישׁ (wə·’îš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

no one
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

with you?”
אִתָּֽךְ׃ (’it·tāḵ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among


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OT History: 1 Samuel 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
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