1 Samuel 21:4
New International Version
But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

New Living Translation
“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.”

English Standard Version
And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.”

Berean Standard Bible
“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.”

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
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.”

New American Standard Bible
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.”

NASB 1995
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.”

NASB 1977
And 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.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And 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.”

Amplified Bible
The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”

Christian Standard Bible
The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”

American Standard Version
And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And now what is under your hand? Give into my hands five loaves of bread or whatever is found"

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the priest answered David, and said, There are no common loaves under my hand, for I have none but holy loaves: if the young men have been kept at least from women, then they shall eat them.

Contemporary English Version
"The only bread I have is the sacred bread," the priest told David. "You can have it if your soldiers didn't sleep with women last night."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?

English Revised Version
And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"I don't have any ordinary bread," the chief priest answered David. "But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven't had sexual intercourse [today]."

Good News Translation
The priest said, "I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently."

International Standard Version
The priest answered David: "There is no ordinary bread available; only consecrated bread, provided that the young men have kept themselves from women."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the priest answered David, and said: 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'

Literal Standard Version
And the priest answers David and says, “There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the youths have been kept from women.”

Majority Standard Bible
“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.”

New American Bible
But the priest replied to David, “I have no ordinary bread on hand, only holy bread; if the men have abstained from women, you may eat some of that.”

NET Bible
The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women."

New Revised Standard Version
The priest answered David, “I have no ordinary bread at hand, only holy bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”

New Heart English Bible
And the priest answered David, and said, "There is no common bread in my control, but there is holy bread. If the young men have kept themselves from women, they may eat of it."

Webster's Bible Translation
And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

World English Bible
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.”

Young's Literal Translation
And the priest answereth David, and saith, 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David Takes the Consecrated Bread
3Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4“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.” 5David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the equipment of the young men is holy, as it is even on common missions, and all the more at this time.”…

Cross References
Matthew 12:4
He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests.

Exodus 19:15
"Be prepared for the third day," he said to the people. "Do not draw near to a woman."

Exodus 25:30
And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

Leviticus 15:18
If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.

Leviticus 24:5
You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,

1 Samuel 21:3
Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found."


Treasury of Scripture

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

hallowed bread

1 Samuel 21:6
So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Exodus 25:30
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

Leviticus 24:5-9
And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake…

if the young

Exodus 19:15
And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

Zechariah 7:3
And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

1 Corinthians 7:5
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

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Bread Common Consecrated David Hallowed Hand Holy However Kept Least Ordinary Priest Themselves Women Young
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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














(4) There is no common bread.--The condition of the priests in these days of Saul was evidently a pitiable one. The terrible massacre related in the next chapter seems not to have excited the wail of indignation and woe which such a wholesale murder of the priests of the living God should naturally have called out from the entire people. They were evidently held in little esteem, and their murder was regarded at the time, not as an awful act of sacrilege, but simply as an act of political vengeance--of punishment for what the king was pleased to style treason. Here the almost destitute condition of the ministers of the principal sanctuary of Israel appears from the quiet answer of the high priest to David, telling him they had positively no bread but the stale bread removed from before "the Presence" in the holy building.

This "hallowed bread," or shewbread, five loaves of which David petitioned for, consisted of twelve loaves, one for each tribe, which were placed in the Tabernacle fresh every Sabbath Day. The law of Moses was that this bread, being most holy, could only be eaten by the priests in the holy place. It is probable that this regulation had been relaxed, and that the bread was now often being carried away and eaten in the homes of the ministering priests, and on urgent occasions, perhaps, was even given to the "laity," as in this case, the proviso only being made that the consumers of the bread should be ceremonially pure. Our Saviour, in Matthew 12:3, especially uses this example, drawn from the Tabernacle's honoured customs, to justify a violation of the letter of the law, when its strict observance would stand in the way of the fulfilment of man's sacred duty to his neighbour.

The natural inference from this incident would be that such a violation of the Mosaic Law was not an uncommon occurrence, as Ahimelech at once gave him the hallowed bread, only making a conditional inquiry about ceremonial purity--a condition which came out so readily that we feel it had often been made before. The Talmud, however, is most anxious that this inference should not be drawn, and points out in the treatise Menachoth, "Meat-offerings" (Seder Kodashim), that this bread was not newly taken out of the sanctuary, but had been removed on some previous day, and that as, after a week's exposure, it was stale and dry, the priests ate but little of it, and the rest was left. (See Treatise Yoma, 39.) It also points out that had such violation of the Levitical Law been common, so much importance would not have been attached to this incident.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“[There is] no
אֵֽין־ (’ên-)
0
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

common
חֹ֖ל (ḥōl)
0
Strong's 2455: Profaneness, commonness

bread
לֶ֥חֶם (le·ḥem)
0
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

on
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
0
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

hand,”
יָדִ֑י (yā·ḏî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

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

replied,
וַיַּ֨עַן (way·ya·‘an)
0
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

“but
אִם־ (’im-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

there is some
יֵ֔שׁ (yêš)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

consecrated
קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ (qō·ḏeš)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6944: A sacred place, thing, sanctity

bread—
לֶ֤חֶם (le·ḥem)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

provided that
אִם־ (’im-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

the young men
הַנְּעָרִ֖ים (han·nə·‘ā·rîm)
Preposition
Strong's 5288: A boy, lad, youth, retainer

have kept themselves
נִשְׁמְר֥וּ (niš·mə·rū)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

from women.”
מֵאִשָּֽׁה׃ (mê·’iš·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female


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OT History: 1 Samuel 21:4 The priest answered David and said There (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 21:3
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