Bible Strands
1 Samuel 21:1
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?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David arrives at Nob and encounters Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech immediately trembles and questions David about his solitary presence.
The words — וַ/יֶּחֱרַ֨ד (va/i.ye.che.Rad) translates literally as "and he trembled," describing Ahimelech's physical reaction upon meeting David.
The thread — Nob appears as a later settlement in Nehemiah 11:32, while Ahimelech's priestly role and the consecrated bread are recalled in Mark 2:26 and traced to Eli's lineage in 1 Samuel 14:3.
Why it lands — The text records a moment of sudden fear and secrecy, requiring the reader to observe how Ahimelech's caution contrasts with David's concealed mission.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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?
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 11:32 in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
- 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 14:3 including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
- 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?”
- Isaiah 10:32 Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- 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.