Bible Strands
1 Samuel 21:5
David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David speaks to the priest Ahimelech at Nob while fleeing from Saul, responding to the priest’s condition that the young men must be ritually pure to receive consecrated bread.
The words — אִשָּׁ֤ה ('i.shah) = woman and אִם\־ ('im) = except or if. David uses these terms to confirm that sexual abstinence is a standard purity requirement his men have already maintained.
The thread — The consecrated bread motif runs in Leviticus 24:9, which reserves the Bread of the Presence for priests in a holy place, and Leviticus 8:26, which places unleavened bread before the LORD. The narrative pattern of chosen men carrying a mission appears in Acts 9:15.
Why it lands — The text states that ritual purity conditions are met and the sacred bread is provided, then records the priest's action of giving it. A reader must note the functional link between stated purity, priestly authority, and the provision of holy provisions for a divinely directed 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
And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 8:26 And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, and he placed them on the fat portions and on the right thigh.
- Leviticus 24:9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD—his portion forever.”
- Acts 9:15 “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
- 2 Timothy 2:20 A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
- 1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.