20140408 Tuesday, April 8 2014
1 Samuel 22: Saul's Slaughter of The Priests Of The LORD

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD'S priests"

After fleeing the house of Saul, David at first resorted to elderly Samuel (see 1 Samuel 12: Samuel's Farewell) at Ramah, north of Jerusalem (see 1 Samuel 19: The Parting of David and Saul). From there, David tried Philistine territory (see 1 Samuel 21: Why Didn't David Kill Saul?), but found it to be even more dangerous than Saul (obvious logic - David turned and left the Philistine territory to return to the territory of Saul's kingdom).

While in Judah, David was joined by a few hundred men who were as much fed up with their life in Saul's kingdom as they were supporters of David. Revolutions throughout human history were often begun or instigated by misfits or traitors (including resentful army or militia officers who were passed over for promotion by someone more qualified) who blamed the king for their lack of success or unwillingness to work (numerous "fathers of their country" began as second-rate military officers who promoted themselves by means of a mutiny). They soon realized however that David was not a rebel.

The next stop was Moab - the native land of David's great-grandmother Ruth (see Ruth 1: Elimelech and Naomi, Ruth 2: The Meeting Of Ruth and Boaz, Ruth 3: The Threshingfloor Proposal and Ruth 4: The Marriage Of Boaz and Ruth). A prophet of the LORD then told David to return to Judah (see Joshua 15: Judah's Homeland).

"22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. 22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

22:5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth." (1 Samuel 22:1-5 KJV)

If David had left the house of Samuel out of fear that Saul would slaughter the priests and prophets there, including even Samuel, he was right. Saul not only massacred the priests at another city, Nob, who were innocent of any wrongdoing (they were in fact as politically loyal to Saul as David had been and wanted to be), but their entire families. It was a cold-blooded war crime as heinous as any of the many atrocities committed during the modern-era wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

"22:6 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) 22:7 Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; 22:8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

22:9 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. 22:10 And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. 22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. 22:13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?

22:15 Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.

22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me.

But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests.

And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. 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."

When news of the massacre of the priests of the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) reached David, he knew that there was then no chance of making peace with Saul - with the murders of those priests, Saul had driven the LORD away too.

"22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 22:21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD'S priests. 22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. 22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard." (1 Samuel 22:20-23 KJV)

Fact Finder: When did the LORD's priesthood originate? What was the purpose of the High Priest?
See Numbers 3: When Were The Levites Set Apart?, Numbers 4: The Levite Clans and Leviticus 8: The Prophecy Of The Blood Upon The Anointed One