1st Samuel Chapter 21 verse 4 Holy Bible
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.
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And the priest, answering David, said, I have no common bread here but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.
read chapter 21 in BBE
And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.
read chapter 21 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 21 in KJV
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.
read chapter 21 in WBT
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.
read chapter 21 in WEB
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.'
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Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(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] noאֵֽין־ (’ên-)0Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particlecommonחֹ֖ל (ḥōl)0Strong's 2455: Profaneness, commonnessbreadלֶ֥חֶם (le·ḥem)0Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grainonתַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)0Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu ofhand,”יָדִ֑י (yā·ḏî)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 3027: A handthe priestהַכֹּהֵ֤ן (hak·kō·hên)0Strong's 3548: Priestreplied,וַיַּ֨עַן (way·ya·‘an)0Strong's 6030: To answer, respond“butאִם־ (’im-)Direct object markerStrong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, notthere is someיֵ֔שׁ (yêš)AdverbStrong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, isconsecratedקֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ (qō·ḏeš)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 6944: A sacred place, thing, sanctitybread—לֶ֤חֶם (le·ḥem)Noun - proper - masculine singularStrong's 3899: Food, bread, grainprovided thatאִם־ (’im-)Noun - masculine singular constructStrong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, notthe young menהַנְּעָרִ֖ים (han·nə·‘ā·rîm)PrepositionStrong's 5288: A boy, lad, youth, retainerhave kept themselvesנִשְׁמְר֥וּ (niš·mə·rū)Noun - masculine singularStrong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend tofrom women.”מֵאִשָּֽׁה׃ (mê·’iš·šāh)Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singularStrong's 802: Woman, wife, femaleJump to PreviousBread Common Consecrated David Hallowed Hand Holy However Kept Least Ordinary Priest Themselves Women Young
