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;) 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; 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?
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. 10 And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 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.
12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. 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? 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?
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. 16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. 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.
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. 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.
(1 Samuel 22:6-19 KJV)
Thomas Haweis
Verses 6-19: No sooner is David discovered, and reported to be raising men; and, probably, as reports seldom fail of swelling as they go, his design is construed into an intention to dethrone Saul; than his envenomed spirit breathes forth fury.
1. With his spear in his hand, and his guards around him, he bursts forth into a passionate upbraiding of his servants, as if they were privy to the supposed treason against him, and aiders and abettors of David. Knowing the friendship subsisting between Jonathan and David, he concludes they were in a conspiracy, and with caresses seeks to draw the supposed secret from them. He pleads what he had done, and could do for them, to make them his friends and they could expect nothing as Benjamites from the son of Jesse; he accuses them of want of concern for his safety, and charges them with his suspicions, as if he had known them to be undoubted facts. Note, (1.) It is but too common to have the faithful represented as seditious, and accused as meditating the worst designs. (2.) Jealousy is ever tormented with its own suspicions.
2. As every man no doubt had full conviction of the innocence of these faithful friends, none dared accuse them. But Doeg the Edomite, to give Saul all the satisfaction he could, and to curry favour with the king, informs him of what happened at Nob where he was; of David’s coming thither, and Ahimelech’s kindness to him. Though he suppressed the circumstances which would show Ahimelech’s innocence, and by his representation, seemed to make him an accomplice with David. Note, There is an invidious way of representing the truth, which by suppressing some circumstances, renders the report more malignant than a gross lie.
3. Ahimelech is instantly summoned to appear, to answer the charge laid against him, as guilty of treason, in aiding and abetting the king’s enemies. He appears at the first summons, and his brethren with him. The king with insolence arraigns him; whilst he respectfully answers, and pleads his innocence of every traitorous design: entirely ignorant of the cause of David’s journey, he received him with the respect due to the king’s son, and did him every service he required, as presuming it was the king’s business, in which he was employed. Being a man highly honoured, and usually set on affairs of importance, he consulted God for him as he had done often before; and therefore the king ought not to impute his well meant duty into a crime; it being impossible for him, unacquainted as he was with David’s circumstances, to have acted otherwise. A clearer defense could not well be made; but how unveiling when he hath to do with an inflamed, partial, and prejudiced judge! Note, Innocence is far from being a protection, when power is in the hand of the oppressors.
4. The king is deaf to his plea; resolves his death as a traitor, as if he had conspired with David against him; and not satisfied with the blood of one innocent man, he inhumanly bids his servants fall on all the priests of the Lord, as if he would wreak his anger against God, by murdering his ministers. But his servants, shocked at the cruel command, a violation not only of justice, but of humanity, and reverencing the sacred character of the priests, refuse, though at the peril of their lives, to obey him. But fixed is the dire resolve; Doeg, the accuser, will not fail to be the executioner: him he commands, and he obeys. Eighty-five who wore an ephod, were murdered on the spot: with a party to Nob, and slays every creature which breathed with the edge of the sword; and thus the prophecy against Eli’s house is dreadfully accomplished. Who can without horror read such a massacre! What is man when left to the power of the devil? More savage than the monsters of the wilderness. Note, (1.) A wicked, tyrannical king will not want instruments to execute his cruel decrees. (2.) We must not hastily find fault with God’s providence, in permitting such scenes of impiety and bloodshed; the mystery will by and by be explained, and God be found just and righteous in all his judgments.