Nob

In the Bible

In 1 Samuel 22:19, Nob is called "the city of the priests."

• David's visit (1 Samuel 21:1–9): Fleeing from Saul, David comes to Ahimelech, the priest at Nob. David claims that he has come on a secret mission entrusted to him by the king. Ahimelech gives David the showbread, the holy bread that had been removed from before the LORD. David also receives a sword that had been kept behind the ephod: the sword of Goliath, whom he had killed in the Valley of Elah. Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen, was present at the time.
• The massacre of the priests (1 Samuel 22:6–23): After hearing Doeg's report, Saul summons Ahimelech and the priests of Nob and accuses them of conspiring with David. Ahimelech denies any conspiracy, but Saul orders their execution. When Saul's servants refuse to strike down the priests, Doeg kills eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. Nob is then put to the sword, including its men, women, children, and livestock. Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escapes and flees to David. David tells him, "I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house" (1 Samuel 22:22).
• Other references: Isaiah 10:32 depicts an invading army (in context, Assyria) halting at Nob as it advances on Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:32 lists Nob among the places inhabited by the people of Benjamin after the return from exile.

Background

Judging from the references in Isaiah and Nehemiah, Nob is thought to have been located in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, a short distance north of Jerusalem. Its exact site has not been determined, and scholars differ: some suggest the area of the Mount of Olives, while others point to the hills north of it.

Nob had a community of priests, an ephod, and the showbread. For this reason, many hold that after Shiloh, the sanctuary of Eli's time, the sanctuary was located at Nob during this period. The text, however, does not state directly that the tabernacle was at Nob.

The showbread was bread set out on the table in the sanctuary and replaced with fresh loaves every Sabbath. The bread that was removed was to be eaten only by the priests (Leviticus 24:5–9).

Ahimelech was the son of Ahitub (1 Samuel 22:9). According to 1 Samuel 14:3, Ahitub was a grandson of Eli.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

• The prophecy against the house of Eli: 1 Samuel 2:31–33 foretells judgment upon the house of Eli. 1 Kings 2:27 explains that Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood "that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh." Many interpreters read the massacre at Nob as one stage in the fulfillment of this prophecy.
• Connection with the Psalms: The superscription of Psalm 52 states that the psalm was composed when Doeg told Saul about David.
• Citation in the New Testament: In a dispute over the Sabbath, Jesus cites David's eating of the showbread as an example (Matthew 12:3–4; Mark 2:25–26; Luke 6:3–4). The name Nob does not appear in these passages. Matthew follows this saying with "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7). Mark concludes with the saying "The sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27–28).

Interpretation and Issues

• Ahimelech and Abiathar: Mark 2:26 places this event "in the days of Abiathar the high priest." In 1 Samuel, however, it is Ahimelech who gives David the bread. Several explanations have been offered for this discrepancy:
• Mark referred not to the precise time of Abiathar's tenure but to the era as a whole, using the better-known name of Abiathar.
• The relevant section of Scripture was known by that name.
• The discrepancy reflects a problem in the manuscript tradition.

The weight given to each explanation varies according to one's position on biblical inerrancy.

• David's lie: The text of 1 Samuel does not directly evaluate David's lie, though David himself acknowledges responsibility for the deaths of the priests. Some interpreters emphasize that this lie led to tragedy. Others, drawing on Jesus' citation, read the episode as raising the question of how ceremonial law should be applied when life is at stake.
• Ahimelech and Ahiah: Scholars differ on whether Ahiah in 1 Samuel 14:3 should be identified with Ahimelech.