1 Samuel 22

This chapter belongs to the latter part of 1 Samuel and covers the period when David was a fugitive from Saul. In the preceding chapter, 1 Samuel 21, David received bread and the sword of Goliath from Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, while Doeg the Edomite was present. Chapter 22 records the consequences of that encounter.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 David flees to the cave of Adullam. His family comes to him there, and about four hundred men who are in distress, in debt, or discontented gather to him, and he becomes their captain.
• Verses 3–5 David goes to Mizpeh of Moab and entrusts his parents to the king of Moab. At the word of the prophet Gad, he leaves the stronghold and goes to the forest of Hareth in the land of Judah.
• Verses 6–10 Seated under the tamarisk tree at Gibeah, Saul rebukes his Benjamite servants for failing to tell him of the covenant between his son and David. Doeg reports what he saw at Nob.
• Verses 11–16 Saul summons Ahimelech and the priests of his father's house and interrogates them. Ahimelech defends David by pointing to his faithfulness, but Saul sentences him and his whole house to death.
• Verses 17–19 When Saul's servants refuse to kill the priests of the LORD, Doeg kills eighty-five priests who wore a linen ephod and then strikes the city of Nob, both people and livestock.
• Verses 20–23 Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escapes and comes to David. David says that he is responsible for what has happened and promises to protect him.

Key Verses

• 1 Samuel 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": This verse shows how the band that would later form David's kingdom began.
• 1 Samuel 22:17 "But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD": In this scene Saul's command collides with the conscience of his servants.
• 1 Samuel 22:22–23 "I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house": These words are often noted as David's acknowledgment of his own responsibility.

Characters and Places

• David: A fugitive who leads a band of followers.
• Saul: King of Israel, who pursues David.
• Jesse: David's father. Saul refers to David as "the son of Jesse."
• Jonathan: Saul calls him "my son" and raises the issue of his covenant with David.
• Cave of Adullam: The cave in the land of Judah where David first hides.
• Moab: The neighboring nation to which David entrusts his parents. Mizpeh is a place within Moab.
• Gad: A prophet who first appears in this chapter and later serves alongside David.
• Gibeah: Saul's base.
• Doeg: An Edomite in Saul's service who kills the priests.
• Ahimelech: The son of Ahitub and the priest of Nob.
• Nob: The city of the priests.
• Goliath: His sword passed to David through Ahimelech.
• Ephod: A priestly garment. The slain priests are described as those "that did wear a linen ephod."
• Abiathar: The son of Ahimelech and the sole survivor.

Points for Reflection

• Ahimelech, as a descendant of Ahitub, belonged to the house of Eli (see 1 Samuel 14:3). For this reason, many interpreters read the massacre at Nob in connection with the prophecy of judgment against Eli's house in 1 Samuel 2. The text of chapter 22, however, does not say so. By contrast, 1 Kings 2 explicitly states that Solomon's later removal of Abiathar fulfilled that prophecy.
• Some explain David's decision to entrust his parents to Moab by noting that his great-grandmother Ruth was a Moabite, but the text gives no reason.
• The superscription of Psalm 52 identifies Doeg's report as its background. The superscriptions of Psalm 57 and Psalm 142 refer to the time when David was "in the cave," but interpreters differ on whether that cave is Adullam or the cave of 1 Samuel 24.
• In the New Testament, in Mark 2, Jesus refers to David's eating of the showbread as occurring "in the days of Abiathar the high priest." Because 1 Samuel 21–22 identifies the priest at that time as Ahimelech, various explanations have been offered for this difference.

In the Korean Church

Verses 1–2 are frequently cited in sermons as a picture of a community in which wounded people with nowhere else to go gather and are built up anew. Such a community is commonly called an "Adullam community."