I Samuel 22, Massacre of Priests

David is fleeing Saul.  His first stop was in Gath where he faked insanity. Now he moves on.

I Samuel 22: 1-2, Collection of discontents

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

As David flees Saul, others who are discontented for some reason (debt is an example) begin to come to him, forming a ragtag army. This army includes people of his father's household.

I Samuel 22: 3-5, Refuge for David's father and mothe2

From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?" So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

But the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

David is concerned about his parents and the effect his campaigns may have on them. He asks the king of Moab to allow David's aging parents to retreat there, beyond the reach of Saul. (David's great-grandmother, Ruth, was from Moab; see Ruth 1: 22.)

A prophet, Gad, warns David to keep moving. (Gad appears, for the first time, with no introduction.)

I Samuel 22: 6-8, Saul's complaint

Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul, spear in hand, was seated under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing around him. Saul said to them, "Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today."

Saul is angry that David has been slipping away and warns his officers of the threat David's reign brings to them.

Note the tribal conflict and the echoes of Samuel's complaint about kings: Saul offers his tribal members, Benjamites, command of hundreds and thousands and nice fields and vineyards. He claims that if David is king, all of that wealth and power will go to people of David's tribe (Judah.)

Robert Alter says that identifying someone by their father's name (such as "son of Jesse") without using their own name, is an insult. 

I Samuel 22: 9-10, Abimelech exposed

But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul's officials, said, "I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

One standing nearby overhears Saul's complaint and turns in Abimelech for aiding David. (We are told that Doeg is an Edomite, not an Israelite.)  

I Samuel 22: 11-15, Abimelech confronted

Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his father's whole family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 

Saul said, "Listen now, son of Ahitub." 

"Yes, my lord," he answered.

 

Saul said to him, "Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?"

Ahimelech answered the king, "Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king's son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father's family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair."

An angry Saul goes to Abimelech and accuses him. Abimelech reminds Saul of David's loyalty to both Saul and Israel.  Abimelech is unaware of Saul's conflict with David and his praise of David seems to only anger Saul.

Saul insults the priest (says Alter) by not using his name, but calling him "son of Ahitub."  This is a hint that things are about to go very bad.

I Samuel 22: 16-19, Massacre

But the king said, "You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father's whole family."

Then the king ordered the guards at his side: "Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me." But the king's officials were not willing to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.

The king then ordered Doeg, "You turn and strike down the priests." So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

The logic of Abimilech's response is ignored by Saul and the priests are massacred by Doeg. (The king's officers refuse to take part!)

Saul's paranoia has become a mental illness. He repeatedly wastes the resources of his throne by waging war against his own people.

I Samuel 22: 20-23, Abiathar

But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David. He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.

Then David said to Abiathar: "That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father's whole family. Stay with me; don't be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me."

A son of Abimelech escapes to tell David.  Now David is aware that his stop at the priests place has led to the massacre.