✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

1 Samuel 22

ARC · Chapter 22/31

1Então David se retirou d'ali, e escapou para a caverna de Adullam: e ouviram-n'o seus irmãos e toda a casa de seu pae, e desceram ali para elle.

2E ajuntou-se a elle todo o homem que se achava em aperto, e todo o homem endividado, e todo o homem de espirito desgostoso, e elle se fez chefe d'elles: e eram com elle uns quatrocentos homens.

3E foi-se David d'ali a Mispeh dos moabitas, e disse ao rei dos moabitas: Deixa estar meu pae e minha mãe comvosco, até que saiba o que Deus ha de fazer de mim.

4E trouxe-os perante o rei dos moabitas, e ficaram com elle todos os dias que David esteve no logar forte.

5Porém o propheta Gad disse a David: Não fiques n'aquelle logar forte; vae, e entra na terra de Judah. Então David se foi, e veiu para o bosque de Chereth.

6E ouviu Saul que já se sabia de David e dos homens que estavam com elle: e estava Saul em Gibeah, debaixo d'um arvoredo, em Rama, e tinha na mão a sua lança, e todos os seus creados estavam com elle.

7Então disse Saul a todos os seus creados que estavam com elle: Ouvi, peço-vos, filhos de Benjamin, dar-vos-ha tambem o filho de Jessé, a todos vós, terras e vinhas, e far-vos-ha a todos chefes de milhares e chefes de centenas?

8Para que todos vos tenhaes conspirado contra mim, e ninguem ha que me dê aviso de que meu filho tem feito alliança com o filho de Jessé, e nenhum d'entre vós ha que se dôa de mim, e m'o participe, pois meu filho tem contra mim sublevado a meu servo, para me armar ciladas, como se vê n'este dia.

9Então respondeu Doeg, o idumeo, que tambem estava com os creados de Saul, e disse: Ao filho de Jessé vi vir a Nob, a Achimelech, filho de Ahitub,

10O qual consultou por elle ao Senhor, e lhe deu mantimento, e lhe deu tambem a espada de Goliath, o philisteo.

11Então o rei mandou chamar a Achimelech, sacerdote, filho de Ahitub, e a toda a casa de seu pae, os sacerdotes que estavam em Nob; e todos elles vieram ao rei.

12E disse Saul: Ouve, peço-te, filho d'Ahitub. E elle disse: Eis-me aqui, senhor meu.

13Então lhe disse Saul: Porque conspirastes contra mim, tu e o filho de Jessé? pois deste-lhe pão e espada, e consultaste por elle a Deus, para que se levantasse contra mim a armar-me ciladas, como se vê n'este dia

14E respondeu Achimelech ao rei, e disse: E quem, entre todos os teus creados, ha tão fiel como David, o genro do rei, prompto na sua obediencia, e honrado na tua casa?

15Comecei, porventura, hoje a consultar por elle a Deus? longe de mim tal! não impute o rei coisa nenhuma a seu servo, nem a toda a casa de meu pae, pois o teu servo não soube nada de tudo isso, nem muito nem pouco.

16Porém o rei disse: Achimelech, morrerás certamente, tu e toda a casa de teu pae.

17E disse o rei aos da sua guarda que estavam com elle: Virae-vos, e matae os sacerdotes do Senhor, porque tambem a sua mão é com David, e porque souberam que fugiu e não m'o fizeram saber. Porém os creados do rei não quizeram estender as suas mãos para arremetter contra os sacerdotes do Senhor.

18Então disse o rei a Doeg: Vira-te tu, e arremette contra os sacerdotes. Então se virou Doeg, o idumeo, e arremetteu contra os sacerdotes, e matou n'aquelle dia oitenta e cinco homens que vestiam ephod de linho.

19Tambem a Nob, cidade d'estes sacerdotes, passou a fio de espada, desde o homem até á mulher, desde os meninos até aos de mama, e até os bois, jumentos e ovelhas passou a fio de espada.

20Porém escapou um dos filhos de Achimelech, filho de Ahitub, cujo nome era Abiathar, o qual fugiu atraz de David.

21E Abiathar annunciou a David que Saul tinha matado os sacerdotes do Senhor.

22Então David disse a Abiathar: Bem sabia eu n'aquelle dia que, estando ali Doeg, o idumeo, não deixaria de o denunciar a Saul: eu dei occasião contra todas as almas da casa de teu pae.

23Fica comigo, não temas, porque quem procurar a minha morte tambem procurará a tua, pois estarás salvo comigo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David gathers a band of fugitives and desperate men in the cave of Adullam. When Saul learns that Ahimelech helped David, he orders the massacre of all the priests of Nob, carried out by Doeg, but Abiathar escapes and joins David.

Explanation

The cave of Adullam becomes a refuge for 'every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,' showing how David, even while a fugitive, attracts and welcomes marginalized people who would become the core of his future loyal army — a pattern of leadership that turns broken people into a cohesive force. Saul's disproportionate and cruel response, ordering the death of 85 innocent priests and destroying the entire priestly city of Nob simply because they had helped David without knowing of his flight, reveals how paranoia and jealousy had turned Saul into a tyrant capable of atrocities against God's own people. The initial refusal of Saul's own soldiers to carry out this horrific order, forcing him to turn to the foreigner Doeg to commit the massacre, shows that even within Saul's court there were moral limits that ordinary Israelites were unwilling to cross.

Fun facts

  • Psalm 52 is attributed to David specifically concerning this episode, with the psalm's own title mentioning 'when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.'
  • The complete destruction of Nob, including women, children, and animals (v.19), uses the same language of 'herem' (total destruction) normally reserved for Israel's pagan enemies, making it all the more shocking that it was applied against Israel's own priestly people.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 22:1The cave of Adullam becomes the first gathering point for David’s future fighting force — it is also here that his own family decides to join him, perhaps fearing reprisals from Saul.
  2. 1 Samuel 22:2This mixed group of social outcasts — the indebted, the persecuted, the discontented — forms the core of the personal army that would later become David’s elite warriors.
  3. 1 Samuel 22:3Seeking protection for his parents in Moab makes genealogical sense: David’s great-grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite — a distant kinship that may have helped secure their welcome.
  4. 1 Samuel 22:4Leaving his parents under foreign protection shows how dangerous David’s situation had already become — too risky to keep his own family’s safety close by.
  5. 1 Samuel 22:5Gad appears here for the first time as David’s prophetic advisor — the start of a relationship that will remain relevant much later, even after David becomes king.
  6. 1 Samuel 22:6The image of Saul sitting with his spear in hand, surrounded by servants, visually repeats the same scene of tension and paranoia that has already appeared before regarding David.
  7. 1 Samuel 22:7Saul appeals to his own tribe’s self-interest, implying that supporting David, a man of Judah, would mean losing privileges that only a Benjamite king like himself could guarantee.
  8. 1 Samuel 22:8Saul now sees Jonathan’s loyalty to David as organized political treason, not personal friendship — his paranoia turns everything into a conspiracy against his own throne.
  9. 1 Samuel 22:9This is where Doeg’s presence in chapter 21, mentioned almost in passing, reveals its real function in the story: he kept everything he saw to report to Saul at the right moment.
  10. 1 Samuel 22:10Doeg reports the facts accurately but without context, leaving out that Ahimelech had no idea David was fleeing from Saul — a crucial detail that changes the gravity of the accusation.
  11. 1 Samuel 22:11Summoning the whole priestly family, not just Ahimelech, already signals Saul’s intent to hold the entire group collectively responsible, not just the individual who helped David.
  12. 1 Samuel 22:12Ahimelech’s respectful, immediate response shows he had no idea of the gravity of the accusation he was about to face.
  13. 1 Samuel 22:13Saul lists exactly the acts of Ahimelech described in chapter 21 as if they were proof of deliberate conspiracy, ignoring that the priest acted in good faith.
  14. 1 Samuel 22:14Ahimelech defends David by citing exactly his merits and his official position at court — arguments that, until shortly before, were genuinely true.
  15. 1 Samuel 22:15Ahimelech vehemently asserts his innocence: to him, helping David was a priest’s normal routine of serving a trusted officer of the king, not a conscious act of treason.
  16. 1 Samuel 22:16Saul completely ignores Ahimelech’s reasonable defense, condemning to death not only him but his entire family — a disproportionate sentence driven by paranoia, not justice.
  17. 1 Samuel 22:17The royal guards’ own refusal to obey shows that even they recognized the moral line Saul was crossing — killing the LORD’s priests was too grave a taboo even for obedient soldiers.
  18. 1 Samuel 22:18Eighty-five priests wearing linen ephods are killed by Doeg after Saul’s own soldiers refuse to do it — killing an anointed priest was too grave a taboo even for obedient soldiers, but not for the hired Edomite.
  19. 1 Samuel 22:19Saul orders even the oxen, donkeys, and sheep of Nob killed, along with men, women, and children — the same logic of herem (total destruction) used against Amalek in chapter 15 is here turned, disturbingly, against an Israelite priestly city.
  20. 1 Samuel 22:20Abiathar’s survival secures the continuity of the priestly line and links, from here on, the priesthood directly to David’s movement, no longer to Saul’s court.
  21. 1 Samuel 22:21David receives the most painful news yet: his own naive lie in chapter 21 had cost the lives of an entire innocent priestly community.
  22. 1 Samuel 22:22David takes direct moral responsibility for the tragedy, acknowledging that his lie on arriving at Nob, even if well-intentioned, had unleashed consequences he had already suspected were possible.
  23. 1 Samuel 22:23David offers Abiathar the protection he could not offer the rest of his family — formally binding the surviving priest to his own fate as a fugitive.

Chapters

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play