The Reading

The Summary

Shemuel Alef Chapter 21

Yonatan returns home and David is now officially “on the run”. With no entourage, provisions or weapons, he enters Nov, the priestly city, and meets with the chief Kohen, Ahimaatz. Ahimaatz is described as “trembling” to meet David, suggesting that he perceived that something urgent was afoot.

David tells Ahimaatz that he is on a secret mission for the king and is in need of emergency provisions and any weapons they have available in the town. Ahimaatz replies that the only bread they possess is the showbread that was placed on the golden altar in the Tabernacle every Shabbat. David reassures him that he and the fictitious group of men he claimed were waiting for him were all ritually pure and therefore permitted to consume the bread; the fact that it was an emergency overrode the prohibition on non-priests eating the consecrated food.

There are no weapons in the city other than the sword of Goliath, apparently kept there as a reminder of the salvation wrought by Hashem in David’s confrontation with the giant; David asks to take it to arm himself for his “mission”. The text notes that Doeg Ha-Adomi, one of the top officers of Shaul, was present at the time, and observed this exchange; this piece of information becomes important later.

David escapes to Gat where he is recognized by the servants of the king, Akhish. They wish to apprehend and execute him, recalling the praises sung of his slaying of tens of thousands of Phillistines. Cognizant of their intentions, David feigns insanity to save himself – he begins drooling, writing on walls, and engaging in other unspecified erratic behaviors. King Akhish, criticizes his men for arresting David, commenting sarcastically that he has enough crazy people in his kingdom already and has no need for another one. There is no glory for the Pelishtim in such a conquest.

One gets the sense from this chapter that David is out of sorts; he behaves in a frantic manner, first taking consecrated bread from the Tabernacle and the sword of Goliath (and doing this under the watchful eye of an officer of Shaul, hence putting the Kohanim at risk), then running into enemy territory to find refuge. It seems that David is having a momentary crisis of trust in God; he does not know what Hashem’s plan is for him, and engages in desperate action as a result.

Ironically, the showbread in the Temple is intended to demonstrate that Hashem provides for all creatures; David commandeers the bread at a time when he fears that provisions from heaven may not be forthcoming. Similarly, the sword of Goliath was on display to remind everyone of the futility of human power in the face of Hashem’s providence; David, feeling alone and weak, temporarily places his trust in the sword of Goliath, perhaps briefly identifying with his opponent and wishing he could possess that strength.

Tragically, these decisions, made during a spell of desperation, will have tragic consequences that the text indicates David WOULD have foreseen and avoided if he had been thinking straight at the time. We will learn more about this in the next chapter.

Almost as a corrective measure for David, he soon discovers that the possession of food and weaponry are not able to save him from the might of the king of Gat. Acting insane would normally be beneath the dignity of a great warrior – it is humiliating to be thought of as mentally ill, and one might imagine that a soldier or officer would give up his life before pretending to be crazy.

However, David returned to his senses and dropped his warrior persona; knowing that it was not his public image but his standing in God’s eyes that mattered, it was not difficult for him to feign insanity, regardless of the impact of this choice on his reputation. In the Psalm in which David recounted this incident, he wrote, “may those who are humble hear this and rejoice” – this strategy was an example of the modesty and wisdom of David reasserting themselves after a brief lapse of judgment.