1 Samuel 21:7

DAVID RECEIVES THE SWORD OF GOLIATH

"Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. And David said to Ahimelech, "And have you here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." And the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here." And David said, "There is none like that; give it to me."

"Doeg the Edomite" (1 Samuel 21:7). This evil character is mentioned here for two reasons. (1) He would be the chief actor in the destruction of the entire company of the priests at Nob; and (2) David's recognition of him meant that David was required to get out of Nob as rapidly as possible. Doeg would certainly have notified Saul of David's presence there.

"Detained before the Lord" (1 Samuel 21:7). "It is not impossible that Doeg was detained in the sanctuary for some crime."[10] The usual explanation of this, however, is that of Porter, "It is generally assumed that Doeg was detained in the sanctuary under some priestly discipline. Doeg was an Edomite, and the descendants of Esau were a continual thorn in Israel's flesh."[11] Payne thought that, "Doeg was unclean that day, and waiting to perform some religious obligation the next day."[12] "Ephrem Syrus thought that Doeg had committed some trespass, and was detained till he offered the appointed sacrifice."[13] It could be that the enforcement upon Doeg of some disciplinary action resulted in the hatred that must have entered into his heartless slaughter of that whole priestly community.

"The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Eiah" (1 Samuel 21:9). "This supports the historicity of the event of David's slaying Goliath,"[14] showing that Ahimelech already knew David as the giver who had brought that trophy of his victory to Nob.

"It is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod" (1 Samuel 21:9). Cook wrote that, "The words here rendered `a cloth' actually refer to Goliath's military cloak, which was part of the dedicated trophy."[15] This fact also supports the figures given in the Bible for the weight of Goliath's armour, figures which were dismissed by one `scholar' as `pure guesswork.' The priests of Nob had every opportunity to weigh it.