# David seeks bread, refuge and companions United Kingdom · Draft · BSB Content revision: 323cdc18dc72366c · No editorial review date recorded [Citation / readable page](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/david-nob-adullam/) [Open interactive map](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?event=david-nob-adullam) [Markdown](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/david-nob-adullam/index.md) [JSON](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/david-nob-adullam/index.json) Date: David’s flight · Before Saul’s attack on Nob David obtains consecrated bread and Goliath’s sword at Nob, then escapes danger in Gath by feigning madness. At Adullam his family and distressed men gather to him; he seeks safety for his parents in Moab before returning to Judah. David misrepresents his mission to Ahimelech. Doeg witnesses the visit, which has tragic consequences in the next scene. The narrative follows a fugitive’s movement, not a migration of the whole people of Israel. ## Primary Scripture [1 Samuel 21:1–22:5 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2021%3A1%E2%80%9322%3A5&version=BSB) 21:1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 21:2 “The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission on which I am sending you. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place. 21:3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 21:4 “There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” 21:5 David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!” 21:6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away. 21:7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD. And his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief shepherd for Saul. 21:8 Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s mission was urgent.” 21:9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” 21:10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 21:11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” 21:12 Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 21:13 So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard. 21:14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me? 21:15 Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?” 22:1 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. 22:2 And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. 22:3 From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I learn what God will do for me.” 22:4 So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold. 22:5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. ## Related Scripture [Mark 2:23–28 · recollection](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A23%E2%80%9328&version=BSB) Jesus later refers to David receiving the consecrated bread in a discussion about the Sabbath. ## Location evidence Adullam’s marker is a proposed town locality, not a known cave. Nob is especially uncertain; Ras el-Mesharif is only one candidate. The Moab refuge is left unpinned. Event map marker: Proposed site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.001667, 31.651667\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue. Gath: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[34.84694, 31.69972\]. Classification source: editorial. [OpenBible.info: Gath (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a18873f/gath-1) Nob (one proposed site): Proposed site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.244167, 31.7925\]. Classification source: editorial. [OpenBible.info: Nob (one proposed site) (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/afdda14/nob) Adullam: Proposed site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.001667, 31.651667\]. Classification source: editorial. [OpenBible.info: Adullam (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/af82614/adullam) [OpenBible.info: Adullam (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/af82614/adullam) ## For the class How does David’s need for refuge expose both dependence and morally difficult choices? ## Interpretation and reuse Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review. Record source: editorial (content/authored/united-kingdom.json) Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0. Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas. 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