1-Samuel - 22:18



18 The king said to Doeg, "Turn and attack the priests!" Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Samuel 22:18.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell upon the priests and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod.
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell on the priests, and put to death that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day eighty and five persons that wore a linen ephod.
And the king saith to Doeg, 'Turn round thou, and come against the priests;' and Doeg the Edomite turneth round, and cometh himself against the priests, and putteth to death in that day eighty and five men bearing a linen ephod,
Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod.
And the king said to Doeg, "You shall turn and rush against the priests." And Doeg, the Edomite, turned and rushed against the priests. And he massacred, on that day, eighty-five men, vested with the linen ephod.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

We are not to suppose that Doeg killed them all with his own hand. He had a band of men under his command, many or all of whom were perhaps foreigners like himself, and very likely of a Bedouin caste, to whom bloodshed would be quite natural, and the priests of the Lord of no more account than so Early sheep or oxen.

And Doeg - fell upon the priests - A ruthless Edomite, capable of any species of iniquity.
Fourscore and five persons - The Septuagint read τριακοσιους και πεντε ανδρας, three hundred and five men; and Josephus has three hundred and eighty-five men. Probably the eighty-five were priests; the three hundred, the families of the priests; three hundred and eighty-five being the whole population of Nob.
That did wear a linen ephod - That is, persons who did actually administer, or had a right to administer, in sacred things. The linen ephod was the ordinary clothing of the priests.

And the king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priests,.... For determined he was they should die; if one would not put them to death, another should, and who so fit for this bloody work as the false accuser of them, and false witness against them?
and Doeg the Edomite turned; immediately, he at once obeyed the king's orders, as brutish as they were:
and fell upon the priests; with his sword in hand:
and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod; not the ephod of Urim and Thummim, which was only worn by the high priest, but a garment wholly linen, worn by common priests; the Targum is,"who are fit to be clothed with a linen ephod;''not that they were clothed with it, but were deserving of it; or it designs the great and more honourable among the servants of the Lord, as Kimchi observes, for such were clothed with this garment, as Samuel and David; and he thinks it suggests, that more were slain than these; and the Septuagint version makes them to be eight hundred five, and Josephus (h) three hundred eighty five; in the slaying of whom, as the same writer says, Doeg was assisted by some wicked men like himself; and the slaughter did not end here, as the 1-Samuel 22:19 shows.
(h) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 12. sect. 6.

Saul then commanded Doeg to cut down the priests, and he at once performed the bloody deed. On the expression "wearing the linen ephod," compare the remarks at 1-Samuel 2:18. The allusion to the priestly clothing, like the repetition of the expression "priests of Jehovah," serves to bring out into its true light the crime of the bloodthirsty Saul and his executioner Doeg. The very dress which the priests wore, as the consecrated servants of Jehovah, ought to have made them shrink from the commission of such a murder.

The Edomite - This is noted to wipe off the stain of this butchery from the Israelitish nation, and to shew, why he was so ready to do it, because he was one of that nation which had an implacable hatred against all Israelites, and against the priests of the Lord.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


Discussion on 1-Samuel 22:18

User discussion of the verse.






*By clicking Submit, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.