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1 Samuel 20 · a question people ask

Why would being "not clean" keep David from the king's table?

In the text

The chapter gives only Saul's thought: "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean" (20:26). It doesn't say what the meal was, beyond "the new moon" (20:24) and "the king’s table" (20:29), or why being unclean would keep David away. The Law set offerings for the new moon: "In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD" (Numbers 28:11), and trumpets were blown "in the beginnings of your months" over the burnt offerings and "the sacrifices of your peace offerings" (Numbers 10:10). And it kept anyone unclean from eating that meat: "the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to the LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people" (Leviticus 7:20). 1 Samuel 20 doesn't say that the king's meal was a sacrifice, so it doesn't tie Saul's thought to that law.

The verses

“So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon had come, the king sat himself down to eat food.”
1 Samuel 20:24 · World English Bible
“Nevertheless Saul didn’t say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean.””
1 Samuel 20:26 · World English Bible
“He said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city. My brother has commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.””
1 Samuel 20:29 · World English Bible
““‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect,”
Numbers 28:11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Samuel 20

1 Samuel 20: The kindness of the LORD

Jonathan asked David for "the loving kindness of the LORD" (20:14), for his house forever (20:15). At Saul's table David's place was empty (20:25); years later David told Jonathan's son, "I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake" and "You will eat bread at my table continually" (2 Samuel 9:7). In Hebrew both kindnesses are chesed.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions