1 Samuel 21 · a question people ask
David told Ahimelech the king had sent him (21:2). Was that right?
David said, "The king has commanded me to do something" (21:2), and "Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you" (21:2), and he spoke of the young men sent "to a certain place" (21:2). Jonathan had sent him away (20:42), and Saul had said of him, "he shall surely die!" (20:31). The chapter says David "fled that day for fear of Saul" (21:10). It tells what David said without comment. It doesn't say where the young men were; when Jesus speaks of this day, he speaks of David "and those who were with him" (Luke 6:3). In the next chapter, after Saul has the priests of Nob killed, David tells Ahimelech's son Abiathar, "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house" (22:22). Christians read David's words to Ahimelech in two main ways, as they do the Hebrew midwives' answer to Pharaoh (Exodus 1:19) and Rahab's answer to the king's men (Joshua 2:4-5). Both agree that the chapter doesn't comment, and that David was fleeing from a king who sought his life (20:31, 21:10).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
An untrue answer, and still wrong
Those who hold this view take David's words as untrue and hold that deceiving was still wrong, since God's law says, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16), and "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 12:22). They read beside it David's own words to Abiathar about that day: "I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house" (22:22).
Exodus 20:16 · Proverbs 12:22 · 1 Samuel 22:22
Deceiving to save life was right here
Those who hold this view read David's words as part of escaping a king who had said, "he shall surely die!" (20:31). They read the Hebrew midwives the same way: they answered Pharaoh (Exodus 1:19), and "God dealt well with the midwives" (Exodus 1:20). They read Rahab the same way: she hid the spies and told the king's men, "Where the men went, I don’t know" (Joshua 2:5), and James says she was "justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way" (James 2:25).
1 Samuel 20:31 · Exodus 1:19-20 · Joshua 2:4-6 · James 2:25
The verses
“David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’”
“For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you will not be established, nor will your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die!””
“Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the LORD’s name, saying, ‘The LORD is between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” He arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.”
“David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.”