![]() It was Sabbath, and David saw that they were baking the bread of the Presence on Sabbath… Since he had not found anything there except the bread of the Presence, David said to him, “Give it to me so that we do not die of hunger, since when there is a case of doubt regarding life, it supersedes Sabbath.” How much did David eat on that particular Sabbath? Rabbi Chuna said, “David ate almost seven se’ahs due to his hunger, since ravenous hunger had gripped him.” ( Yalkut Shim’oni) The collection of traditional Jewish Bible commentary called Yalkut Shim’oni uses the story to prove that the preservation of life takes precedence over the Sabbath: The story of David and the holy Sabbath bread may have been a common illustration used by the rabbis to discuss Sabbath observance and the laws of keeping the Sabbath. ![]() Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions? (Luke 6:3-4) David took the bread, ate, and left with the rest of it. Nevertheless, Ahimelech gave David the bread. The Torah says that only the priesthood may eat the bread of the Presence and only within the Sanctuary (Leviticus 24:9). That was the holy bread placed on the table inside the Tabernacle and changed out with fresh loaves every Sabbath. Ahimelech replied that he had no ordinary bread, but he did have the twelve loaves of the bread of the Presence. ![]() To preface His argument, the Master retold the story of how David, while on the run from King Saul, came to the Sanctuary set up at Nob and asked Ahimelech the priest for bread to supply him and his men (Samuel 21:2-7(1-6). Yeshua offered a legal defense to justify them, beginning with a case precedent from the Bible. The Pharisees object that they violate the Sabbath. Yeshua’s disciples plucked heads of grain on the Sabbath, husked them, and ate them.
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