12:4a

He entered the house of God: The phrase the house of God was a Jewish expression that could refer to either the tabernacle or the temple. Here it refers to the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a movable tent. It was the special worship place for the Jews before they built the temple. It was the place where Jewish people presented sacrifices to God and where God revealed his presence to them.

If your word for house is general enough to include the Jewish tabernacle, you may follow the Berean Standard Bible. If people in your area will think only of a permanent house, you may want to use your expression for the Jewish tabernacle.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the tent of ⌊worship to⌋ God
-or-
the worship place of God

the tabernacle

The term house of God refers not only to the tent of worship but also the courtyards around it. Since only priests were allowed to enter the tent, David probably entered only the courtyard and the priest gave him the bread there. If you feel that this detail is important here, you may want to include the implied information. For example:

He entered ⌊the court/courtyard of⌋ the house of God

and he and his companions ate: There is some implied information here:

(a) According to Luke 6:4 and 1 Samuel 21:1–6, David asked the priest for the bread, and the priest gave it to him. David did not steal the bread. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this information explicit. For example:

⌊he was given⌋ the bread of the Presence and ate it
-or-

⌊he received⌋ the holy bread and ate it

(b) According to 12:4b, David’s men also ate the bread. David was not the only person to eat it. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this information explicit here. For example:

and he ⌊and his men⌋ ate

the consecrated bread: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the consecrated bread is more literally “the bread of the presentation.” It had this name because a priest presented/offered this bread to God by placing it on a table in the tabernacle. Every Sabbath the bread was replaced with fresh bread. Then, only the priests were allowed to eat the old bread. See Leviticus 24:5–9 and Exodus 25:30.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the bread offered to God (Good News Translation)
-or-
the bread that had been placed before God
-or-
the holy bread (New Century Version)

bread: The word bread refers to the main food of the Jewish people. It was the food they ate every day.

If bread is not known in your area, you can:

• translate this word with a general term. For example:

food

• use the name of the food that is eaten at most meals in your area, but only if the word can also be used in a general sense to refer to any food.

12:4b

which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests: The law of Moses did not allow anyone but/except priests to eat this special bread (Leviticus 24:9). It was against the law for David and his men to eat it.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

it was against the Law for them to eat it—only the priests were allowed to eat that bread. (Good News Translation)
-or-
The law did not allow anyone except the priests to eat it. David and his men were not allowed to eat it.
-or-
If not for the priests, the law did not allow anyone to eat this bread. He and his men were not allowed to eat it.

priests: The word priests refers to Jewish men who offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Priests also performed other rituals for the people.

Here are some other ways to translate priests:

• Use a descriptive term that focuses on the function of priests. For example:

sacrificers
-or-
men who offer sacrifices to God
-or-
men who represent people to God

• Use a local word for priests. This option may be acceptable if the duties of local priests are similar to those of Jewish priests. You may need to indicate that the word refers to Jewish priests. For example:

Jewish people’s priests/sacrificers

If possible, you should choose a term that can be used in both Old Testament and New Testament contexts.

The word “priest” first occurs in 8:4b. See also how you translated “priest” in the phrase “chief priests” in 2:4. See also priest in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 12:4a–b

God was not angry with David or the priest who gave the bread to him. Instead, God is pleased when his people help others in need. This is the implied conclusion based on 12:7b. You may want to explain some of this in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:

The priest had mercy on David and gave him the bread. This broke the law that said that only the priests were permitted to eat that bread. But God was not angry with the priest or David. Instead God was happy that the priest had mercy on David, as 12:7 explains. The intent of the law is to be merciful toward poor and needy people and to help them when they are in need.

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