The priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.
Ahimelech gave David the showbread that the priests ate (Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5-9). This was the bread that for a week lay on the table of showbread in the tabernacle. Each Sabbath the priests replaced this bread with fresh loaves. Ahimelech was careful that David’s men were ritually clean, not having had sexual relations with women that day (1 Samuel 21:4; cf. Leviticus 15:8; Exodus 19:14-15). David assured him that their bodies were clean ritually (1 Samuel 21:5). This made it permissible for them to eat the consecrated bread. Ahimelech correctly gave David the provisions he needed (1 Samuel 21:6).