Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.
Ahimelech appealed to Saul on David’s behalf much as Jonathan had done earlier (1 Samuel 22:14-15; cf. 1 Samuel 17:4-5). Nevertheless this time Saul did not respond to reasonable persuasion (1 Samuel 22:16). Saul’s disregard for Yahweh’s will is obvious in his command to kill the priests-whom God had appointed to serve Him. This punishment was entirely too severe, since the crime Saul charged them with was simply failing to tell Saul where David was.