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.
Having previously requested provisions of Ahimelech (1 Samuel 21:3), David now asked for protection, namely, a sword (1 Samuel 21:8). Goliath’s huge sword, which had initially rested in David’s tent (1 Samuel 17:54), was now in the tabernacle wrapped in the priest’s ephod, perhaps because it was a historic relic. David eagerly accepted it from Ahimelech since there was no sword like it. It is interesting that David, and later Solomon, used the same expression to describe the Lord (2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23). Though there was no better protection than Goliath’s sword physically, the Lord was an even better protector spiritually. There is none like Him.