David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place.
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).