David answered the priest, and said to him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then today shall their vessels be holy?
The mention of Doeg, an Edomite who had risen high in Saul’s government (1 Samuel 21:7), prepares the reader for his informing Saul about what happened at Nob (1 Samuel 22:9-19). Perhaps Doeg was "detained before the Lord" because he had come to the tabernacle to present an offering or to conduct some other business there.