Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageThe priest answered David, 'I have no ordinary bread on hand — only the sacred bread — and even that is available only if your young men have kept themselves from women.'
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThe kohen answered Dawid, 'I have no common bread to hand — only the holy bread — but that only if your lads have abstained from women.'
KJV
King James VersionAnd the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.
BSB
Berean Standard Bible“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”
Footnotes
Ahimelech draws a careful distinction between *lehem chol* ('common/ordinary bread') and *lehem kodesh* ('holy/sacred bread') — the Bread of the Presence (*lehem ha-panim*). By Levitical law (Lev. 24:5–9), this bread was reserved exclusively for the priests. His condition — ritual purity from sexual abstinence — reflects the requirements of holy war (cf. Deut. 23:9–10). Yeshua/Jesus later cites this very episode (Matt. 12:3–4) as a precedent for mercy and human need taking priority over ritual restriction. FOG uses 'common/holy'; FOG Message uses 'ordinary/sacred.'