Doeg
“Fearful or anxious”
Summary
An Edomite who served Saul as chief herdsman and who slaughtered eighty-five priests of the Lord at Nob.
☩Witness Against David
Doeg was an Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen, who happened to be 'detained before the Lord' at Nob when David fled there from Saul. He witnessed Ahimelech the priest giving David the shewbread and the sword of Goliath. When Saul later accused his servants of conspiracy, Doeg reported what he had seen, adding that Ahimelech had 'inquired of the Lord' for David.
☩The Massacre at Nob
Saul summoned Ahimelech and all the priests of Nob and condemned them to death for allegedly helping David. When Saul's servants refused to strike the Lord's priests, Doeg alone obeyed the king's command. He slew eighty-five priests wearing the linen ephod, then attacked Nob itself, destroying men, women, children, infants, and livestock. Only Abiathar escaped to tell David.
☩David's Response
David acknowledged to Abiathar that he had suspected Doeg would inform Saul. Psalm 52, attributed to David 'when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul,' pronounces judgment on one who loves evil more than good and boasts in mischief. David contrasts such a man's destruction with his own trust in God's mercy.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Doeg," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Doeg," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).