שמואל א, פרק כ״א, פסוק ה׳

A fleeing, hungry leader arrives at the Tabernacle, seeking refuge and sustenance. The priest who meets him eagerly wants to help but immediately faces a severe dilemma. The only food available is sacred, forcing a choice between saving a life and upholding strict laws of purity.

The priest explains that he has no ordinary, everyday bread to offer [מצודת ציון]. Instead, he only has holy bread. Commentators offer different explanations regarding the exact nature of this sacred food. One approach suggests it is the Showbread that had already been removed from the inner table of the Tabernacle after its accompanying incense was burned [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. The absence of regular bread in the area is due to the location itself: Nob was a city populated entirely by priests whose standard diet consisted of sacred tithes. Alternatively, the fleeing leader was simply in too much of a hurry to wait for ordinary bread to be gathered from around the city [אברבנאל]. A different perspective identifies the food as Thanksgiving bread. This type of offering carries lighter restrictions, and under specific conditions, even those who are not priests may eat it as long as they are ritually pure [רד״ק, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם, אברבנאל].

Normally, non-priests are strictly forbidden from eating holy bread. However, the priest agrees to provide it because the men are facing severe starvation. The immediate danger to their lives overrides the standard restrictions, making it permissible to eat the sacred food [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ, חומת אנך, אברבנאל].

While the priest is willing to bypass the standard rules to feed non-priests, his absolute limit is allowing the holy bread to be eaten in a state of ritual impurity [רש״י]. Therefore, he sets a strict condition before handing over the food. The men must be ritually pure, specifically having kept away from women to avoid impurity from a seminal emission [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Interestingly, when the priest asks if the young attendants have kept themselves pure, he is actually inquiring about the leader himself. By directing the sensitive question toward the attendants, the priest carefully preserves the leader's dignity and avoids causing any offense [רד״ק, רלב״ג].