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NOB

(Heb. nōḇ)

A site in the territory of Benjamin, N of Jerusalem. When fleeing Saul, David comes to Nob (1 Sam. 21:1-11[MT 2-12]). There he meets the priest Ahimelech, who gives David loaves of sacred bread (“bread of the presence”; cf. Matt. 12:3-4; Mark 2:25-26; Luke 6:3-4) and the sword of Goliath. When the Edomite Doeg reports that David has been seen with Ahimelech (1 Sam. 22:9), Saul summons Ahimelech and the other priests from Nob (v. 11) and accuses them of conspiring against him. Saul then orders Doeg to kill the 85 priests from Nob, but instead Doeg puts “to the sword” all the inhabitants of Nob (1 Sam. 22:11-19).

Isa. 10:32 mentions the city as the last stop of the Assyrian army before reaching Jerusalem (Isa. 10:27d-32). The leader of this Assyrian invasion is either Tiglath-pileser III or Sennacherib. Finally, Nob is named, in the postexilic period (Neh. 11:32), as one of the Benjaminite cities, located between Jerusalem and Bethel.

The location of Nob is not entirely clear, but the site is perhaps to be identified with el-ʿIsāwîyeh (173134) or Râs el-Mešârif, on Mt. Scopus just N of Jerusalem. Some scholars have suggested that the city of Nebo (Ezra 2:29; Neh. 7:33), located in the Benjaminite region N of Jerusalem, should instead be read as Nob.

Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, 1979); W. F. Albright, “The Assyrian March on Jersualem,” in Excavations and Results at Tell el-Fûl (Gibeah of Saul). AASOR 4 (1924): 134-40; J. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah. OTL (Philadelphia, 1988); P. K. McCarter, Jr., I Samuel. AB 8 (Garden City, 1980).

John R. Spencer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NOB

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)