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Doeg
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Doeg

An Edomite, chief of Saul's herdsmen, who happened to be at Nob when the priest Ahimelech gave David bread and Goliath's sword. He reported it to Saul, and when the king's own guards refused to raise a hand against the priests of the Lord, Doeg carried out the killing himself — eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod, and then the whole town, men, women, children and livestock. Only Abiathar escaped. Psalm 52 is headed with his name.

Role: Servant of Saul
Also known as: Doeg the Edomite
Lived: c. 11th century BC

What we know — and how we know it

Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1 Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Life, role & deeds
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 6.244-260 (a retelling of the Samuel account). Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons) Ancient writersJosephus retells the Doeg episode in Antiquities of the Jews, Book VI, blaming him and Saul for the massacre of the priests of Nob. This is a first-century Jewish retelling dependent on the biblical narrative, not an independent attestation of the person.
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 6.244-260 (a retelling of the Samuel account).
Death & legacy
ScholarlyLater rabbinic tradition made Doeg a stock figure of the wicked scholar, elaborating his fate and character well beyond the biblical text. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 106b) is the best-known example; this is post-biblical legend, not historical evidence.
Rabbinic tradition; Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 106b, and parallels in the Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Doeg.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe Hebrew name Doeg (דּוֹאֵג) derives from the root d-ʾ-g, "to be anxious/to fear/to be concerned," so the name carries the sense "anxious one" or "one who is concerned." He is identified as an Edomite and Saul's chief herdsman.
Onomastic analysis of the root דאג (to be anxious); standard Hebrew lexica (BDB / HALOT).

Where in scripture

1 SamuelPsalms

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the best of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

1 Samuel 21:7

Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

1 Samuel 22:9

The king said to Doeg, “Turn and attack the priests!” Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod.

1 Samuel 22:18 — Kills the priests

David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house.

1 Samuel 22:22

Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.

Psalms 52:1

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

1 Samuel 21:71 Samuel 22:91 Samuel 22:181 Samuel 22:22Psalms 52:1

In their own words — 1 recorded saying

“Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was by the side of the servants of Saul, in answer said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. And he got directions from the Lord for him, and gave him food, and put in his hand the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” — 1 Samuel 22:9-10

Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).