1 Samuel 22:18

“And the king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priests, etc.] For determined he was they should die; if one would not put them to death, another should, and who so fit for this bloody work as the false accuser of them, and false witness against them? and Doeg the Edomite turned; immediately, he at once obeyed the king’s orders, as brutish as they were: and fell upon the priests; with his sword in hand: and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod; not the ephod of Urim and Thummim, which was only worn by the high priest, but a garment wholly linen, worn by common priests; the Targum is, “who are fit to be clothed with a linen ephod;” not that they were…”

“We are not to suppose that Doeg killed them all with his own hand. He had a band of men under his command, many or all of whom were perhaps foreigners like himself, and very likely of a Bedouin caste, to whom bloodshed would be quite natural, and the priests of the Lord of no more account than so Early sheep or oxen. return to 'Top of Page'”

“The Edomite - This is noted to wipe off the stain of this butchery from the Israelitish nation, and to shew, why he was so ready to do it, because he was one of that nation which had an implacable hatred against all Israelites, and against the priests of the Lord. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:19”

“22:18 Doeg the Edomite . . . killed them: As a non-Israelite, Doeg had no concern for the sanctity of God-anointed priests. He knew he was executing innocent men. This evil foreigner partially fulfilled the prophecy about the condemned priestly line of Eli (2:27-34; see 1 Kgs 2:27). • still wearing their priestly garments: This incident illustrates how mad Saul had become. Not even those holding a sacred office were safe.”

“Doeg: Sa1 22:9 he fell: Ch2 24:21; Hos 5:11, Hos 7:3; Mic 6:16; Zep 3:3; Act 26:10, Act 26:11 fourscore: The LXX read, τριακοσιους και πεντε ανδρας, "three hundred and five men;" and Josephus, "three hundred and eighty-five men." Probably the eighty-five were priests and the three hundred the families of the priests; three hundred and eighty-five being the whole population of Nob. Sa1 2:30-33, Sa1 2:36, Sa1 3:12-14 a linen ephod: Sa1 2:28; Exo 28:40 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:19”

“Saul then commanded Doeg to cut down the priests, and he at once performed the bloody deed. On the expression "wearing the linen ephod," compare the remarks at Sa1 2:18. The allusion to the priestly clothing, like the repetition of the expression "priests of Jehovah," serves to bring out into its true light the crime of the bloodthirsty Saul and his executioner Doeg. The very dress which the priests wore, as the consecrated servants of Jehovah, ought to have made them shrink from the commission of such a murder. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:19”