The Seforno explains that this verse refers to and includes the case of Doeg HaAdomi (“Doeg”) when he wished to ingratiate himself to King Shaul, to improve his social standing. To do so, he told King Shaul that it was the residents of the city of Nob, a city entirely comprised of Kohanim, that gave succor and fed (future king) Dovid (when he was on the run from King Shaul). Enraged, King Shaul had Doeg wipe out the population of the entire city.
The “bribe” that Doeg took, according to the Seforno, was the allure and appeal of improving his social standing with the king – to hobnob with the rich and powerful, so to speak. This bribe blinded Doeg, and he was fooled into thinking, like King Shaul did at times, that Dovid was out to kill the king. Accordingly, Doeg felt justified in telling King Saul about the city of Nob – how dare they help Dovid who was rebelling against the king!
And Doeg was of great stature. Consider that the Navi (Shmuel I 21:7) says that “Doeg was the head of shepherds.” Chazal understand this to mean that he was the head of the Sanhedrin itself (as the Sanhedrin are the “shepherds” of Bnei Yisrael and the Possuk says that he was the head of shepherds). Why was he called “HaAdomi” - the red one? The Midrash Tehillim (52:4) tells us that he was so well-versed in the complex and intricate pathways of Torah law, that everyone was, “red” with embarrassment due to the comparative ignorance they felt when they were around him.
The Avos DeRav Nosson explains that Doeg was careful to only speak the truth - always. As an example, the Kohanim of the city of Nob did, in fact, feed Dovid. As we said above, Doeg actually believed that he was right to tell King Shaul about the city of Nob who helped Dovid, who he believed was rebelling against King Shaul. However, he should have known better and realized that Dovid was not out to kill the king – and he would have known better, if it wasn’t for the allure and social status that he sought by ingratiating himself to the king, which clouded his judgement. Thus, we see that even Doeg who was careful to always speak the truth, didn’t realize the truth when it came to his assessment of Dovid and his intentions towards King Shaul.
Doeg was punished severely for his actions. He lost half of his life in this world (he died at the young age of 34 – see Sanhedrin 69b) and also lost his share in the World to Come (Sanhedrin 90a).
We would be wise to take a lesson from Doeg and be vigilant to help ensure that our intellect is not unduly influenced by the hopes for social status or any other “bribes” that may cloud our judgement.
