Nob was a town in the kingdom of Judah where the priests lived. David fled there during his flight from King Saul and came to Ahimelech the priest, who gave him hallowed bread and the sword of Goliath (1 Samuel 21:1). Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s servants, saw the meeting and reported it to the king, who summoned Ahimelech and the priests of Nob and ordered them killed. Doeg slew eighty-five who wore the linen ephod, and Saul put the city of Nob to the sword — men, women, children, and livestock. Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escaped and fled to David (1 Samuel 22).
Nob lay near Jerusalem in the tribal territory of Benjamin and is listed with Anathoth among the towns resettled after the exile (Nehemiah 11:32). In Isaiah’s prophecy of an Assyrian advance, Nob is the last halt of the invader before Jerusalem, the point from which he shakes his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion (2 Nephi 20:32), placing it within sight of the city along the line of approach. Its exact site has not been identified.