Elijah took 12 stones— according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying,“ Israel will be your name”—
The priest told him,“ There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”David answered him,“ I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”