Abiathar

Biblical Account

Abiathar was a priest in the days of Saul and David. He was the son of Ahimelech, the priest of Nob (1 Samuel 22:20). Reading the genealogies of 1 Samuel 14:3 and 22:20 together, he is regarded as a descendant of Eli, the priest of Shiloh.

• Survivor of the massacre at Nob: While David was fleeing, Ahimelech gave him the holy bread, the showbread, along with the sword of Goliath (1 Samuel 21). Saul held this against the priests and had Doeg the Edomite kill the priests of Nob. Abiathar alone escaped and fled to David. Acknowledging that he was responsible for their deaths, David kept Abiathar with him and protected him (1 Samuel 22:6-23).
• Priest in charge of the ephod: Abiathar brought the ephod with him. The ephod was a priestly garment used when a priest sought to learn the will of God. At Keilah and at Ziklag, David inquired of God through Abiathar (1 Samuel 23:6-12; 30:7-8).
• Priest in David's reign: After David became king, Abiathar served as priest alongside Zadok (2 Samuel 20:25; 1 Chronicles 15:11). When Absalom rebelled, he came out with Zadok, bearing the ark of the covenant. At David's command, however, he returned to Jerusalem, and he relayed news to David through his son Jonathan and Zadok's son Ahimaaz (2 Samuel 15:24-36; 17:15-17).
• Removal from office: In David's last days, Abiathar joined Joab in seeking to make Adonijah king (1 Kings 1:7). Solomon spared his life because he had shared in David's afflictions. Instead, he removed him from the priesthood and sent him to his home in Anathoth. Scripture records that this was done to fulfill the word of the LORD concerning the house of Eli (1 Kings 2:26-27; 1 Samuel 2:27-36). Zadok succeeded him in his position (1 Kings 2:35).

Significance Within Scripture

Abiathar's life illustrates two developments. The first is the fulfillment, several generations later, of the prophecy of judgment pronounced against the house of Eli. The second is the shift of the center of the priesthood to the line of Zadok.

In the New Testament his name appears in Mark 2:26. During a dispute over the Sabbath, Jesus refers to David's eating of the showbread as having taken place "in the days of Abiathar the high priest." The parallel accounts of the same event in Matthew 12:3-4 and Luke 6:3-4 do not mention his name.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

In 1 Samuel 21 the priest who gave David the bread is Ahimelech, whereas Mark names Abiathar. Several explanations have been offered for this discrepancy.

• One view reads the Greek expression as "in the passage about Abiathar." This is said to parallel the usage in Mark 12:26, where "in the bush" refers to the passage about the burning bush.
• Another view holds that because Abiathar was present at the event and later became the better-known priest, his name was used to designate that period.
• 2 Samuel 8:17, 1 Chronicles 18:16, and 1 Chronicles 24:6 contain the expression "Ahimelech the son of Abiathar." On this basis, some suggest that the two names may have been used interchangeably within the family.
• Still another view regards the discrepancy as an error that arose in the course of composition or transmission.

Conservative denominations and scholars who emphasize biblical inerrancy generally adopt one of the first three explanations. Some critical scholars adopt the last. This phrase is also known to be absent from some manuscripts.

Care is also needed to distinguish what the text says from what it does not. Identifying Ahiah in 1 Samuel 14:3 with Ahimelech is an inference. Some also conjecture that Jeremiah was a descendant of Abiathar, on the basis of the record that he came from the priests in Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1), but Scripture does not say this.

In the Korean Church

Abiathar is usually treated as a supporting figure in the story of David. He stood by David in his time of hardship, yet in his later years he sided with Adonijah and lost his position. This contrast is often cited in sermons on loyalty and on finishing the life of faith well. Mark 2:26 is frequently discussed in sermons on the Sabbath and in apologetic materials defending the accuracy of Scripture.