Ahimelech

Biblical Account

Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, was a priest who served at Nob (1 Samuel 22:9). When David, fleeing from Saul, came to Nob, Ahimelech trembled as he came out to meet him. David claimed that the king had sent him on a secret mission and asked for food and weapons. Ahimelech gave him the holy bread that had been removed from before the LORD, that is, the showbread. He also gave David the sword of Goliath, whom David had slain in the Valley of Elah; it had been kept wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod (1 Samuel 21:1–9). Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen, was present at the time.

When Doeg reported this to Saul, Saul summoned Ahimelech and the priests of his father's house. Ahimelech defended David as the king's son-in-law and the most faithful of all his servants, and he answered that he knew nothing of David's affairs (1 Samuel 22:14–15). Saul ordered them to be killed. Saul's guards refused to obey, but Doeg killed eighty-five priests who wore a linen ephod. He then struck Nob, the city of the priests, killing its people and even its livestock (1 Samuel 22:18–19). Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escaped and fled to David. David told him that, because Doeg had been there that day, he himself was responsible for what had happened (1 Samuel 22:20–23).

Significance Within Scripture

The superscription of Psalm 52 identifies this episode as its setting, and the psalm denounces the one whose tongue devises mischief. In the New Testament, Jesus, during a dispute over the Sabbath, cites David's eating of the bread that only the priests were permitted to eat (Matthew 12:3–4; Mark 2:25–26; Luke 6:3–4). Matthew adds the words "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7). Mark concludes with the saying "The sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27–28).

Interpretation and Issues

• "In the days of Abiathar the high priest" in Mark 2:26: In 1 Samuel the one who gave David the bread is Ahimelech, but Mark mentions his son Abiathar. Interpretations vary:
• Some read the phrase as meaning "in the passage about Abiathar."
• Some take it as a broad reference to the era of Abiathar, who later became a well-known high priest.
• Some regard it as a matter of textual transmission.
• Those who emphasize biblical inerrancy generally favor the first two explanations.
• Relationship to the house of Eli: 1 Samuel 14:3 records that Ahiah, likewise a son of Ahitub, was a great-grandson of Eli. For this reason, some regard Ahiah and Ahimelech as the same person or as brothers. Some interpreters also read the massacre at Nob in connection with the prophecy against the house of Eli (1 Samuel 2:31–36), although the biblical text does not explicitly connect the two.
• Other men named Ahimelech: Ahimelech the Hittite (1 Samuel 26:6) is a different person. Interpretations differ regarding "Ahimelech the son of Abiathar" in 2 Samuel 8:17: some view him as this priest's grandson, while others attribute the reference to a discrepancy in the record.
• David's deception: Because David's pretext ultimately led to the deaths of innocent priests, the passage is also read as exposing David's fault.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, Ahimelech is treated mainly in two contexts: in sermons on David's years as a fugitive, often read alongside Psalm 52, and as a background figure in expositions of Jesus' Sabbath disputes. In Sunday school curricula, he is often introduced briefly in the unit on David's flight from Saul that follows the story of David and Goliath.