Abiathar

Gender: Male

Years: -1062 - 31

Dictionary Text: Father of abundance, or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest. He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent from Eli. When his father was slain with the priests of Nob, he escaped, and bearing with him the ephod, he joined David, who was then in the cave of Adullam;. He remained with David, and became priest of the party of which he was the leader. When David ascended the throne of Judah, Abiathar was appointed high priest; and the “king’s companion”. Meanwhile Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, had been made high priest. These appointments continued in force till the end of David’s reign. Abiathar was deposed and banished to his home at Anathoth by Solomon, because he took part in the attempt to raise Adonijah to the throne. The priesthood thus passed from the house of Ithamar;;,. Zadok now became sole high priest. In, reference is made to an occurrence in “the days of Abiathar the high priest.” But from, we learn explicitly that this event took place when Ahimelech, the father of Abiathar, was high priest. The apparent discrepancy is satisfactorily explained by interpreting the words in Mark as referring to the life-time of Abiathar, and not to the term of his holding the office of high priest. It is not implied in Mark that he was actual high priest at the time referred to. Others, however, think that the loaves belonged to Abiathar, who was at that time a priest, and that he either himself gave them to David, or persuaded his father to give them.

Family Members

• Father: Ahimelech
• Children:
  • Jonathan
  • Ahimelech

Verses

• 2 Samuel 20:25: And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:
• 1 Kings 1:42: And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.
• 2 Samuel 15:29: Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
• 2 Samuel 15:35: And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
• 1 Samuel 30:7: And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
• 1 Samuel 22:20: And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
• 1 Kings 2:27: So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
• 1 Kings 2:35: And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
• 1 Chronicles 27:34: And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the general of the king’s army was Joab.
• 2 Samuel 19:11: And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.
• 2 Samuel 15:36: Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan Abiathar’s son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye can hear.
• 1 Samuel 22:22: And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house.
• 1 Samuel 22:21: And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD’S priests.
• 1 Chronicles 24:6: And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.
• 2 Samuel 15:24: And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.
• 1 Kings 1:7: And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
• 1 Samuel 23:6: And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
• 1 Samuel 23:9: And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
• 2 Samuel 17:15: Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
• 1 Kings 1:25: For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.
• 1 Chronicles 15:11: And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,
• 1 Chronicles 18:16: And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;
• 2 Samuel 8:17: And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
• 1 Kings 1:19: And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.
• 2 Samuel 15:27: The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
• Mark 2:26: How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
• 1 Kings 2:22: And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
• 1 Kings 4:4: And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:
• 1 Kings 2:26: And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.