Ahimelech

Brother of the king, the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar (1 Sam. 22:20-23). He descended from Eli in the line of Ithamar. In 1 Chr. 18:16 he is called Abimelech, and is probably the same as Ahiah (1 Sam. 14:3, 18). He was the twelfth high priest, and officiated at Nob, where he was visited by David (to whom and his companions he gave five loaves of the showbread) when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:1-9). He was summoned into Saul’s presence, and accused, on the information of Doeg the Edomite, of disloyalty because of his kindness to David; whereupon the king commanded that he, with the other priests who stood beside him (86 in all), should be put to death. This sentence was carried into execution by Doeg in the most cruel manner (1 Sam. 22:9-23). Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in 2 Sam. 8:17; 1 Chr. 18:16, marg.; 24:3, 6, 31.

1. Son of Ahitub, (1 Samuel 22:11,12) and high priest of Nob in the days of Saul. He gave David the shew bread to eat, and the sword of Goliath; and for so doing was put to death, with his whole house, by Saul’s order. Abiathar alone escaped. [ABIATHAR] (B.C. 1085-1060.)
2. A Hittite. (1 Samuel 26:6)

a-him'-e-lek ('achimelekh, "brother of a king," or, "my brother is king," or, "king is brother"):

(1) The father of David's high priest Abiathar: son of Ahitub, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli (1Sa 21:1,2,8; 22:9-20; 23:6; 30:7). Ahijah the son of Ahitub (1Sa 14:3,18) was either the same person under another name, or was Ahimelech's father or brother. See AHIJAH, 3. Ahimelech is an interesting person, especially because he stands for whatever information we have concerning the priestly office in Israel during the period between Eli and David. Whether the Deuteronomic law for a central sanctuary originated with Moses or not, its provisions were very imperfectly carried out during the times of the Judges. This was particularly the case after the capture of the ark by the Philistines, and the deaths of Eli and his sons. From that time to the middle of the reign of David the ark was in the custody of the men of Kiriath-jearim "in the hill," or "in Gibeah" (1Sa 7:1; 2Sa 6:2,3).

As a general proposition Israel "sought not unto it" (1Ch 13:3), though there is nothing to forbid the idea that it may, on occasion, have been brought out from its seclusion (1Sa 14:18). Before and after the accession of Saul some of the functions of the national sanctuary were transacted, of course very incompletely, at Gilgal (1Sa 10:8; 11:14,15; 13:7; 15:12,21,33). Whether there was a priesthood, with Ahitub the grandson of Eli as high priest, is a matter on which we have no information; but we may remind ourselves that the common assumption that such men as Samuel and Saul performed priestly offices is nothing but an assumption. After Saul has been king for a good many years we find Ahijah in his retinue, acting as priest and wearing priestly vestments. A few years later Ahimelech is at the head of the very considerable priestly establishment at Nob. The scale on which it existed is indicated by the fact that 85 robed priests perished in the massacre (1Sa 22:18).

They had families residing at Nob (1Sa 22:19). They were thought of as priests of Yahweh, and were held in reverence (1Sa 22:17). It was a hereditary priesthood (1Sa 22:11,15). Men deposited votive offerings there, the sword of Goliath, for example (1Sa 21:9). There seems to have been some kind of police authority, whereby a person might be "detained" (1Sa 21:7). It was customary to inquire of Yahweh there (1Sa 22:10,15). A distraction was made between the common and the holy (1Sa 21:4-6). The custom of the shewbread was maintained (1Sa 21:6). In fine, Jesus is critically correct in calling the place "the house of God" (Mr 2:26). The account does not say that the ark was there, or that the burnt-offering of the morning and evening was offered, or that the great festivals were held. The priestly head of the establishment at Nob is represented to have been the man who had the right to the office through his descent from Aaron. It is gratuitous to assume that there were other similar sanctuaries in Israel, though the proposition that there were none might be, like other negative propositions, hard to establish by positive proof.

(2) A son of Abiathar (2Sa 8:17; 1Ch 18:16; 24:6), and grandson of the above. In a list of the heads of departments under David, a list belonging later than the middle of David's 40 years, and in which David's sons appear, this Ahimelech, the son of David's friend, is mentioned as sharing with Zadok a high position in the priesthood. In this capacity, later, he shared with David and Zadok in the apportionment of the priests into 24 ancestral classes, 16 of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of the house of Ithamar (1Ch 24). In this account Ahimelech is mentioned three times, and with some detail. It is alleged as a difficulty that Abiathar was then living, and was high priest along with Zadok (1Ch 15:11; 2Sa 15:29; 19:11; 20:25; 1Ki 2:27,35; 4:4, etc.). But surely there is no improbability in the affirmation that Abiathar had a son named Ahimelech, or that this son performed prominent priestly functions in his father's lifetime.

Many regard "Ahimelech the son of Abiathar" (Mt gives Ahimelech) as an inadvertent transposition for "Abiathar the son of Ahimelech." This is rather plausible in the passage in 2Sa 8 and the duplicate of it in 1Ch 18:16, but it has no application in the detailed account in 1Ch 24. One must accept Ahimelech the son of Abiathar as historical unless, indeed, one regards the testimony of Ch to a fact as evidence in disproof of that fact. See ABIATHAR.

(3) A Hittite, a companion and friend of David, when he was hiding from Saul in the wilderness (1Sa 26:6).

Willis J. Beecher

• 1. Also called AHIA. A high priest, during the reign of David
  • Gives shewbread and the sword of Goliath to David 1Sa 21; Mr 2:26
  • Killed by the command of Saul 1Sa 22:9-22
• 2. A Hittite, and friend of David 1Sa 26:6