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Ahimelech ( ''ʾĂḥīmeleḵ'', "my brother is king"/"brother of a king"), the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar (), but described as the son of Abiathar in and in four places in 1 Chronicles."Ahimelech", ''
Encyclopedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encyclopedia ...
''
He descended from Aaron's son
Ithamar In the Torah, Ithamar () was the fourth (and the youngest) son of Aaron the High Priest."Ithamar", '' Encyclopaedia Biblica'' Following the construction of the Tabernacle, he was responsible for recording an inventory to ensure that the constructed ...
and the High Priest of Israel
Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...
. In his name is Abimelech according to the
Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
, and is probably the same as Ahiah ().


Relation to David

He was the twelfth High Priest, and officiated at
Nob , also known by the name NoB, is a Japanese singer. He is the former lead singer of the band Make-Up and a Project.R member. Overview With Make-Up, he recorded several songs for the anime ''Saint Seiya'', including the first opening song " ...
, where he was visited by
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(he gave David and his companions five loaves of the
showbread Showbread ( he, לחם הפנים ''Leḥem haPānīm'', literally: "Bread of the Faces"), in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present, on a specially-de ...
) when David fled from
Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
(). He was summoned into Saul's presence, and accused of disloyalty for assisting David, on the information of
Doeg the Edomite Doeg ( ''Dō’ēg'') was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as an antagonist of David responsible for the deaths of a large num ...
. Then the king commanded that he, with the other priests who stood beside him, 86 in all, should be slain with his family. This sentence was carried into execution by Doeg in a cruel manner (). Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in ; , marg.; 24:3, 6, 31.


Interpretation

Ahimelech's death was seen as a partial fulfilment of the curse on the House of Eli – that none of Eli's male descendants would live to old age; the other part of the curse on the House of Eli – that the priesthood would pass out of his descendants (
1 Samuel 2 1 Samuel 2 is the second chapter of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible (or the "First Book of Samuel" in the Christian Bible). It recounts the Song of Hannah, the corruption of the priests descended from Eli, Samuel's ministry to God 'even ...
:)– was fulfilled when Abiathar was deposed from the office of High Priest. Rabbinical literature linked the extermination of the male descendants of David with the extermination of the priests of Nob by Saul - deeming it divine retribution because David's action had provoked Saul's outburst - and also linked the survival of David's descendant Joash with that of Ahimelech's son Abiathar. Sanh. 95b.


See also

*
Levite Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew defi ...
*
List of High Priests of Israel This article gives a list of the High Priests (''Kohen Gadol'') of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Because of a lack of historical data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps. High Priests of Israel ...


References

{{Authority control 11th-century BCE High Priests of Israel 11th-century BC deaths Year of birth unknown 2nd-millennium BC executions Family of Eli (biblical figure)