Abiathar
Mentioned 1061 BC to AD 31 traditional (Jones)
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.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of Exile and return, 586–5 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Zadok, David, Adonijah, Ahimelech, Joab, Jonathan, Saul, and Shavsha.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Places
Places named in the same verses as Abiathar, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1334 BC to AD 100, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
29 tagged verses in 5 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Abiathar 30 |
| KJV | Abiathar 31 |
| ASV | Abiathar 31 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 29 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
1 Samuel6 verses
- 22:20
But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.
- 22:21
And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.
- 22:22
Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s house.
- 23:6
(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)
- 23:9
When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
- 30:7
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,
2 Samuel9 verses
- 8:17
Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;
- 15:24
Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had passed out of the city.
- 15:27
The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.
- 15:29
So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.
- 15:35
Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.
- 15:36
Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”
- 17:15
So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised.
- 19:11
Then King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace, since the talk of all Israel has reached the king at his quarters?
- 20:25
Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
1 Kings9 verses
- 1:7
So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.
- 1:19
And he has sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the other sons of the king, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon.
- 1:25
For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’
- 1:42
As he was speaking, suddenly Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. “Come in,” said Adonijah, “for you are a man of valor. You must be bringing good news.”
- 2:22
King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
- 2:26
Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”
- 2:27
So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.
- 2:35
And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.
- 4:4
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
1 Chronicles4 verses
- 15:11
David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
- 18:16
Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was the scribe;
- 24:6
The scribe, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officers: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar, and then one from Ithamar.
- 27:34
Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada son of Benaiah, then by Abiathar. Joab was the commander of the king’s army.
Mark1 verse
- 2:26
During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
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 (1 Sam. 22:20-23; 23:6). He remained with David, and became priest of the party of which he was the leader (1 Sam. 30:7). When David ascended the throne of Judah, Abiathar was appointed high priest (1 Chr. 15:11; 1 Kings 2:26) and the “king’s companion” (1 Chr. 27:34). Meanwhile Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, had been made high priest. These appointments continued in force till the end of David’s reign (1 Kings 4:4). Abiathar was deposed (the sole historical instance of the deposition of a high priest) 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 (1 Sam. 2:30-36; 1 Kings 1:19; 2:26, 27). Zadok now became sole high priest. In Mark 2:26, reference is made to an occurrence in “the days of Abiathar the high priest.” But from 1 Sam. 22, 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 (Lev. 24:9) a priest, and that he either himself gave them to David, or persuaded his father to give them.