Ahimelech (son of Ahitub)
아히멜렉 (아히둡의 아들)
Named at 1 Samuel 21:1 as the priest to whom David comes at Nob. At 21:1–9 Ahimelech comes to meet David trembling, gives him holy bread, and tells him that the sword of Goliath the Philistine is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. At 22:9–10 Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answers and says, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of the LORD for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” At 22:11–18 the king sends to call him and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; Ahimelech answers, “Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me!”; the king says, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house”; and Doeg the Edomite attacks the priests and kills on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod. 22:20 and 23:6 name Abiathar as his son.
Direct relationships 5
Open in the full graphCollected relationship evidence
Source-backed narrative relations; not independent historical verification. Legacy dates and coordinates are outside this review.
Collection & rightsSource evidence (7)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 1SA 21:1–6, engwebp
1Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?”
2David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’
3Now therefore what is under your hand? Please give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever is available.”
4The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
5David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us as usual these three days. When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was only a common journey. How much more then today shall their vessels be holy?”
6So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before the LORD, to be replaced with hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
- 1SA 21:8–9, engwebp
8David said to Ahimelech, “Isn’t there here under your hand spear or sword? For I haven’t brought my sword or my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”
9The priest said, “Behold, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you would like to take that, take it, for there is no other except that here.” David said, “There is none like that. Give it to me.”
- 1SA 22:6–10, engwebp
6Saul heard that David was discovered, with the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.
7Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds?
8Is that why all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who discloses to me when my son makes a treaty with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”
9Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
10He inquired of the LORD for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
- 1SA 22:11–19, engwebp
11Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; and they all came to the king.
12Saul said, “Hear now, you son of Ahitub.” He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”
13Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”
14Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your body guard, and honored in your house?
15Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me! Don’t let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.”
16The king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.”
17The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled and didn’t disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king wouldn’t put out their hand to fall on the priests of the LORD.
18The king said to Doeg, “Turn and attack the priests!” Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod.
19He struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword—both men and women, children and nursing babies, and cattle, donkeys, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
- 1SA 22:20–23, engwebp
20One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
21Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the LORD’s priests.
22David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house.
23Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. You will be safe with me.”
- 1SA 23:6–13, engwebp
6When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7Saul was told that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into a town that has gates and bars.”
8Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
9David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him. He said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake.
11Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? LORD, the God of Israel, I beg you, tell your servant.” The LORD said, “He will come down.”
12Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The LORD said, “They will deliver you up.”
13Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went wherever they could go. Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.
- 1SA 30:7–10, engwebp
7David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8David inquired of the LORD, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.”
9So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
10But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn’t go over the brook Besor.
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
Unresolved interpretation: Abiathar the high priest of Mark 2:26 and Ahimelech the priest of 1 Samuel 21
- Mark 2:25–26 has Jesus say, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he, and those who were with him? How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?” The Korean Revised Version reads 아비아달 대제사장 때에. Matthew 12:3–4 and Luke 6:3–4 tell of the same and name no priest.
Source evidence (3)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- LUK 6:1–5, engwebp
1Now on the second Sabbath after the first, he was going through the grain fields. His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands.
2But some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?”
3Jesus, answering them, said, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
4how he entered into God’s house, and took and ate the show bread, and gave also to those who were with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?”
5He said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
- MAT 12:1–8, engwebp
1At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
3But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
4how he entered into God’s house and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
5Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
6But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.
7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the guiltless.
8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
- MRK 2:23–28, engwebp
23He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain.
24The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
25He said to them, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he, and those who were with him?
26How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?”
27He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
- LUK 6:1–5, engwebp
- 1 Samuel 21:1–6 says, “Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no man with you?’”, and that the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before the LORD. 22:20 says, “One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.” These verses call neither Ahimelech nor Abiathar high priest.
Source evidence (2)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 1SA 21:1–6, engwebp
1Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?”
2David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’
3Now therefore what is under your hand? Please give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever is available.”
4The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
5David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us as usual these three days. When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was only a common journey. How much more then today shall their vessels be holy?”
6So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before the LORD, to be replaced with hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
- 1SA 22:20–23, engwebp
20One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
21Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the LORD’s priests.
22David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house.
23Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. You will be safe with me.”
- 1SA 21:1–6, engwebp
Mark 2:26 places David’s eating of the show bread in God’s house “at the time of Abiathar the high priest” and has him give it also to those who were with him; 1 Samuel 21:1–6 names Ahimelech the priest as the one who gave the bread, and has Ahimelech ask David why he is alone. 1 Samuel 22:20 names Abiathar as a son of Ahimelech. Matthew 12:3–4 and Luke 6:3–4 name no priest. This collection records the Abiathar of the two books under one entry, and does not decide how the words of Mark 2:26 and those of 1 Samuel 21 fit together.
All 5 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
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Ahitub (father of Ahimelech) — Father of — Ahimelech (son of Ahitub)
Evidence: 1 Samuel 22:6–10, 1 Samuel 22:11–19, 1 Samuel 22:20–23
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Ahimelech (son of Ahitub) — Father of — Abiathar
Evidence: 1 Samuel 22:20–23, 1 Samuel 23:6–13
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Took part in (3) — David comes to Nob, and Ahimelech the priest gives him holy bread, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, which David asks of the priest, The king sends to call Ahimelech, and Doeg the Edomite kills the priests
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?”
David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’
David said to Ahimelech, “Isn’t there here under your hand spear or sword? For I haven’t brought my sword or my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”
Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; and they all came to the king.
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your body guard, and honored in your house?
The king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.”
One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.
David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
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[Bibliadatum entry report] Entry: Ahimelech (son of Ahitub) (person-ahimelech-ahitub) Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/person/ahimelech-ahitub Current wording: Named at 1 Samuel 21:1 as the priest to whom David comes at Nob. At 21:1–9 Ahimelech comes to meet David trembling, gives him holy bread, and tells him that the sword of Goliath the Philistine is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. At 22:9–10 Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answers and says, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of the LORD for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” At 22:11–18 the king sends to call him and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; Ahimelech answers, “Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me!”; the king says, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house”; and Doeg the Edomite attacks the priests and kills on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod. 22:20 and 23:6 name Abiathar as his son. Cited evidence: 1SA 21:1–6, engwebp / 1SA 21:8–9, engwebp / 1SA 22:6–10, engwebp / 1SA 22:11–19, engwebp / 1SA 22:20–23, engwebp / 1SA 23:6–13, engwebp / 1SA 30:7–10, engwebp Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending What looks wrong: (not written yet) --- This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.