Ahimelech אֲחִימֶ֫לֶךְ
High Priest at Nob who helped David, killed by Saul
Who is Ahimelech in the Bible?
Ahimelech was the High Priest at Nob during King Saul's reign and the father of Abiathar (1 Samuel 21:1, 22:20). When David fled from Saul, Ahimelech unknowingly aided him by providing consecrated bread and the sword of Goliath (1 Samuel 21:8-9). However, when Saul learned of this assistance through Doeg the Edomite, he accused Ahimelech of conspiracy and ordered the execution of the priests at Nob, resulting in Ahimelech's death along with eighty-four other priests (1 Samuel 22:11-19). Ahimelech's tragic fate demonstrates the dangerous position of those who helped David during his conflict with Saul, while his son Abiathar alone escaped to continue the priestly line.
Biography
Ahimelech, also known as Ahijah, was the priest at Nob during the reign of King Saul. He was the son of Ahitub and the father of Abiathar. When David was fleeing from Saul, he came to Ahimelech at Nob seeking help. Ahimelech, unaware of the conflict between David and Saul, provided David with the consecrated bread and the sword of Goliath. (1Sa.21.1-9)
Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul's servants, witnessed this interaction and reported it to Saul. Saul summoned Ahimelech and the other priests, accusing them of conspiring with David against him. Despite Ahimelech's defense of his actions, Saul ordered the execution of the priests. Doeg carried out the order, killing Ahimelech and eighty-four other priests. (1Sa.22.9-19).
Abiathar, Ahimelech's son, was the only one who escaped the massacre. He fled to David and brought with him the ephod, a priestly garment used for seeking God's guidance. (1Sa.22.20-23; 23.6; 30.7)
The story of Ahimelech's tragic fate is also referenced in Psalm 52, which is attributed to David when Doeg informed Saul about Ahimelech's assistance to David. The psalm reflects on the consequences of those who trust in evil and contrasts them with those who trust in God's steadfast love. (Psa.52.1)
Family
In Scripture
2 biblical books ; 1 with study content1 Samuel 5 verses
- 1 Samuel 21:1
"Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”"
- 1 Samuel 21:2
"“The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission on which I am sending you. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place."
- 1 Samuel 21:8
"Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s mission was urgent.”"
- 1 Samuel 22:9
"But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob."
- 1 Samuel 22:11
"Then the king sent messengers to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests at Nob. And all of them came to the king."
Psalms 1 verse
- Psalms 52:1
"Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long."
Study Psalms →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | אֲחִימֶ֫לֶךְ | Achimelek , the name of an Israelite and of a Hittite |
| Named | Hebrew | אֲחִיָּ֫הוּ | — |
Ahimelech
f="Bible:1Sam.21.1">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
a-hi'-moth ('achimoth, "brother of death," or, "my brother is death"): A descendant of Kohath the son of Levi (1Ch 6:25); ancestor of Elkanah the father of Samuel. The name Mahath