Ahimelech

This term has multiple meanings in the Bible:

  1. A priest at Nob who helped David when he was running from Saul (1 Samuel 21:19). When David asked for food, all he had was the holy bread from the tabernacle (Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 12:18). Doeg the Edomite told Saul what he saw, who ordered Ahimelech to be killed. But Saul’s guards did not want to kill a priest. Doeg killed Ahimelech and 84 other priests, along with their families and animals (1 Samuel 22:919). Only Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, escaped and went to David for protection (1 Samuel 22:2023). David wrote Psalm 52 about what Doeg had done.

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  2. A Hittite who joined David’s fighting men during his escape from Saul (1 Samuel 26:6).

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  3. The son of Abiathar and grandson of his father, Ahimelech. He helped his father in the priesthood under King David (2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 24:3, 5, 31; compare with 1 Chronicles 18:16, where some translations call him Abimelech).

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From Tyndale Bible Dictionary, adapted by Mission Mutual. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scripture References (11)

2 Samuel

1 Chronicles

Psalms

Matthew