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1 Samuel 22 · a question people ask

Is Ahimelech the same man as Ahijah in chapter 14?

In the text

The book doesn't say. In chapter 14 the priest with Saul is "Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod" (14:3). In chapters 21 and 22 the priest at Nob is "Ahimelech the son of Ahitub" (22:9, 22:20), and 22:11 calls him "Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub". Each is called a son of Ahitub, and each is a priest; the book doesn't say whether they are one man with two names, two brothers, or two men whose fathers had the same name. It names each man as it names him, and this chapter does the same.

The verses

“including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone.”
1 Samuel 14:3 · World English Bible
“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.”
1 Samuel 22:9 · World English Bible
“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.”
1 Samuel 22:11 · World English Bible
“One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.”
1 Samuel 22:20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Samuel 22

1 Samuel 22: You will be safe with me

When David told Abiathar, "I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house" (22:22), he used in Hebrew the verb of Saul's order to his guard and to Doeg: "Turn" (22:17-18). And the man who owned his part said to the one who survived, "You will be safe with me" (22:23).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions