Lives of Scripture

Abiathar was the sole survivor of Saul's massacre of eighty-five priests at Nob, ordered because his father Ahimelech had unknowingly helped the fugitive David with bread and Goliath's sword; Abiathar escaped with the priestly ephod and fled to David, who took responsibility for the deaths his presence had caused (1 Samuel 22:6-23). From then on, Abiathar served as David's priest through his fugitive years and most of his reign, using the ephod to inquire of the LORD on David's behalf (1 Samuel 23:6-12; 30:7-8). During Absalom's rebellion, Abiathar remained loyal, helping Zadok relay intelligence back to David (2 Samuel 15:24-29). But when David was old, Abiathar backed Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne over God's chosen successor, Solomon, breaking with Zadok and Nathan at the decisive moment (1 Kings 1:7, 19). When Solomon secured the throne, he spared Abiathar's life in recognition of his decades of service but permanently removed him from the priesthood, banishing him to his hometown (1 Kings 2:26-27). Scripture notes this removal specifically fulfilled the old prophecy against the corrupt house of Eli, since Abiathar was descended from Eli through the line of Ithamar — Abiathar's own final act of poor judgment became the occasion for a generations-old word of God to be completed (1 Kings 2:27; 1 Samuel 2:30-35).