Editing Ahimelech

{{Short description|Biblical character}}
{{Other people|Ahimelech|Achimelech}}

{{Infobox person
| name          = Ahimelech
| image         = Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David.jpg

| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Ahimelech giving the sword of [[Goliath]] to [[David]]'', by [[Aert de Gelder]]
| birth_name    = אֲחִימֶלֶך ʾĂḥīmeleḵ, "my brother is king"/"brother of a king"
| birth_date    = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. -->
| birth_place   = 
| death_date    = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) -->
| death_place   = 
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = grand priest of the town of Nob
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
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}}

[[File:Statuary David receives bread in Hradisko.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Statuary ''[[David]] receives sacral bread from the priest Ahimelech'' in Ceremonial Hall in [[Hradisko Monastery]] in [[Olomouc]] (Czech Republic) created by [[Josef Winterhalder the Elder]] in 1734.]]

'''Ahimelech''' ({{Langx|he|אֲחִימֶלֶך}} ''ʾĂḥīmeleḵ'', "my brother is king"/"brother of a king")<ref name=EB/> was an [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Israelite]] [[Kohen|priest]] and served as the grand priest of the town of [[Nob, Israel|Nob]]. In the [[Books of Samuel|Book of Samuel]], he was described as the son of [[Ahitub (High Priest)|Ahitub]] and father of [[Abiathar]] ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|22:20-23|KJV}}), but described as the son of Abiathar in {{bibleverse|2 Samuel|8:17|KJV}} and in four places in [[Books of Chronicles|1 Chronicles]].<ref name=EB>"Ahimelech", ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> He descended from Aaron's son [[Ithamar]] and the [[High Priest of Israel]] [[Eli (Biblical Priest)|Eli]]. In {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|18:16|KJV}} his name is Abimelech according to the [[Masoretic Text]],<ref name=EB/> and is probably the same as Ahiah ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|14:3, 18|KJV}}).

==Relation to David== 
He was the twelfth High Priest{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}, and officiated at [[Nob, Israel|Nob]], where he was visited by [[David]] (he gave David and his companions five loaves of the [[showbread]]) when David fled from [[Saul the King|Saul]] ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|21:1-9|KJV}}). He was summoned into Saul's presence, and accused of disloyalty for assisting David, on the information of [[Doeg the Edomite]]. Then the king commanded that he, with the other priests who stood beside him, 86 in all, should be slain with his family. This sentence was carried into execution by Doeg in a cruel manner ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|22:9-23|KJV}}). Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in {{bibleverse|2 Samuel|8:17|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|18:16|KJV}}, marg.; 24:3, 6, 31.

==Interpretation==
Ahimelech's death was seen as a partial fulfilment of the curse on the House of Eli – that none of Eli's male descendants would live to old age; the other part of the curse on the House of Eli – that the priesthood would pass out of his descendants ([[1 Samuel 2]]:{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|2:27–36|9|27–36}})– was fulfilled when Abiathar was deposed from the office of High Priest. Rabbinical literature linked the extermination of the male descendants of David with the extermination of the priests of Nob by Saul - deeming it divine retribution because David's action had provoked Saul's outburst - and also linked the survival of David's descendant [[Jehoash of Judah|Joash]] with that of Ahimelech's son Abiathar.<ref>[[Sanh.]] 95b.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Levite]]
*[[List of High Priests of Israel]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{EBD|title=Ahimelech}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|isra}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ahijah]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of High Priests of Israel|High Priest of Israel]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Abiathar]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{High Priests of Judaism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:11th-century BCE high priests of Israel]]
[[Category:11th-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:2nd-millennium BC executions]]
[[Category:Family of Eli (biblical figure)]]