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In Mark 2:25 Jesus names Abiathar as the High Priest who gave David the show bread.

In 1 Samuel 21:1 it is recorded that David came to Ahimelech the priest who gave him the show bread.

Who got it wrong?

Jack Hartland
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2 Answers2

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This "contradiction" actually does not exist.

First, Mark 2:26 does NOT say that Abiathar gave David the bread (as the OP suggest); all that Mark says is that the incident occurred during the priesthood ("during the days of") Abiathar the High priest. Note the verse as quoted below:

In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

This is similar to that found in places like Luke 3:1, 2 where an almost identical time=location phrase is used: "during the high-priesthood of …"

The reference in 1 Sam 21:1-6 clearly says that the actual priest involved in the transaction was "Ahimelech the priest".

I see no contradiction here at all.

Dottard
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    The problem is that Abiathar was not the “high priest” at the time, Ahimelech was. Abiathar was just a priest. Then it should have read “during the time that Abiathar was a priest, Ahimelech the high priest gave the show bread”, to be interpreted as you suggest. – Jack Hartland Mar 05 '20 at 09:02
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    Curiously a quick search provides no mention that Abiathar was ever appointed as a “high priest” and the first mention of a high priest is in Josiah’s reign, 2 Chronicles 34:14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah [given] by Moses. Why is this? – Jack Hartland Mar 05 '20 at 09:19
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No one is wrong here except the reader who jumps to unwarranted conclusions.

First, Mark 2:25 does not say Abiathar gave David the show bread. (It doesn't even mention him.)

And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? (Mark 2:25, KJV)

The next verse does mention Abiathar, but says nothing of his involvement in the shewbread aside from the event occurring in his "days" (time).

How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? (Mark 2:26, KJV)

Secondly, Abiathar was the son of Ahimilech, the priest who gave David the shewbread. And it was Abiathar who was to become virtually the sole survivor after the massacre of the priests in the Saul/Doeg incident, occasioned by David's dissembling. It would have been Abiathar who was to follow in his father's footsteps as the high priest, having carried with him the ephod to David during his escape.

The interaction between Saul and Ahimilech is recorded in 1 Samuel.

  • And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. (1 Samuel 22:16, KJV)
  • And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. (1 Samuel 22:17, KJV)
  • And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. (1 Samuel 22:18, KJV)
  • And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. (1 Samuel 22:19, KJV)

With Ahimilech slain, along with over 80 of the other priests in the family, the escape and survival of Abiathar his son is significant.

  • And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. (1 Samuel 22:20, KJV)
  • And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the LORD's priests. (1 Samuel 22:21, KJV)

And Abiathar came to David prepared to serve as priest.

  • And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. (1 Samuel 23:6, KJV)

David's eating of the shewbread clearly did happen "in the days of Abiathar the high priest."

Adding the title, which was not yet realized at the time of the event, is hardly unusual. One could properly say "King David was born in Bethlehem" and be fully accurate in doing so, even though he was not yet king when he was born (and even though it may have still been called "Bethlehemjudah" at that time).

Polyhat
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