Why does Jesus call Abiathar the high priest in Mark 2:26, when 1 Samuel 21 indicates it was Ahimelech?

Response

In Mark 2:26, Jesus mentions “Abiathar the high priest” who was present when David and his men consumed the showbread from the tabernacle in Nob. This declaration has sparked some interpretive inquiries because, in 1 Samuel 21, Ahimelech appears to have been the high priest who assisted David, not Abiathar.

In Mark 2, Jesus engages in a conversation with the Pharisees, who criticized Jesus and His disciples for “picking grain” on the Sabbath—indeed, the disciples were simply plucking some heads of grain to eat as they passed through a grainfield (verse 23). In defending the legitimacy of His disciples’ actions, Jesus referenced the Old Testament account of David and Abiathar (or was it Ahimelech?) at the tabernacle (Mark 2:25-26;cf: 1 Samuel 21:1-6).

In 1 Samuel 21, David approaches “Ahimelech the priest” in Nob and requests provisions for his men (verses 1–5). David and his men were fleeing from Saul, but David conceals that fact from Ahimelech. Ahimelech provides David with some of the “bread of the Presence” (verse 6) and then, at David’s request, gives him Goliath’s sword, which was stored there in Nob (verses 8–9). Later, when King Saul summons the priests to Gibeah for questioning, Ahimelech serves as the priests’ spokesperson (1 Samuel 22:6-14). The passage suggests that Ahimelech is the primary priest during the period when David fled from Saul. To clarify why Jesus mentioned Abiathar as the high priest during that time, several theories have been proposed:

1) Since Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech «and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; », (2 Samuel 8:1)7) It is possible that both men participated in high priestly duties. A similar arrangement was seen in the time of Eli when Eli’s sons appeared to have shared his duties: “So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.” (1 Samuel 4:4); and in the time of Christ, when Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas both served in the role of high priest (Luke 3:2; John 18:13).

2) Abiathar was more closely associated with David than Ahimelech. Abiathar was present when David came to the tabernacle and was the sole survivor of Doeg the Edomite’s slaughter of the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 22:18-20). Abiathar immediately showed his loyalty to David by bringing the ephod to him and later overseeing the transport of the ark of the covenant to David. He served as a long-time high priest during David’s reign (1 Samuel 23:6-9; 2 Samuel 15:29).

3) Abiathar, present in Nob when David visited the tabernacle, was called the “high priest” in anticipation of his future title. This type of reference is common; for example, we may speak familiarly of “President Eisenhower” giving the order to invade Normandy on D-Day, although D-Day was almost nine years before Eisenhower was inaugurated as President.

Mark 2:26 is a challenging passage, but Jesus was not in error, and He did not contradict 1 Samuel 21. There are plausible explanations for why Jesus referred to the high priest as Abiathar, and His words in Mark 2 can be harmonized with the Old Testament account.