Abiathar (High Priest)

Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, was the only priest to escape Saul's massacre at Nob. He fled to David carrying the ephod, and David told him, "Stay with me; I am responsible for the death of your father's house" (1 Samuel 22:20–23). Through the ephod David inquired of God at Keilah and at Ziklag (1 Samuel 23, 30). In Jerusalem he served as priest alongside Zadok; during Absalom's revolt the two carried the Ark out of the city, and their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz carried secret messages to the fleeing king (2 Samuel 15, 17).

In David's old age Abiathar backed Adonijah's claim to the throne (1 Kings 1:7). Solomon spared his life because he had carried the Ark and shared David's hardships, but banished him to his estate at Anathoth, "fulfilling the word of the LORD concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh" (1 Kings 2:26–27). Zadok's line held the high priesthood from then on. The prophet Jeremiah, "of the priests who were in Anathoth" (Jeremiah 1:1), may have been one of his descendants.