Ahimelech the son of Ahitub

Ahitub

Ahitub - brother of goodness = good. A few people in the Bible have this name: The son of Phinehas, grandson of Eli, and brother of Ichabod. On the death of his grandfather Eli he most likely succeeded to the office of high priest, and would have been succeeded by his son Ahijah...

 and father of Abiathar

Abiathar

Abiathar , in the Hebrew Bible, son of Achimelech or Ahijah, High Priest at Nob, the fourth in descent from Eli and the last of Eli's House...

 (1 Sam. 22:20-23), described in 2 Sam. 8:17 as the son of Abiathar and in four places in 1 Chronicles. He descended from Eli

Eli (Biblical Priest)

Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, a Jewish High Priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel.-Biblical narrative:...

 in the line of Ithamar

Ithamar

In the Torah, Ithamar is mentioned as the youngest son of Aaron the High Priest. After the death of his two eldest brothers Nadab and Abihu when they had been punished by the Lord for performing an unauthorized sacrificial offering, Ithamar served as a priest along with his elder brother, Eleazar...

. In 1 Chr. 18:16 his name is Abimelech according to the Masoretic Text

Masoretic Text

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...

, and is probably the same as Ahiah (1 Sam. 14:3, 18). He was the twelfth High Priest, and officiated at Nob

Nob

NOB is also about describing someone.Nob was a place in ancient Israel in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It may have been located close to Bahurim, near the Mount of Olives or possibly further north at Tell Shuafat...

, where he was visited by David (to whom and his companions he gave five loaves of the showbread) when David fled from Saul

Saul the King

According to the Bible, Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He commited suicide to avoid arrest in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed...

 (1 Sam. 21:1-9). He was summoned into Saul's presence, and accused, on the information of Doeg the Edomite

Doeg the Edomite

Doeg was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel.He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as responsible for the deaths of a large number of priests.-Biblical account:...

, of disloyalty because of his kindness to David; whereupon 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 the most cruel manner (1 Sam. 22:9-23). Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in 2 Sam. 8:17; 1 Chr. 18:16, marg.; 24:3, 6, 31. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia on David's descendant Joash (Jehoash of Judah

Jehoash of Judah

Jehoash or Joas , sometimes written Joash or Joás , was the eighth king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the sole surviving son of Ahaziah. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba ....

), Rabbinical literature would deem the extermination of the male descendants of David as a divine retribution for David's action which led to the extermination of the priests by Saul (cf. David's remorse), but Joash escaped death because in the latter case one priest, Abiathar, survived. Part of the curse on the House of Eli – that none of Eli's male descendants would live to old age – was fulfilled with the death of Ahimelech; the other part of the Curse on the House of Eli – that the priesthood would pass out of his descendants – was fulfilled when Abiathar was deposed from the office of High Priest.