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Selected Verse: 2 Samuel 8:17 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Sa 8:17	Strong Concordance	And Zadok [06659] the son [01121] of Ahitub [0285], and Ahimelech [0288] the son [01121] of Abiathar [054], were the priests [03548]; and Seraiah [08304] was the scribe [05608];
	King James	And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Zadok . . . and Ahimelech . . . were the priests--On the massacre of the priests at Nob, [Sa1 22:19], Saul conferred the priesthood on Zadok, of the family of Eleazar (Ch1 6:50), while David acknowledged Ahimelech, of Ithamar's family, who fled to him. The two high priests exercised their office under the respective princes to whom they were attached. But, on David's obtaining the kingdom over all Israel, they both retained their dignity; Ahimelech officiating at Jerusalem, and Zadok at Gibeon (Ch1 16:39).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Zadok . . . and Ahimelech . . . were the priests--On the massacre of the priests at Nob, [Sa1 22:19], Saul conferred the priesthood on Zadok, of the family of Eleazar (Ch1 6:50), while David acknowledged Ahimelech, of Ithamar's family, who fled to him. The two high priests exercised their office under the respective princes to whom they were attached. But, on David's obtaining the kingdom over all Israel, they both retained their dignity; Ahimelech officiating at Jerusalem, and Zadok at Gibeon (Ch1 16:39).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Zadok the son of Ahitub, of the line of Eleazar (Ch1 6:8; Ch1 6:11-12), and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were cohanim, i.e., officiating high priests; the former at the tabernacle at Gibeon (Ch1 16:39), the latter probably at the ark of the covenant upon Mount Zion. Instead of Ahimelech, the Chronicles have Abimelech, evidently through a copyist's error, as the name is written Ahimelech in Ch1 24:3, Ch1 24:6. But the expression "Ahimelech the son of Abiathar" is apparently a very strange one, as Abiathar was a son of Ahimelech according to Sa1 22:20, and in other passages Zadok and Abiathar are mentioned as the two high priests in the time of David (Sa2 15:24, Sa2 15:35; Sa2 17:15; Sa2 19:12; Sa2 20:25). This difference cannot be set aside, as Movers, Thenius, Ewald, and other suppose, by transposing the names, so as to read Abiathar the son of Ahimelech; for such a solution is precluded by the fact that, in Ch1 24:3, Ch1 24:6, Ch1 24:31, Ahimelech is mentioned along with Zadok as head of the priests of the line of Ithamar, and according to Ch1 24:6 he was the son of Abiathar. It would therefore be necessary to change the name Ahimelech into Abiathar in this instance also, both in Ch1 24:3 and Ch1 24:6, and in the latter to transpose the two names. But there is not the slightest probability in the supposition that the names have been changed in so many passaGes. We are therefore disposed to adopt the view held by Bertheau and Oehler, viz., that Abiathar the high priest, the son of Ahimelech, had also a son named Ahimelech, as it is by no means a rare occurrence for grandfather and grandson to have the same names (vid., Ch1 6:4-15), and also that this (the younger) Ahimelech performed the duties of high priest in connection with his father, who was still living at the commencement of Solomon's reign (Kg1 2:27), and is mentioned in this capacity, along with Zadok, both here and in the book of Chronicles, possibly because Abiathar was ill, or for some other reason that we cannot discover. As Abiathar was thirty or thirty-five years old at the time when his father was put to death by Saul, according to what has already been observed at Sa1 14:3, and forty years old at the death of Saul, he was at least forty-eight years old at the time when David removed his residence to Mount Zion, and might have had a son of twenty-five years of age, namely the Ahimelech mentioned here, who could have taken his father's place in the performance of the functions of high priest when he was prevented by illness or other causes. The appearance of a son of Abiathar named Jonathan in Sa2 15:27; Sa2 17:17, Sa2 17:20, is no valid argument against this solution of the apparent discrepancy; for, according to these passages, he was still very young, and may therefore have been a younger brother of Ahimelech. The omission of any allusion to Ahimelech in connection with Abiathar's conspiracy with Adonijah against Solomon (Kg1 1:42-43), and the reference to his son Jonathan alone, might be explained on the supposition that Ahimelech had already died. But as there is no reference to Jonathan at the time when his father was deposed, no stress is to be laid upon the omission of any reference to Ahimelech. Moreover, when Abiathar was deposed after Solomon had ascended the throne, he must have been about eighty years of age. Seraiah was a scribe. Instead of Seraiah, we have Shavsha in the corresponding text of the Chronicles, and Sheva in the parallel passage Sa2 20:25. Whether the last name is merely a mistake for Shavsha, occasioned by the dropping of שׁ, or an abbreviated form of Shisha and Shavsha, cannot be decided. Shavsha is not a copyist's error, for in Kg1 4:3 the same man is unquestionably mentioned again under the name of Shisha, who is called Shavsha in the Chronicles, Sheva (שׁיא) in the text of Sa2 20:25, and here Seraiah. Seraiah also is hardly a copyist's error, but another form for Shavsha or Shisha. The scribe was a secretary of state; not a military officer, whose duty it was to raise and muster the troops, for the technical expression for mustering the people was not ספר, but פּקד (cf. Sa2 24:2, Sa2 24:4,Sa2 24:9; Ch1 21:5-6, etc.).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Zadok the son of Ahitub, of the line of Eleazar (Ch1 6:8; Ch1 6:11-12), and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were cohanim, i.e., officiating high priests; the former at the tabernacle at Gibeon (Ch1 16:39), the latter probably at the ark of the covenant upon Mount Zion. Instead of Ahimelech, the Chronicles have Abimelech, evidently through a copyist's error, as the name is written Ahimelech in Ch1 24:3, Ch1 24:6. But the expression "Ahimelech the son of Abiathar" is apparently a very strange one, as Abiathar was a son of Ahimelech according to Sa1 22:20, and in other passages Zadok and Abiathar are mentioned as the two high priests in the time of David (Sa2 15:24, Sa2 15:35; Sa2 17:15; Sa2 19:12; Sa2 20:25). This difference cannot be set aside, as Movers, Thenius, Ewald, and other suppose, by transposing the names, so as to read Abiathar the son of Ahimelech; for such a solution is precluded by the fact that, in Ch1 24:3, Ch1 24:6, Ch1 24:31, Ahimelech is mentioned along with Zadok as head of the priests of the line of Ithamar, and according to Ch1 24:6 he was the son of Abiathar. It would therefore be necessary to change the name Ahimelech into Abiathar in this instance also, both in Ch1 24:3 and Ch1 24:6, and in the latter to transpose the two names. But there is not the slightest probability in the supposition that the names have been changed in so many passaGes. We are therefore disposed to adopt the view held by Bertheau and Oehler, viz., that Abiathar the high priest, the son of Ahimelech, had also a son named Ahimelech, as it is by no means a rare occurrence for grandfather and grandson to have the same names (vid., Ch1 6:4-15), and also that this (the younger) Ahimelech performed the duties of high priest in connection with his father, who was still living at the commencement of Solomon's reign (Kg1 2:27), and is mentioned in this capacity, along with Zadok, both here and in the book of Chronicles, possibly because Abiathar was ill, or for some other reason that we cannot discover. As Abiathar was thirty or thirty-five years old at the time when his father was put to death by Saul, according to what has already been observed at Sa1 14:3, and forty years old at the death of Saul, he was at least forty-eight years old at the time when David removed his residence to Mount Zion, and might have had a son of twenty-five years of age, namely the Ahimelech mentioned here, who could have taken his father's place in the performance of the functions of high priest when he was prevented by illness or other causes. The appearance of a son of Abiathar named Jonathan in Sa2 15:27; Sa2 17:17, Sa2 17:20, is no valid argument against this solution of the apparent discrepancy; for, according to these passages, he was still very young, and may therefore have been a younger brother of Ahimelech. The omission of any allusion to Ahimelech in connection with Abiathar's conspiracy with Adonijah against Solomon (Kg1 1:42-43), and the reference to his son Jonathan alone, might be explained on the supposition that Ahimelech had already died. But as there is no reference to Jonathan at the time when his father was deposed, no stress is to be laid upon the omission of any reference to Ahimelech. Moreover, when Abiathar was deposed after Solomon had ascended the throne, he must have been about eighty years of age. Seraiah was a scribe. Instead of Seraiah, we have Shavsha in the corresponding text of the Chronicles, and Sheva in the parallel passage Sa2 20:25. Whether the last name is merely a mistake for Shavsha, occasioned by the dropping of שׁ, or an abbreviated form of Shisha and Shavsha, cannot be decided. Shavsha is not a copyist's error, for in Kg1 4:3 the same man is unquestionably mentioned again under the name of Shisha, who is called Shavsha in the Chronicles, Sheva (שׁיא) in the text of Sa2 20:25, and here Seraiah. Seraiah also is hardly a copyist's error, but another form for Shavsha or Shisha. The scribe was a secretary of state; not a military officer, whose duty it was to raise and muster the troops, for the technical expression for mustering the people was not ספר, but פּקד (cf. Sa2 24:2, Sa2 24:4,Sa2 24:9; Ch1 21:5-6, etc.).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Scribe - Or, secretary of state.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Seraiah - the scribe - Most likely the king's private secretary. See Ch1 24:3 (note).

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³⁹ And Zadok [06659] the priest [03548], and his brethren [0251] the priests [03548], before [06440] the tabernacle [04908] of the LORD [03068] in the high place [01116] that was at Gibeon [01391],

⁵⁰ And these are the sons [01121] of Aaron [0175]; Eleazar [0499] his son [01121], Phinehas [06372] his son [01121], Abishua [050] his son [01121],

¹⁹ And Nob [05011], the city [05892] of the priests [03548], smote [05221] he with the edge [06310] of the sword [02719], both men [0376] and women [0802], children [05768] and sucklings [03243], and oxen [07794], and asses [02543], and sheep [07716], with the edge [06310] of the sword [02719].

⁵ And Joab [03097] gave [05414] the sum [04557] of the number [04662] of the people [05971] unto David [01732]. And all they of Israel [03478] were a thousand [0505] thousand [0505] and an hundred [03967] thousand [0505] men [0376] that drew [08025] sword [02719]: and Judah [03063] was four [0702] hundred [03967] threescore and ten [07657] thousand [0505] men [0376] that drew [08025] sword [02719].
⁶ But Levi [03878] and Benjamin [01144] counted [06485] he not among [08432] them: for the king's [04428] word [01697] was abominable [08581] to Joab [03097].

⁹ And Joab [03097] gave up [05414] the sum [04557] of the number [04662] of the people [05971] unto the king [04428]: and there were in Israel [03478] eight [08083] hundred [03967] thousand [0505] valiant [02428] men [0376] [0381] that drew [08025] the sword [02719]; and the men [0376] of Judah [03063] were five [02568] hundred [03967] thousand [0505] men [0376].

⁴ Notwithstanding the king's [04428] word [01697] prevailed [02388] against Joab [03097], and against the captains [08269] of the host [02428]. And Joab [03097] and the captains [08269] of the host [02428] went out [03318] from the presence [06440] of the king [04428], to number [06485] the people [05971] of Israel [03478].

² For the king [04428] said [0559] to Joab [03097] the captain [08269] of the host [02428], which was with him, Go now through [07751] all the tribes [07626] of Israel [03478], from Dan [01835] even to Beersheba [0884], and number [06485] ye the people [05971], that I may know [03045] the number [04557] of the people [05971].

²⁵ And Sheva [07864] [07724] was scribe [05608]: and Zadok [06659] and Abiathar [054] were the priests [03548]:

³ Elihoreph [0456] and Ahiah [0281], the sons [01121] of Shisha [07894], scribes [05608]; Jehoshaphat [03092] the son [01121] of Ahilud [0286], the recorder [02142].

²⁵ And Sheva [07864] [07724] was scribe [05608]: and Zadok [06659] and Abiathar [054] were the priests [03548]:

⁴² And while he yet spake [01696], behold, Jonathan [03129] the son [01121] of Abiathar [054] the priest [03548] came [0935]: and Adonijah [0138] said [0559] unto him, Come in [0935]; for thou art a valiant [02428] man [0376] [0381], and bringest [01319] good [02896] tidings [01319].
⁴³ And Jonathan [03129] answered [06030] and said [0559] to Adonijah [0138], Verily [061] our lord [0113] king [04428] David [01732] hath made Solomon [08010] king [04427].

²⁰ And when Absalom's [053] servants [05650] came [0935] to the woman [0802] to the house [01004], they said [0559], Where is Ahimaaz [0290] and Jonathan [03083]? And the woman [0802] said [0559] unto them, They be gone over [05674] the brook [04323] of water [04325]. And when they had sought [01245] and could not find [04672] them, they returned [07725] to Jerusalem [03389].

¹⁷ Now Jonathan [03083] and Ahimaaz [0290] stayed [05975] by Enrogel [05883]; for they might [03201] not be seen [07200] to come [0935] into the city [05892]: and a wench [08198] went [01980] and told [05046] them; and they went [03212] and told [05046] king [04428] David [01732].

²⁷ The king [04428] said [0559] also unto Zadok [06659] the priest [03548], Art not thou a seer [07200]? return [07725] into the city [05892] in peace [07965], and your two [08147] sons [01121] with you, Ahimaaz [0290] thy son [01121], and Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Abiathar [054].

³ And Ahiah [0281], the son [01121] of Ahitub [0285], Ichabod's [0350] brother [0251], the son [01121] of Phinehas [06372], the son [01121] of Eli [05941], the LORD'S [03068] priest [03548] in Shiloh [07887], wearing [05375] an ephod [0646]. And the people [05971] knew [03045] not that Jonathan [03129] was gone [01980].

²⁷ So Solomon [08010] thrust out [01644] Abiathar [054] from being priest [03548] unto the LORD [03068]; that he might fulfil [04390] the word [01697] of the LORD [03068], which he spake [01696] concerning the house [01004] of Eli [05941] in Shiloh [07887].

⁴ Eleazar [0499] begat [03205] Phinehas [06372], Phinehas [06372] begat [03205] Abishua [050],
⁵ And Abishua [050] begat [03205] Bukki [01231], and Bukki [01231] begat [03205] Uzzi [05813],
⁶ And Uzzi [05813] begat [03205] Zerahiah [02228], and Zerahiah [02228] begat [03205] Meraioth [04812],
⁷ Meraioth [04812] begat [03205] Amariah [0568], and Amariah [0568] begat [03205] Ahitub [0285],
⁸ And Ahitub [0285] begat [03205] Zadok [06659], and Zadok [06659] begat [03205] Ahimaaz [0290],
⁹ And Ahimaaz [0290] begat [03205] Azariah [05838], and Azariah [05838] begat [03205] Johanan [03110],
¹⁰ And Johanan [03110] begat [03205] Azariah [05838], (he it is that executed the priest's office [03547] in the temple [01004] that Solomon [08010] built [01129] in Jerusalem [03389]:)
¹¹ And Azariah [05838] begat [03205] Amariah [0568], and Amariah [0568] begat [03205] Ahitub [0285],
¹² And Ahitub [0285] begat [03205] Zadok [06659], and Zadok [06659] begat [03205] Shallum [07967],
¹³ And Shallum [07967] begat [03205] Hilkiah [02518], and Hilkiah [02518] begat [03205] Azariah [05838],
¹⁴ And Azariah [05838] begat [03205] Seraiah [08304], and Seraiah [08304] begat [03205] Jehozadak [03087],
¹⁵ And Jehozadak [03087] went [01980] into captivity, when the LORD [03068] carried away [01540] Judah [03063] and Jerusalem [03389] by the hand [03027] of Nebuchadnezzar [05019].

⁶ And Shemaiah [08098] the son [01121] of Nethaneel [05417] the scribe [05608], one of the Levites [03881], wrote [03789] them before [06440] the king [04428], and the princes [08269], and Zadok [06659] the priest [03548], and Ahimelech [0288] the son [01121] of Abiathar [054], and before the chief [07218] of the fathers [01] of the priests [03548] and Levites [03881]: one [0259] principal [01] household [01004] being taken [0270] for Eleazar [0499], and one taken [0270] for Ithamar [0385].

³ And David [01732] distributed [02505] them, both Zadok [06659] of the sons [01121] of Eleazar [0499], and Ahimelech [0288] of the sons [01121] of Ithamar [0385], according to their offices [06486] in their service [05656].

³¹ These likewise cast [05307] lots [01486] over against [05980] their brethren [0251] the sons [01121] of Aaron [0175] in the presence [06440] of David [01732] the king [04428], and Zadok [06659], and Ahimelech [0288], and the chief [07218] of the fathers [01] of the priests [03548] and Levites [03881], even the principal [07218] fathers [01] over against [05980] their younger [06996] brethren [0251].

²⁵ And Sheva [07864] [07724] was scribe [05608]: and Zadok [06659] and Abiathar [054] were the priests [03548]:

¹² Ye are my brethren [0251], ye are my bones [06106] and my flesh [01320]: wherefore then are ye the last [0314] to bring back [07725] the king [04428]?

¹⁵ Then said [0559] Hushai [02365] unto Zadok [06659] and to Abiathar [054] the priests [03548], Thus and thus did Ahithophel [0302] counsel [03289] Absalom [053] and the elders [02205] of Israel [03478]; and thus and thus have I counselled [03289].

³⁵ And hast thou not there with thee Zadok [06659] and Abiathar [054] the priests [03548]? therefore it shall be, that what thing [01697] soever thou shalt hear [08085] out of the king's [04428] house [01004], thou shalt tell [05046] it to Zadok [06659] and Abiathar [054] the priests [03548].

²⁴ And lo Zadok [06659] also, and all the Levites [03881] were with him, bearing [05375] the ark [0727] of the covenant [01285] of God [0430]: and they set down [03332] the ark [0727] of God [0430]; and Abiathar [054] went up [05927], until all the people [05971] had done [08552] passing [05674] out of the city [05892].

²⁰ And one [0259] of the sons [01121] of Ahimelech [0288] the son [01121] of Ahitub [0285], named [08034] Abiathar [054], escaped [04422], and fled [01272] after [0310] David [01732].

¹¹ And Azariah [05838] begat [03205] Amariah [0568], and Amariah [0568] begat [03205] Ahitub [0285],
¹² And Ahitub [0285] begat [03205] Zadok [06659], and Zadok [06659] begat [03205] Shallum [07967],

⁸ And Ahitub [0285] begat [03205] Zadok [06659], and Zadok [06659] begat [03205] Ahimaaz [0290],