Abiathar

Abiathar (meaning father of abundance or my father excels) was the son of Ahimelech and the tenth high priest of Israel, fourth in descent from Eli. When Saul slaughtered the priests of Nob, Abiathar alone escaped, fleeing to David with the ephod. He remained David's faithful companion through the years of exile, became a priest of the Davidic court, and served alongside Zadok during David's reign.

When the succession struggle arose at the end of David's life, Abiathar supported Adonijah's claim over Solomon's. After Solomon's accession, he was stripped of his priestly office and banished to his estate at Anathoth—fulfilling the earlier judgment against the house of Eli—while Zadok assumed sole high-priestly authority. Jesus alludes to Abiathar in Mark 2:26 when recounting David's eating of the showbread.