Ahitub

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

AHITUB . 1 . Son of Phinehas and grandson of Ell, the father of Ahimelech or Ahijah, the priest who was put to death by Saul (  1 Samuel 14:3;   1 Samuel 22:9;   1 Samuel 22:20 ). 2 . Acc. to   2 Samuel 8:17 (=   1 Chronicles 18:16 ) the father, acc. to   1 Chronicles 9:11 ,   Nehemiah 11:11 the grandfather, of Zadok the priest who was contemporary with David and Solomon. It is very doubtful, however, whether the name Ahitub here is not due to a copyist’s error. The text of   2 Samuel 8:17 should probably run: ‘and Zadok and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub.’ 3 . Even more doubt attaches to another Ahitub, father of another Zadok (  1 Chronicles 6:11-12; cf. 1E  Esther 8:2 , 2E  Esther 1:1 ). 4 . An ancestor of Judith, Jdt 8:1 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Ahitub ( A-Hî'Tub ), Brother, I.E., Friend, Of Goodness. 1. The grandson of Ell, and father of Ahiah or Ahimelech.  1 Samuel 14:3;  1 Samuel 22:9;  1 Samuel 22:11-12;  1 Samuel 22:20. We do not know whether he ever exercised the functions of high priest. 2. The father, or, possibly, grandfather of Zadok.  2 Samuel 8:17;  1 Chronicles 6:7-8;  1 Chronicles 6:62;  1 Chronicles 9:11;  1 Chronicles 18:16;  Ezra 7:2;  Nehemiah 11:11. It is probable from  Nehemiah 11:11 that he was actually high priest.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Ahimelech or Ahijah, whose father he was. (See Ahimelech ; Ahijah

2. Amariah's son, and Zadok the high priest's father, or rather grandfather ( 1 Chronicles 6:7-8;  2 Samuel 8:17). Called "ruler of the house of God," i.e. high priest,  1 Chronicles 9:11. In  Nehemiah 11:11 Ahitub appears as grandfather of Zadok and father of Meraioth, of the house of Eleazar. Thus there would seem to have been in the same age Ahitub of the house of Eli, sprung from Ithamar, and also Ahitub of the house of Eleazar.

3. The mention of a third Ahitub, son of another Amariah, and father of another Zadok ( 1 Chronicles 6:11-12), may be a copyist's error.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son of Phinehas, and grandson of Eli.  1 Samuel 14:3;  1 Samuel 22:9,11,12,20 .

2. Son of Amariah, and father of Zadok.  2 Samuel 8:17;  1 Chronicles 6:7,8,52;  1 Chronicles 18:16 .

3. Son of another Amariah, and father of another Zadok, several generations later than No. 2.  1 Chronicles 6:11,12;  Ezra 7:2 .

4. Father of Meraioth, and "ruler of the house of God."  1 Chronicles 9:11;  Nehemiah 11:11 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ahi'tub. (Brother Of Goodness).

1. The son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli, and therefore of the family of Ithamar.  1 Samuel 14:3;  1 Samuel 22:9;  1 Samuel 22:11. (B.C. 1125). He was succeeded by his son, Ahijah ( See Ahimelech ). (B.C. 1085).

2. Son of Amariah, and father of Zadok, the high priest,  1 Chronicles 6:7-8;  2 Samuel 8:17, of the house of Eleazar. (B.C. before 1045).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Samuel 14:3 1 Samuel 22:9 2 2 Samuel 8:17 1 Chronicles 6:7-8 1 Chronicles 6:11-12 1 Chronicles 6:52 1 Chronicles 9:11 Ezra 7:2

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. Grandson of Eli, and son of Phinehas, in whose place he succeeded to the high priesthood on the death of Eli, Phinehas having perished in battle, B. C. 1141, 1 Samuel 4:11 .

2. Son of Amariah, and father of Zadok,  2 Samuel 8:17;  1 Chronicles 6:8 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

• The son of Phinehas. On the death of his grandfather Eli he succeeded to the office of high priest, and was himself succeeded by his son Ahijah (1Samuel 14:3; 22:9,11,12,20).
• The father of Zadok, who was made high priest by Saul after the extermination of the family of Ahimelech (1Chronicles 6:7,8;  2 Samuel 8:17 ).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a - hı̄´tub ( אחיטוּב , 'aḥı̄ṭūbh , "brother of goodness," i.e. "good brother," or, "my brother is goodness"):

(1) The brother of Ichabod and son of Phinehas the son of Eli ( 1 Samuel 14:3;  1 Samuel 22:9 ,  1 Samuel 22:11 ,  1 Samuel 22:12 ,  1 Samuel 22:20 ), According to 1 Ch 24 he and his line were descended from Aaron through Ithamar. The record implies that he was born while his father and grandfather were priests at Shiloh, and it says that he was the father and grandfather of priests; but it is silent as to his own exercise of the priestly office. We have no information concerning the office from the time when the Philistines captured the ark till Saul became king. See Ahijah; Ahimelech; Abiathar .

(2) A descendant of Aaron through Eleazar: by this fact distinguished from Ahitub, the descendant of Ithamar, though nearly contemporaneous with him. Especially known as the father of Zadok who, at Solomon's accession, became sole high priest ( 2 Samuel 8:17;  1 Chronicles 6:8;  1 Chronicles 18:16 ). His genealogical line, from Levi to the Exile, is given in  1 Chronicles 6:1-15 (5:27-41). The three successive names, Ahitub and Zadok and Ahimaaz, appear in 2 Sam (  1 Chronicles 8:17;  1 Chronicles 15:27 , etc.). The line is paralleled by selected names in  Ezra 7:1-5 , and relatively late parts of it are paralleled in  1 Chronicles 9:11 and   Nehemiah 11:11 . The best explanation of certain phenomena in Chronicles is that the record was copied from originals that were more or less fragmentary. In some cases, also, a writer gives only such parts of a genealogy as are needed for his purpose. It is due to these causes that there are many omissions in the genealogical lists, and that they supplement one another. Allowing for these facts there is no reason why we should not regard the genealogies of Ahitub as having distract historical value.

(3) In the genealogies, in the seventh generation from Ahitub, the descendant of Eleazar, appears another Ahitub, the son of another Amariah and the father (or grandfather) of another Zadok ( 1 Chronicles 6:11 (5:37);   1 Chronicles 9:11;  Nehemiah 11:11 ). The list in Ezr 7 omits a block of names, and the Ahitub there named may be either 2 or 3. He is mentioned in 1 Esdras 8:2 and 2 Esdras 1:1, and the name occurs in Judith 8:1. In these places it appears in the English versions in the various forms: Ahitub, Ahitob, Achitob, Acitho.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrew Achitub', אֲחַיטוּב , Brother Of Goodness, i e. Good; Sept. Ἀχιτώβ , Josephus Ἀχίτωβος ), the name of at least two priests. (See High-Priest).

1. A descendant of Ithamar, who on the death of his father, Phinehas, in battle, and also of his grandfather, Eli, at the news of the capture of the ark, succeeded the latter in the high-priesthood, B.C. 1125, and was succeeded (B.C. cir. 1085) by his son Ahijah or Ahimelech ( 1 Samuel 14:3;  1 Samuel 22:9;  1 Samuel 22:11-12;  1 Samuel 22:20).

2. A descendant of the line of Ithamar, being the son (or rather descendant) of Amariah ( 1 Chronicles 6:7-8;  1 Chronicles 6:52), and not an incumbent of the high- priesthood (comp. Josephus, Ant. 8, 1, 3, where his father's name is given as Arophaeus), since his son Zadok ( 1 Chronicles 18:16) was made high-priest by Saul after the extermination of the family of Ahimelech ( 2 Samuel 8:17). B.C. ante 1012. It is doubtful whether this or the preceding person of this name is mentioned in  1 Chronicles 9:11;  Nehemiah 11:11, where he is erroneously called the father (instead of son or descendant) of Meraioth (q.v.). (See Amariah).

3. A descendant of the last, mentioned ( 1 Chronicles 6:11-12;  Ezra 7:2) as the son of another Amariah and father of another Zadok among the Jewish high-priests; but as such a coincidence of names is improbable, the person intended may perhaps have been the AZARIAH (See Azariah) of  2 Chronicles 31:10. (See Genealogy).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ahitub, 1

Ahi´tub (brother of goodness), son of Phinehas, and grandson of the high-priest Eli. His father Phinehas having been slain when the ark of God was taken by the Philistines, he succeeded his grandfather Eli B.C. 1141, and was himself succeeded by his son Ahiab about B.C. 1093.

Ahitub, 2

Ahitub was also the name of the father of Zadok, who was made high-priest by Saul after the death of Ahimelech ( 2 Samuel 8:17;  1 Chronicles 6:8). There is not the slightest ground for the notion that this Ahitub was ever high-priest himself—indeed, it is historically impossible.