Bible Strands
1 Samuel 22:20
But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of Saul’s massacre at Nob, identifying the sole surviving priest who flees to David before reporting the event.
The words — וַיִּמָּלֵט (wayyimmāleṭ) = and he escaped, and אֶבְיָתָר (ʾĔvyāṯār) = Abiathar. The text supplies the survivor’s name and action before any dialogue occurs.
The thread — Abiathar later brings the ephod to David at Keilah (1 Samuel 23:6) and at Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:7), while 1 Samuel 2:33 foretells the cutting off of a priest’s line from the altar.
Why it lands — The verse documents a single survivor of a priestly slaughter, requiring the reader to track how a preserved remnant bridges divine judgment and David’s emerging leadership.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 23:6 (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)
- 1 Samuel 30:7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,
- 1 Samuel 2:33 And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.
- 1 Samuel 23:9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
- 1 Kings 2:26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”
- 1 Samuel 4:12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
- Job 1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- 2 Samuel 20:25 Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
- Job 1:15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”