Misplaced Pages

Jonathan (son of Abiathar)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz hide from Absalom by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1695. This woodcut depicts an event recorded in 2 Samuel 17:17-21.

Jonathan is a character in the Hebrew Bible, appearing in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings.

He is introduced as the son of Abiathar the High Priest in 2 Samuel 15:27. He was also a companion of Ahimaaz, son of Zadok: together they work as messengers for David during Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam 15:36). 2 Samuel 17 describes an incident in which they hide from Abasalom's men in a well in Bahurim.

In 1 Kings 1, during Adonijah's conspiracy, Jonathan tells Adonijah that David had made Solomon king (1 Kgs 1:43). Jonathan is not mentioned again, and misses out on becoming high priest, since his father is replaced by Zadok.

Keith Bodner calls him an "under-rated (yet intriguing) character", and notes that he is "used in a larger discussion about succession", which Bodner argues is ironic, "since he himself is banished into obscurity by the succession of a rival house."

Jonathan was the 9th Samaritan High Priest according to Samaritan Genealogical Records.

References

  1. Bodner, Keith (2013). The Artistic Dimension: Literary Explorations of the Hebrew Bible. A & C Black. p. 103. ISBN 9780567442628. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. Gaster, M. (1909). "The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for the First Time". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 393–420. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00038697. JSTOR 25210743. S2CID 147176244. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
Categories: