[1] He descended from Aaron's son Ithamar and the High Priest of Israel Eli.
He was summoned into Saul's presence, and accused of disloyalty for assisting David, on the information of Doeg the Edomite.
This sentence was carried into execution by Doeg in a cruel manner (1 Samuel 22:9–23).
Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 18:16, marg.
Rabbinical literature linked the extermination of the male descendants of David with the extermination of the priests of Nob by Saul - deeming it divine retribution because David's action had provoked Saul's outburst - and also linked the survival of David's descendant Joash with that of Ahimelech's son Abiathar.