INQUIRY:
Did David ask Ahimelech (1 Samuel 21:1-3) or Abiathar (Mark 2:25-26) for the showbread to eat? Also, was David alone or not? Is there a contradiction?
RESPONSE:
Abiathar was Ahimelech’s son (1 Samuel 23:6). Very soon after David received the showbread, the priests were killed at the command of Saul (22:18), and only Abiathar escaped (22:20).
1 Samuel 22 definitely reveals that David asked Ahimelech for the bread. Mark 2 doesn’t say David asked Abiathar; it simply says it happened in the days of Abiathar. NOTE, with the death of his father, he would then be high priest.
So, was David alone or did he have men with him? In 1 Samuel 21:1, the priest asked David why he was alone. So, obviously he was alone when he came to the priests. He explain in verse 2, “…I have directed my young men to such and such a place.” He asked for five loaves of bread (v 3), enough for himself and his men (cf. Mark 2:25-26). As Jesus recounted the event, He didn’t take the time to tell us about the men being elsewhere when David asked for the food. His intent is not to give every detail, but to use the situation with David as an illustration. It is noteworthy, in Mark 2:26, Jesus said that David (not David & his men) went into the house of God.
There is no contradiction.
A response to 1001 Bible Contradictions.
