Read the Bible

Zadok: 1 Chronicles 6:8, 1 Chronicles 6:53, 1 Chronicles 24:3, 1 Chronicles 24:4

and Seraiah: 1 Chronicles 18:16, Shavsha

scribe: or, secretary

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:24 - Zadok 2 Samuel 20:25 - Sheva 1 Kings 1:8 - Zadok 2 Kings 12:10 - the king's 2 Kings 18:18 - the scribe 1 Chronicles 12:28 - Zadok 1 Chronicles 15:11 - Zadok Ezra 4:8 - scribe Ezra 7:2 - Zadok Isaiah 36:3 - Shebna Jeremiah 36:10 - the scribe Mark 2:26 - Abiathar

And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, [were] the priests,.... Not high priests, as Josephus i suggests, for there was only one high priest at a time; indeed there was a "sagan", or deputy priest, on occasion; and so Abarbinel says that Zadok was the high priest, and Ahimelech his second or deputy; but the truth of the case was this, Abiathar was high priest only, and continued so until the time of Solomon, when he was thrust out of his office, and Zadok put into it; and Ahimelech his son and Zadok were the principal priests under him, the one of the family of Ithamar, the other of Eleazar; so the Targum on 1 Chronicles 18:16 calls them "sagans", or deputies of the high priesthood. Zadok is mentioned first, though Ahimelech was the son of the present high priest, because he was in great favour with David, as afterwards with Solomon, in whose days the high priesthood was translated to him; the family of Eli being now upon the decline, and near being removed from the high priesthood, as was foretold by Samuel it should:

and Seraiah [was] the scribe; or secretary of state; in 1 Chronicles 18:16 he is called Shavsha; he seems to have had two names.

i Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5.) sect. 4.

For a similar account of the officers of Solomon’s kingdom, see 1 Kings 4:1-6, where Jehoshaphat is still the recorder, and Benaiah is advanced to be captain of the host in the room of Joab. The recorder seems to have been a high officer of state, a kind of chancellor, whose office was to keep a record of the events of the kingdom for the king’s information, and hence, he would naturally be the king’s adviser. See Esther 6:1-2; Isaiah 36:22; 2 Chronicles 34:8. Such an officer is found among the ancient Egyptians and Persians.

Ahimelech the son of Abiathar - According to 1 Samuel 22:9-23, Abiathar, Zadok’s colleague, was the son of Ahimelech. Abiathar the son of Ahimelech continued to be priest through the reign of David. (Compare also 1 Kings 1:7, 1Ki 1:42; 1 Kings 2:22-27.) It almost necessarily follows that there is some error in the text.

The scribe - Or secretary of state 2 Kings 12:10; 2 Kings 18:37, different from the military scribe (Judges 5:14 note).

2 Samuel 8:18

The Cherethites and the Pelethites - See the marginal reference note.

Chief rulers - The word כהן kôhên, here rendered a “chief ruler,” is the regular word for a priest. In the early days of the monarchy the word כהן kôhên had not quite lost its etymological sense, from the root meaning to minister, or manage affairs, though in later times its technical sense alone survived.