"Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:" Psalm 12:1-3

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts... For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old,
-2 Peter 3:3-5

Skeptic's Argument: One who scoffs at God's Word.

And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
-1 Samuel 22:20

This section says Abiathar is the son of Ahimelech.

And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
-2 Samuel 8:17

This section says Abiathar is the father of Ahimelech, therefore the Bible contradicts itself.

Bible-Reader's Answer: One who takes God's Word seriously.

Without much explanation, the average person can see these are two different people with the same name. For example, in America, when I was a child, we had a president named George Bush. Two presidents later, when I was an adult, we had a president named George Bush. Is that a contradiction? That's a laughable question. Sometimes different family members have the same names; that still happens even today.

I found this to be a bit confusing at first, until I could visualize it on paper and then it made a lot more sense, so I'll provide a chart that will give an overview of the genealogy. The names of Abiathar and Ahimelech are a part of Aaron's bloodline.

And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
-Numbers 3:2
(See also Exo 6:23.)

And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
-Numberbs 3:4

Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua, And Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi, And Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth, Meraioth begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub, And Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz,
-1 Chronicles 6:4-8

One thing that Christians need to understand is that the geneology is only following one particular bloodline, and that most of these men had many children. However, the names that will help us get specific information are now in the chart, namely Ahitub and Zadok, so let's go to 1 Samuel 22:

And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
-1 Samuel 22:20

So now we have established that there is a bloodline of Eleazar named Ahimelech and Abiathar. Let's once again look at 2 Samuel 8:

And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
-2 Samuel 8:17

This is where the God-hating scoffer claims that the Bible is not the Word of God because it contains mistakes, but now let's look at a verse that is often not included on the God-hating scoffers' websites:

And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service.
-1 Chronicles 24:3

This answers the matter for us; the Ahimelech/Abiathar that is being referred to in 1 Samuel 22 is the bloodline of Eleazor, but the Abiathar/Ahimelech that's being referred to in 2 Samuel 8 is the bloodline of Ithamar. Abiathar, son of Eleazar, fled after David in 1 Samuel 22, and Ahimelech, son of Ithamar, was a preist in 2 Samuel 8, and the Bible further makes this distinction in verse 6:

And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.
-1 Chronicles 24:6

But for the God-hating scoffer, they'll take any excuse they can get to deny the Word of God as a judgment over their lives.

SUMMARY: The Ahimelechs and Abiathars are from two different families; they're not referring to the same person. There is no contradiction.

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