1 Samuel 14:3

1Sa 14:3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.

Ver. 3. And Ahiah.] Called also Ahimelech, {1Sa 22:11-12} and basely butchered by the command of Saul, who here had sent for him, and served himself upon him.

And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.] Or, For what purpose. The engine that doth all in great works, is oft inward, hidden, unobserved.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 14:3. And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub — The high-priest, who was here to attend upon the ark, which had been brought hither, 1Sa 14:18. The son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh — These last words manifestly belong not to Ahiah, but to Eli, who was high-priest while the tabernacle was at Shiloh. Wearing an ephod — Or rather, the ephod; that is, the high-priest’s ephod, comprehending the breast-plate with the Urim and Thummim, which were inseparable from it. These Ahiah, being high-priest, now wore. Saul, being now in great distress, probably had sent for Ahiah, that he might consult God for him, as there should be occasion.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:3 Ahijah the priest was an adviser who could give Saul divine guidance through the ephod (14:18-19; see also 2:18 and corresponding study note; 23:9-10). • son of Eli: Saul, the rejected king (13:13-14), kept in his company a priest from the rejected priesthood (2:27-36). • Ichabod: See 4:21.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Ahiah, the son of Ahitub] Phinehas, son of Eli the high priests had two sons, Ahitub and I-chabod; the latter was born when the ark was taken, and his mother died immediately after. Ahiah is also called Ahimelech, 1Sa 22:9.

Wearing an ephod.] That is, performing the functions of the high priest. This man does not appear to have been with Saul when he offered the sacrifices, 1Sa 13:9, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Ahiah, the son of Ahitub.—The Chronicles, rehearsing these facts, show us what a terrible impression the last events in Eli’s reign as high priest had made in Israel. The destruction of Shiloh, the death of the high priest, the fall of Phinehas and his brother in battle, the melancholy circumstances of the birth of I-chabod, were still fresh in the memory of the people. Well might Jonathan be ready to sacrifice himself if he could deal an effectual blow upon these hereditary enemies of his country. Of this high priest Ahiah we never hear again in these Books of Samuel. He is generally supposed to be the same as the high priest Ahimelech, who was subsequently murdered by Doeg, by the direction of Saul, with the priests at Nob (1Sa_22:9, &c.). The name Ahiah signifies “brother,” or “friend of the Eternal”; Ahimelech, “brother of the king,” may be another form of the same name.

Wearing an ephod.—The ephod here alluded to is not the ordinary priestly vestment of white linen, but that official garment worn alone by the high priest, in which was the breast-plate of gems with the mysterious Urim and Thummim, by which inquiry used to be made of the Lord.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub] And [there was with him] Ahiah, or Ahijah, as the name is usually transliterated. Ahijah is perhaps the same as Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, the priest at Nob, who was the victim of Saul’s sacrilegious vengeance (1Sa_22:9). The name Ahijah = “brother of Jah” and Ahimelech = “brother of the king” may have been applied to the same person, Melech king being substituted for the divine name Jah in ordinary intercourse. But it is also possible that Ahimelech was the brother of Ahijah and his successor in the high priesthood.

I-chabod’s brother] See 1Sa_4:21. I-chabod’s elder brother Ahitub was probably about the same age as Samuel, and his son may have been high-priest already for some time. Fifty years or more must have elapsed since the death of Eli. See Introduction, Ch. III.

the Lord’s priest in Shiloh] These words must be referred to Eli as the most famous priest during the period while the Tabernacle was at Shiloh, not to Ahijah. It is all but certain that Shiloh ceased to be the religious centre of the nation after the capture of the Ark.

wearing an ephod] i.e. officiating as high-priest. See note on 1Sa_2:18. His presence with the army is noticed to prepare the way for the fact mentioned in 1Sa_14:18.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Ahiah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother,.... Ichabod was the child that Phinehas's wife bore prematurely on hearing the news of the ark being taken and of the death of her husband and father-in-law, which name she gave him on that account, and died; see Sa1 4:19, he, it seems, had an elder brother, called Ahitub, who died young, and this Ahiah was the son of him; for not he, but Ahitub, was Ichabod's brother:

the son of Phinehas; so Ichabod was:

the son of Eli; so Phinehas was:

the Lord's priest in Shiloh; this refers not to Ahiah for he was not now priest in Shiloh, which was destroyed: and besides, he was now in the camp of Saul; but to Eli, who when living exercised the priest's office in Shiloh:

wearing an ephod; as Ahiah now did; not such as common priests wore, but the ephod the high priest wore, which had the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and Thummim, in it, by which inquiry was made, Sa1 14:37. The meaning of all this is, that the high priest is now with Saul, and the ark also, which and the high priest might be sent for on this occasion, Sa1 14:18.

and the people knew not that Jonathan was gone; or they would have gone with him, namely, the military men that were particularly with him; he and Saul were in two different parts of Gibeah, with distinct bodies of men; whether the thousand that Jonathan first had with him all continued is not certain; it seems probable they did not; it can hardly be thought he should have more with him than were with Saul; see Sa1 14:2, though from Sa1 14:17 they seem now to have been together.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whether “Ahiah” or “Ahijah” is the same person as “Ahimelech the son of Ahitub” (see the marginal reference), or whether Ahimelech was the brother or son of Ahijah, and his successor in the priesthood, it is impossible to say certainly. Most probably “Ahijah” and “Ahimilech” are variations of the same name; the latter element in each alone being different, מלך melek (king) being substituted for the divine name יה yâhh. Compare “Eliakim” and “Jehoiakim” 2Ki 23:34, “Eliab” and “Eliel” 1Ch 6:27, 1Ch 6:34.

This fragment of a genealogy is a very valuable help to the chronology. The grandson of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was now High Priest; and Samuel, who was probably a few years older than Ahitub the son of Phinehas, was now an old man. All this indicates a period of about 50 years or upward from the taking of the ark by the Philistines.

The Lord’s priest in Shiloh - But as Eli was so emphatically known and described in 1 Sam. 1–4, as God’s Priest at Shiloh, and as there is every reason to believe that Shiloh was no longer the seat of the ark in Saul’s time (see 1 Sam. 22; 1Ch 13:3-5), it is better to refer these words to Eli, and not to Ahijah, to whom the next words, “wearing an ephod,” apply. (See 1Sa 2:28; Jdg 1:1 note.)

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ephod; or was high priest, ver. 18. Achias is called Achimelech, chap. xxii. 9. (Calmet) --- He had succeeded his father, Achitob, in the beginning of Saul’s reign, after the former had held the dignity twenty-two years. (Salien, the year of the world 2962.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Ahiah; the same who is called Ahimelech, 1Sa 22:9,11,20, the high priest, who was here to attend upon the ark, which was brought hither, 1Sa 14:18.

An ephod, to wit, the high priest’s ephod, wherein the Urim and Thummim was.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Ahiah — Here we meet again with the descendants of Eli. See note on

1Sa_2:33. It is generally supposed, and quite probable, that Ahiah is only a different name for Ahimelech, mentioned 1Sa_22:9; still, it is possible that Ahimelech may have been his brother, and successor in the office of high priest. The presence of the priest with Saul is here mentioned in anticipation of what is to be stated in 1Sa_14:18-19; 1Sa_14:36-37.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ahiah, the son of Ahitub. (See on 1Sa_13:9) It is interesting to find the house of Eli recovering at last from its disaster, and one of its members duly ministering in his office before the king. It has been debated whether he was the same person as Ahimelech, mentioned in, 1Sa_21:1, etc., the supposition being grounded on the fact that Ahiah is never spoken of again. But he may have died; and with regard to the argument drawn from the similarity of the names, we must notice that names compounded with Ah (or Ach) brother, were common in Eli"s family, while compounds with Ab, father, were most in use among Saul"s relatives. Ahiah or Ahijah means Jah is brother; his father is Ahitub, the brother is good; why should he not call another son Ahimelech, the brother is king? Jehovah"s priest in Shiloh. This refers to Eli, the regular rule in Hebrew being that all such statements belong, not to the son, but to the father. Wearing an ephod. Literally, ephod bearing. The ephod, as we have seen on 1Sa_2:18, was the usual ministerial garment; but what is meant here is not an ordinary ephod of linen, but that described in Lev_8:7, Lev_8:8, wherein was the breastplate, by which Jehovah"s will was made known to his people, until prophecy took its place. All this, the former part of the verse, must be regarded as a parenthesis.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ahiah - The same who is called Abimelech, chap. xxii, 9, 11, 20, the high-priest, who was here to attend upon the ark which was brought thither, ver. 18. Ephod - The high-priest's ephod, wherein the Urim and Thummim was.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Ahiah

Called Ahimelech, 1Sa 22:9; 1Sa 22:11; 1Sa 22:20.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wore the Eiphod. Meaning the Urim and Tumim.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.