Abiathar

Abiathar is described in biblical narrative as a member of the house of Eli and is named as a son or descendant of Ahimelech (or Ahijah in some textual traditions). Textual witnesses describe him as the fourth in descent from Eli and as the last of Eli's house to serve as High Priest. He survives the massacre of the priests at Nob under Saul, brings the ephod and priestly regalia to David, serves as David's priest and counselor during David's fugitive period and reign, and later is deposed and sent to Anathoth by Solomon for his support of Adonijah's attempt to claim the throne.

The supplied sources provide no physical or bodily description of Abiathar; he is attested solely by role, lineage, and actions within the scriptural and interpretive traditions.

Abiathar's capacities in the sources are institutional and ritual rather than supernatural. He is portrayed as a priestly actor who carried the ephod and other priestly regalia (objects associated with cultic function) and who served as a royal counselor to David. Rabbinic tradition summarized in secondary sources attributes to him the ability to consult the Urim and Thummim until he was later 'deserted by the Holy Spirit'—an interpretive claim about the loss of cultic efficacy rather than a described magical power in the primary narrative.