Zadok

Zadok was high priest of Israel in the time of the kings David and Solomon, a descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. His name means righteous. He supported David in the revolt of Absalom, helped bring Solomon to the throne and anointed him king, and after the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem he was the first high priest to serve in it. He is a figure of the Old Testament.

His lineage Scripture says that Zadok descended through the male line from Eleazar, the son of Aaron. The genealogy of Ezra, who was his descendant, places him in the ninth generation from Phinehas, son of Eleazar. According to the Russian sources, Zadok's father was the high priest Ahitub and his son was Ahimaaz. A Zadok is mentioned among those who joined David at Hebron and helped him win the crown of all Israel, and his house numbered twenty-⁠two captains. Josephus identifies him with the high priest of the same name.

In David's time When David's son Absalom rebelled, Zadok and the Levites wished to accompany the fleeing king and carry the Ark of the Covenant, but David told Zadok to stay in Jerusalem, where he and Abiathar could serve him better. So it happened that Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, together with Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, brought the king a message that saved his life. After the revolt was put down, David sent Zadok and Abiathar to the elders of Judah, urging them to hasten to bring him back. Zadok was also chief of the Aaronites. The Book of Chronicles shows him leading the priests who served before the tabernacle of the Lord on the high place at Gibeon.

Service under Solomon When Adonijah tried to seize the throne, Abiathar took his side. Zadok, together with Nathan the prophet, supported Solomon. For this Solomon expelled Abiathar from Jerusalem and made Zadok sole high priest. Zadok performed the anointing of Solomon as king, and after the Temple was built he was the first high priest to serve in it. Rabbinic tradition sees in this the fulfilment of the prophetic word by which a man of God had foretold the end of the priesthood of the house of Eli, for Zadok descended from Eleazar and Phinehas.

His descendants Zadok's sons were Ahimaaz and Azariah. His descendants held the high priesthood until the destruction of the first Temple and resumed it after the building of the second, for Joshua the high priest and Ezra were of Zadok's line. According to historical data, the high priesthood remained with the Zadokites until the rise of the Hasmoneans, about 167 BC. The prophet Ezekiel praises the sons of Zadok as steadfast opponents of idolatry and promises them special service in the future Temple.