Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ZADOK

Common OT name meaning “righteous one.”

1. David’s priest, probably the most famous and influential of Israel’s high priests apart from Aaron. He first appeared at the time of Absalom’s revolt, when he and his fellow priest Abiathar showed their loyalty to David by coming to him with the ark, fully prepared to share his exile (2 Sm 15:24-29). David refused their offer and sent them back to Jerusalem to act in his interests.

In 2 Samuel 8:17, Zadok is listed as the son of Ahitub, who is noted in 1 Samuel 14:3 as the grandson of Eli. In the genealogies of Chronicles, Zadok’s descent through Ahitub is traced back to Eleazar, the eldest son of Aaron (1 Chr 6:1-8, 50-53; Ezr 7:2-5), but with no reference to Eli. A slight problem emerges in that Zadok replaces the banished Abiathar, a descendant of Eli. This is regarded as the fulfillment of an earlier prophecy that the tenure of the high priestly office by Eli’s family would be broken in favor of a different branch of Aaron’s family (1 Sm 2:30-36; 1 Kgs 2:26-27).

In both summaries of David’s court officials (2 Sm 8:17; 20:25), Zadok is listed as one of David’s two principal priests, an office held throughout the latter part of David’s reign. When David was near death, a power struggle over the throne was precipitated by Adonijah, David’s oldest surviving son. With the support of Joab, the commander of the army, and the priest Abiathar, David’s long-standing friend, Adonijah declared himself king (1 Kgs 1:5-10). Nathan the prophet promptly intervened with Bathsheba as Solomon’s advocate. Zadok and Benaiah, the captain of the mercenary troops, supported Solomon. Adonijah’s cause was hopeless once David had indicated his approval of Nathan’s plans. Consequently, the discredited Abiathar was banished (2:26-27), leaving the loyal Zadok as Solomon’s chief priest (2:35; 4:4).

In the centuries that followed, the descendants of Zadok preserved this dominance, and as Jerusalem’s prestige increased, so did their status. Azariah, the chief priest in Hezekiah’s reign, was a Zadokite (2 Chr 31:10). Ezekiel restricted the main priestly functions to the “sons of Zadok,” demoting the Levites generally to the rank of “temple caretakers” because of their apostasy during the monarchy (Ez 44:10-16). When the Jews came under Seleucid domination in the early second century BC, the high priesthood, regarded as a political appointment, was taken away from the Zadokites. Conservative elements, however, like the Qumran covenanters, continued to look for its restoration.