Which priest gave David the bread of the Presence to eat, Abiathar or Ahimelech?

Jesus was a controversial figure, often challenged by the religious leaders of his time. One dispute concerned his disciples’ failure to observe the sabbath by picking grain as they passed through a corn-field. When the Pharisees pointed out this transgression, Jesus justified his disciples’ behaviour by citing the example of David transgressing the rule that only the priests could eat the bread of the Presence. Unfortunately, Jesus asserted that the priest who gave the bread to David was Abiathar, when actually it was Ahimelech.

Mark reports the dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees as follows:

One sabbath he [Jesus] was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’ [Mark 2:23-28 (NRSV)]

The incident that Jesus refers to here is recorded in 1 Samuel, but the priest there is not Abiathar but his father, Ahimelech.

David came to Nob to the priest Ahimelech. Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no one with you?’ David said to the priest Ahimelech, ‘The king has charged me with a matter, and said to me, “No one must know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.” I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what have you at hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.’ The priest answered David, ‘I have no ordinary bread at hand, only holy bread — provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.’ David answered the priest, ‘Indeed, women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition; the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is a common journey; how much more today will their vessels be holy?’ So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.’ [1 Samuel 21:1-6 (NRSV)]

So which priest gave David the bread of the Presence to eat, Abiathar or Ahimelech? If it was Ahimelech then either Jesus got it wrong or Mark 2:26 contains an error. If it was Abiathar then 1 Samuel 21:1-2 contains two errors.

Interestingly, the parallels to Mark in Matthew and Luke omit the reference to Abiathar:

He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.’ [Matthew 12:3-4 (NRSV)]

Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?’ [Luke 6:3-4 (NRSV)]

Perhaps Matthew and Luke spotted the error and removed it.