from him and given (temporarily, see next section) to the offspring of Ithamar, essentially Eli and his sons. Priesthood transition Upon the sin of Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, it was prophesied that the high priesthood would be returned to the sons of Eleazar: A number of scholars indicate that Zadok was the subject of the prophecy to Eli when Zadok, said to be of the progeny of Eleazar, was ultimately appointed as high priest. Zadok, as a patrilineal descendant of Phinehas (son of Eleazar) assumed the high priesthood. His sons were Ahimaaz and Azariah followed by his descendants who held the high priesthood up to the destruction of the First Temple and, following the building of the second temple, resumed the high priesthood, as per Joshua the High Priest (along with Ezra) being of Sons of Zadok lineage. The attempt to trace his genealogy back to Eleazar, the third son of Aaron, as opposed to Abiathar, his contemporary and colleague, who was regarded as a descendant of Eli and considered a member of the house of Ithamar, was first made by the Chronicler (I Chronicles 5:30–34 [A. V. vi. 4–8]; comp. 6:35–38 [A. V. 6:50–53]), thus assuring the preeminence of the Zadokites over the descendants of Eli. In the beginning of his career he was associated with Abiathar (2 Samuel 20:25) and with his son (ib. 8:17; I Chron. 24:3, 6, 31). The hypothesis has accordingly been advanced that Zadok officiated in the Tabernacle at Gibeon (I Chron. 16:39; comp. I Kings 3:4), while the sons of Eli were stationed as high priests at Jerusalem or, more probably, at Shiloh (compare Keil on I Kings 1:8) Such a division of functions is very doubtful, however; and it is more plausible to suppose that Zadok gradually won equality of rank with the sons of Eli by his good fortune in gaining the favor of David. According to the Chronicler, a certain Zadok, as a young man, had been one of those who joined David at Hebron and helped him win the crown of all Israel, his house then including twenty-two captains; (I Chron 12:29) and Josephus expressly identifies this Zadok with the high priest of the same name (Antiquities of the Jews 7:2, § 2). According to the Masoretic Hebrew text, David addressed the priest with the words "ha-Kohen ha-ro'eh attah" ("You are the seer-priest") (II Sam. 15:27), and the