ITHAMAR (Heb.: 'Ithamar') - Youngest son of Aaron (Ex. 6:23); consecrated priest together with his brothers and Aaron (Ex. 28:1, 4, 29); he supervised the making of the sacred furnishings (Ex. 38:21). When Nadab and Abihu were struck down for their ritual offense, Eleazar and I. assumed all the priestly functions (Lev. 10; Num. 3:1-4; 26:60).

I. was in charge of the Gershonites and the Merarites for the transport of certain parts of the Tabernacle in the desert (Num. 4:28, 33; 7:8). The descendants of I. (the family of Eli) had custody of the ark at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1). Under David, they performed the priestly functions together with the descendants of Eleazar (the family of Zadok) (1 Chron. 15:11 ff.; 16:37-43). The latter, superior also in number (1 Chron. 24:1-18), prevailed, particularly from the time of Solomon, who exiled Abiathar and gave the high priesthood to Zadok (1 Kings 2:26 f.). A predominance that became exclusivity after the exile (cf. Ezek. 40:46; 44:15 f.). Among those who returned with Ezra there was a Daniel, a descendant of I. (Ezra 8:2).

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: L. Desnoyers, Histoire du peuple hébreu, II, Paris 1930, pp. 180-93, 197 ff.; III, ibid. 1930, pp. 212-15, 223-26; A. Clamer, Le Lévitique (La Ste Bible, ed. L. Pioné, 2), ibid. 1940, pp. 85-89; id., Les Nombres (ibid.), ibid. 1940, pp. 248, 259 ff.; L. Marchal, Les Paralipomènes (loc. cit., 4), ibid. 1949, pp. 43, 76, 106 f.

Francesco Spadafora

@incollection{ec7_ithamar_ebr_ithamar, author = {Spadafora, Francesco}, title = {Ithamar (Ebr.: 'IthamĀR')}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {518}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ithamar-ebr-ithamar} }

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