1 Kings 4:2

Azariah the son of Zadok the priest The two last words are to be referred to Azariah and not to Zadok. The Vat. LXX. omits the title, but the Alex. text has ὁ ἱερεύς. On the contrary the Vulgate renders -Sadoc Sacerdotis." The Zadok here named is the son of Ahitub (1 Chronicles 6:8), and Azariah was really his grandson, the order being Zadok-Ahimaaz-Azariah. The use of -son" thus loosely for grandson is not uncommon in the Old Test. Thus (Genesis 29:5) Laban is called the sonof Nahor. He was really the son of Bethuel. Similarly (Ezra 5:1) Zachariah the prophet is called the sonof Iddo, though Barachiah was his father and Iddo his grandfather.

The words -the priest" have caused much discussion, and on the margin of the A.V. -chief officer" is given as an alternative meaning. That the word may have another sense seems plain from 2 Samuel 8:18. In that passage the same word is used of David's sons, and is rendered -chief rulers" or -princes" in A.V. The R.V. translates -priests" in the text, with -chief ministers" in the margin. We can hardly however think that David's sons were priests. But in the verse before us Azariah belongs to the priestly family, as much as Zadok and Abiathar who are called -priests" (the same Hebrew word) in 1 Kings 4:4. Where there is no such connexion with the priestly line, Zabud the son of Nathan, in 1 Kings 4:5, is styled -principal officer"; the R.V. is consistent and renders -priest" there too, but puts -chief minister" as an alternative.

It is probably on account of the difficulty of so many persons being called by the title usually rendered -priest" that the LXX. omits the title both after Azariah's name, and after Zabud's, calling the latter merely ἑταῖρος τοῦ βασιλέως. It seems clear however from the instance of David's sons that the title had a sense in which it could be applied to others than those of the priestly line.