“In the time of Abiathar the high priest”
Have you never read what David did… During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. (Mark 2:25–26 BSB)
What it sounds like today
An obscure incident cited for no clear reason.
The cultural key
The showbread: twelve loaves set weekly before God in the sanctuary, afterward eaten only by priests (Leviticus 24:5–9). Fleeing Saul, David asked the priest at Nob for food and was given the holy loaves (1 Samuel 21). Jesus argues in classic rabbinic style, precedent from Scripture, defending his disciples' Sabbath grain-plucking: if David's need overrode sacred bread, the hungry companions of great David's greater Son stand justified. He stacks the claim higher: 'something greater than the temple is here.' Mark alone adds 'in the time of Abiathar the high priest,' while 1 Samuel 21 names the priest at Nob as Ahimelech, Abiathar's father: a famous puzzle. Proposals include a citation formula meaning 'in the scroll section about Abiathar' (passages were referenced by their prominent figure; compare 'in the passage about the bush,' Mark 12:26), or a loose 'in the days of' the far better-known priest. No solution commands consensus; this site notes the knot rather than hiding it.
Recovered meaning
Mercy outranks ritual ('I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' he quotes again), and the one making the ruling quietly claims authority above the temple itself.