Ithamar the Priest איתמר הכהן

Ithamar is Aaron's fourth son and the only one spoken of in connection with the practical side of the sanctuary.

The account of the Tabernacle opens with a formula found nowhere else in the Torah: "these are the records of the Tabernacle… by the word of Moses, the work of the Levites under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest." Then come the sums: how many talents and shekels of gold, silver and bronze, and what each metal went into. The accounting is public and by name — a detail Jewish tradition cites as a model for handling public money.

In the distribution of Levite service, Gershon and Merari — who carried the coverings, pillars, boards and sockets, that is, the whole heavy demountable Tabernacle — worked "under the hand of Ithamar." Kohath, who carried the holy things themselves, was under Eleazar.

Ithamar's descendants held the high priesthood later, at Shiloh: Eli the priest and his house came from him. After the house of Eli was set aside, the high priesthood passed to the line of Eleazar — to Zadok.