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Biblical Person · Old · Conquest & Judges

Abimelech

Abimelech

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Abimelech, the son of Gideon, declared himself king and ruled over Israel for three years, known for his violent rise to power and eventual downfall.

AI-assisted summary — may contain inaccuracies.

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Where Abimelech appears

61 verses across 4 books.

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Verses mentioning Abimelech

  • 1Chr 18:16 — And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;
  • 2Sam 11:21 — Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the
  • Gen 20:2 — And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
  • Gen 20:3 — But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
  • Gen 20:4 — But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
  • Gen 20:8 — Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
  • Gen 20:9 — Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me t
  • Gen 20:10 — And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
  • Gen 20:14 — And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
  • Gen 20:15 — And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
  • Gen 20:17 — So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
  • Gen 20:18 — For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
  • Gen 21:22 — And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
  • Gen 21:25 — And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
  • Gen 21:26 — And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
  • Gen 21:27 — And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
  • Gen 21:29 — And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
  • Gen 21:32 — Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
  • Gen 26:1 — And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
  • Gen 26:8 — And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
  • Gen 26:9 — And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
  • Gen 26:10 — And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
  • Gen 26:11 — And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
  • Gen 26:16 — And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
  • Gen 26:26 — Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
  • Judg 8:31 — And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:1 — And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,
  • Judg 9:3 — And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
  • Judg 9:4 — And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.
  • Judg 9:6 — And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
  • Judg 9:16 — Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of hi
  • Judg 9:18 — And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of S
  • Judg 9:19 — If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
  • Judg 9:20 — But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:21 — And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
  • Judg 9:22 — When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
  • Judg 9:23 — Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
  • Judg 9:24 — That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the
  • Judg 9:25 — And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:27 — And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:28 — And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for
  • Judg 9:29 — And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
  • Judg 9:31 — And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.
  • Judg 9:34 — And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
  • Judg 9:35 — And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait.
  • Judg 9:38 — Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with
  • Judg 9:39 — And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:40 — And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
  • Judg 9:41 — And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
  • Judg 9:42 — And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.
  • Judg 9:44 — And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and sl
  • Judg 9:45 — And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
  • Judg 9:47 — And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
  • Judg 9:48 — And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder
  • Judg 9:49 — And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, a
  • Judg 9:50 — Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
  • Judg 9:52 — And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
  • Judg 9:53 — And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
  • Judg 9:55 — And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
  • Judg 9:56 — Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
Voices from the tradition

The Church Fathers on Abimelech

Patristic commentary on the Scriptures that name Abimelech.

Isaac means "rejoicing." The inquisitive king saw him playing with his wife and helpmate, Rebekah. The king (his name was Abimelech) represents, I believe, a wisdom above this world, looking down upon the mystery signified by such childlike playing. Rebekah means "submission." Oh, what prudent playing! Rejoicing joined to submission,…

— Clement of Alexandria (215) on Gen 26:8

The expression "had not touched" is emphatic, like the statement "it is good for a man not to touch a woman," which means, even apart from sexual union, in no other way either to gaze at or to touch a woman with passion. God, of course, did not permit Abimelech to touch Sarah, though perhaps too because he had perfect self-control in…

— Origen of Alexandria (253) on Gen 20:4

This Abimelech, as I see it, does not always have peace with Isaac, but sometimes he disagrees, at other times he seeks peace. If you remember how, in what precedes, we said of Abimelech that he represents the learned and wise of the world who have comprehended many things even of the truth through the learning of philosophy, you can…

Unless Sarah received renewed youth in the seed that she had received, Abim-elech would not have desired a woman ninety years old. Then Abraham prayed and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female slaves so that they bore children, because from the time [Abim-elech] had decided to marry Sarah until he returned her, pangs of…

The homicide Abimelech, bastard son of Gideon, killed the seventy legitimate sons, and, thinking he had hit upon a ruse for securing his grasp on the royal power, he destroyed his accomplices in the crime. He, however, was in turn destroyed by them and in the end was slain with a stone cast by a woman's hand.… In short, countless…

See God's providence; see his ineffable care. The One who had said, "Don't go down into Egypt; stay in this land, and I will be with you," was the one arranging all this and putting the good man in such a safe position. I mean, notice the king going to such trouble to ensure that he could live in peace and be free from all concern.…

In case you might think he was talking about that previous famine, accordingly he added, "besides the famine in the patriarch's time," that is to say, another similar famine beset the land in Isaac's time as in his father's time. The scarcity of the necessities of life threw everyone into great apprehension, compelled them to leave…

(Verse 22.) And Abimelech and Phicol, the commanders of his army, said to his servants, 'Except Abimelech and Phicol, the third name mentioned here is not found in the Hebrew text.'

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him: Behold, you are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she has a husband; but Abimelech had not touched her and said: Lord, will you kill an innocent and righteous nation? And the rest of this reading. It seems that Abimelech was diligent in practicing the…

And he said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. So Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took her. Why Abraham said this about Sarah, and whence it should be believed that she, although taken into the king's house, was by no means touched by the king's embrace, has already been said above, where in a similar manner she was taken by…

Historic voices touch this life

26 passages from 6 historic works cite verses that mention Abimelech.