Abimelech

Article on other languages:

• أبو_معيلق
• Abimèlec
• Abimelek
• Abimelech
• Αβιμέλεχ_(του_Γεδεών)
• Abimelech_(Judges)
• ابیملک
• Abimelech_(juge)
• אבימלך_בן_גדעון
• Abimelech
• Abimelek
• Abimeleque
• Abimelek

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Abimelech or Avimelech (Hebrew: אֲבִימֶלֶךְ / אֲבִימָלֶךְ, Standard Aviméleḫ / Avimáleḫ Tiberian ʼĂḇîméleḵ / ʼĂḇîmāleḵ ; "father/leader of a king; my father/leader, a king") was a common name of the Philistine kings.

Abimelech was most prominently the name of a king of Gerar who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis. The Haggada identifies them as separate people, the second being the first Abimelech's son, and that his original name was Benmelech ("son of the King") but changed his name to his father's.

Etymology

Abimelech's name has three main translations, though none treats the name as being completely Hebrew, and all are slightly contorted. The first is my father is king, which could be considered simply as a generic title given to a crown prince. This is supported in the Haggada when "Benmelech" son of Abimelech changes his name to Abimelech when he becomes king. The other two are more interesting, both essentially being my father is MLK, with MLK being the reference found elsewhere in the Bible in prohibitions such as do not pass your children through the fire to MLK, in which case one of the two following possibilities arises

• Either MLK refers to a major Canaanite deity probably named Moloch, i.e. Abimelech being my father is Moloch - a reference to belief in semi-divine kings, such as Abimelech
• Or MLK refers to a type of (probably human) sacrifice probably named Molk, i.e. Abimelech being roughly my father is a sacrifice - a reference to Abimelech being pious

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.