2 others in the registry answer to the name Abimelech. Every Abimelech in the Bible
- verses
- 37
- first named
- Judges 8:31
- last named
- 2 Samuel 11:21
- period
- before Israel's Monarchy
- role
- Judge
Description
Who was Abimelech?
Abimelech was a son of Gideon, the judge of Israel, by his Shechemite concubine (Jdg.8.31). After Gideon's death, Abimelech conspired with his mother's family in Shechem to make himself king. He killed his seventy brothers, with only the youngest, Jotham, escaping (Jdg.9.1-6).
Jotham confronted the people of Shechem with a parable, warning them of the consequences of their actions in supporting Abimelech (Jdg.9.7-21). After three years, tensions arose between Abimelech and the people of Shechem, who eventually rebelled against him. Abimelech defeated the Shechemites and destroyed their city, sowing it with salt (Jdg.9.22-49).
Abimelech then attacked the city of Thebez. During the siege, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head, severely wounding him. To avoid the disgrace of being killed by a woman, Abimelech ordered his armor-bearer to kill him with a sword (Jdg.9.50-54). His death was seen as God's judgment for his wickedness in killing his brothers (Jdg.9.56-57).
Abimelech's story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of ambition, treachery, and the abuse of power. It also demonstrates the consequences of failing to follow God's leadership and the importance of loyalty and integrity in relationships.
The death of Abimelech by a millstone is later referenced by David when he learns of the death of Uriah the Hittite in battle (2Sa.11.21), highlighting the ignominy associated with Abimelech's demise.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 15 are drawn. All 15 are listed below.
Child of
- Gideonregistry, no verse
Sibling of
- Jetherregistry, no verse
- JothamregistryJudges 9:21
- Leaders ShechemJudges 9:18
Took part in
Stands in the same events as
- Leaders Shechem12 events
- Shechem8 events
- Gaal4 events
- Thebez4 events
- Israel3 events
- Fire2 events
- Gideon2 events
- Beeroth1 event
- Ebal Mount1 event
- Ophrah1 event
- Zebul1 event
- Jotham1 event
and 2 more, ordered by how many events they share.
Places
Where this happens
The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 37, across 2 books. The name is written 41 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- Judges 9Abimelech secured kingship through his mother’s clan, murdered his seventy brothers, fought Shechem, and died after a woman crushed his skull with a millstone.
- Judges 10Abimelech's time came to an end before Tola rose to save Israel.
- 2 Samuel 11Abimelech was recalled as the man killed by a woman dropping an upper millstone from a wall.
Sources