Atlas Biblica

    person

    Phicol

    פִּיכֹל

    Phicol, the commander of the army of Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar, who accompanied Abimelech in making treaties with Abraham and Isaac.

    verses
    3
    first named
    Genesis 21:22
    last named
    Genesis 26:26
    period
    the Patriarchs
    role
    Man

    Description

    Who was Phicol?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Phicol was the commander of the army of Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar. He is mentioned twice in the book of Genesis, both times in the context of treaties made between Abimelech and the patriarchs.

    In Gen.21.22-32, Phicol accompanied Abimelech when they approached Abraham to make a treaty, acknowledging that God was with Abraham in all that he did. As part of the treaty, Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs as a witness that he had dug a well, which was named Beersheba.

    Later, in Gen.26.26, Phicol again accompanied Abimelech, along with Ahuzzath, Abimelech's advisor, when they came to make a treaty with Isaac. This event took place after Isaac had reopened the wells dug by his father, Abraham, and had settled in Beersheba.

    Phicol's presence in these narratives suggests that he was a trusted official in Abimelech's court and played a significant role in diplomatic relations with the patriarchs.

    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.

    How the graph connects Phicol8 of 8 entities the graph connects to Phicol, in 2 groups: company 1, events 7. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.Abimelech’s comingTook part in · 2 versesCompanyAbraham1 event · 275 versesPhilistia1 event · 250 versesIsaac1 event · 123 versesAbimelech4 events · 23 versesGerar1 event · 10 versesAbraham and Abimelech’s covenant2 events · 2 versesAhuzzath1 event · 1 verseEventsPhicol

    Took part in

    Stands in the same events as

    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.

    Where the story of Phicol happensThe one place the claims about Phicol reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Gerar. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Phicol there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.Gerar
    the PatriarchsThe one place the claims about Phicol reach

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 3, across 1 book.

    1. Genesis3 verses

      21:2221:3226:26

    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.

    via Abimelech’s comingAbimelechPhilistine king who interacted with Abraham and Isaacvia Abimelech’s comingAhuzzathFriend and advisor of Abimelech, Philistine king of Gerarvia Abimelech’s comingComingComing is a concept gathering 549 labelled instances in the text.via Abimelech’s comingIsaacSon of Abraham; father of Jacob and Esau.

    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.

    Sources

    What this rests on