אֲבִימֶ֫לֶךְ
a.vi.me.lekh
Abimelech
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Abimelech: A Name in Biblical History Based on the lexical data provided, Abimelech (אֲבִימֶלֶךְ) is a proper name appearing 21 times in the Hebrew Bible. The transliteration breaks down into component parts suggesting "my father" (abi) and "king" (melekh), though the lexicon data itself does not elaborate on etymology. As a proper noun designating a specific person or persons, it functions as a name identifier rather than a common word with semantic range or variations in meaning. The frequency of 21 occurrences across the biblical text indicates that this was a figure of sufficient narrative importance to warrant multiple mentions. However, the lexicon entry provided contains no information about context, chronology, or the specific roles this person or persons played in biblical accounts. Without additional data beyond the basic definition, we cannot determine from this entry alone whether "Abimelech" refers to a single individual or multiple people bearing the same name, or what historical significance attached to this figure. In sum, this lexicon data confirms only that Abimelech was a named individual or individuals present in the biblical narrative with enough prominence to appear repeatedly in the text. Any further understanding of the name's historical, political, or religious significance would require sources beyond the current lexical entry.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
21 total occurrences across the text
David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
1 Samuel 21:11The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing to one another about him in dances, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’ ”
1 Samuel 21:12David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
1 Samuel 21:14Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why then have you brought him to me?
1 Samuel 27:2David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
1 Samuel 27:3David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
1 Samuel 27:5David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
1 Samuel 27:6Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
1 Samuel 27:9David struck the land, and saved no man or woman alive, and took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned, and came to Achish.
1 Samuel 27:10Achish said, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David said, “Against the South of Judah, against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites.”
1 Samuel 27:12Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.”
1 Samuel 28:1In those days, the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the army, you and your men.”
1 Samuel 28:2David said to Achish, “Therefore you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard forever.”
1 Samuel 28:2David said to Achish, “Therefore you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard forever.”
1 Samuel 29:2The lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rear with Achish.
1 Samuel 29:3Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years? I have found no fault in him since he fell away until today.”
1 Samuel 29:6Then Achish called David, and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords don’t favor you.
1 Samuel 29:8David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
1 Samuel 29:9Achish answered David, “I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God. Notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’
1 Kings 2:39At the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.”
1 Kings 2:40Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his slaves; and Shimei went, and brought his slaves from Gath.