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Abimelech or Avimelech was a common name of the Philistine kings.

Abimelech was most prominently the name of a king of Gerar
Gerar

Gerar - meaning lodging-place - was a Philistine town and district in what is today south-central Israel. Archaeological evidence points to the town having come into existence with the arrival of the Philistines at around 1200 BCE and having been little more than a village until 800 BCE-700 BCE....
 who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis
Wife-sister narratives in Genesis

There are three wife-sister narratives in Genesis, part of the Torah, all of which are strikingly similar. At the core of each is the tale of a Biblical Patriarch, who has come to be in the land of a powerful foreign overlord that has mistaken the Patriarch's wife to be the Patriarch's sister, and consequently has attempted to wed her himself...
. 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. At the time of Abimelech, there was an Egyptian governor of Tyre named Abimilki.






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Abimelech or Avimelech was a common name of the Philistine kings.

Abimelech was most prominently the name of a king of Gerar
Gerar

Gerar - meaning lodging-place - was a Philistine town and district in what is today south-central Israel. Archaeological evidence points to the town having come into existence with the arrival of the Philistines at around 1200 BCE and having been little more than a village until 800 BCE-700 BCE....
 who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis
Wife-sister narratives in Genesis

There are three wife-sister narratives in Genesis, part of the Torah, all of which are strikingly similar. At the core of each is the tale of a Biblical Patriarch, who has come to be in the land of a powerful foreign overlord that has mistaken the Patriarch's wife to be the Patriarch's sister, and consequently has attempted to wed her himself...
. 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. At the time of Abimelech, there was an Egyptian governor of Tyre named Abimilki. They could possibly be the same person. Abimilki's name appears on the Tell-el-Amerna tablets.

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
Moloch

Moloch, Molech, Molekh, or Molek, representing semitic ??? mlk, is either the name of a deity or the name of a particular kind of human sacrifice associated with fire....
 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 the following possibilities arise:
  • MLK refers to a major Canaanite deity probably named Moloch, in which case Abimelech means my father is Moloch - a reference to belief in semi-divine kings; or
  • MLK refers to a type of (probably human) sacrifice probably named Molk, so that Abimelech signifies my father is a sacrifice - a reference to Abimelech being pious.


Other people with this name

Apart from the kings of Gerar, the Bible also records this name for:
  • Abimelech (Judges)
    Abimelech (Judges)

    In the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible, Abimelech was a son of the great judge Gideon ; thus his name ??????????? / ??????????? can best be interpreted "my father, the king"....
    , proclaimed king after the death of his father Gideon .
  • The son of Abiathar
    Abiathar

    Abiathar , in the Bible, son of Achimelech or Ahijah, priest at Nob, the fourth in descent from Eli. The only one of the priests to escape from Saul's massacre, he fled to David at Keilah, taking with him the ephod ....
    , and high priest
    List of High Priests of Israel

    This page gives one list of the Kohen Gadols of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 Common Era. Because of a lack a historic data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps....
     in the time of David . In the parallel passage, , the name is given as Ahimelech
    Ahimelech

    File:Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David.jpgAhimelech , the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar , described erroneously in 2 Sam....
    ; most authorities consider this the more correct reading.
  • The king of Gath better known as Achish
    Achish

    Achish is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for two Philistines rulers of Gath . It may mean "angry," and is perhaps only a general title of royalty, applicable to the Philistine kings....
    , referred to as Abimelech or Achimelech in the title of .


See also

  • Ahimelech
    Ahimelech

    File:Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David.jpgAhimelech , the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar , described erroneously in 2 Sam....