2 others in the registry answer to the name Abimelech. Every Abimelech in the Bible
person
Abimelech
אֲבִימֶ֫לֶךְ
Abimelech was a Philistine king who had dealings with both Abraham and Isaac, involving incidents where the patriarchs claimed their wives were their sisters.
- verses
- 23
- first named
- Genesis 20:2
- last named
- Genesis 26:26
- period
- the Patriarchs
- tribe
- Canaan
Description
Who was Abimelech?
Abimelech was a Philistine king who ruled in the region of Gerar. He is mentioned in several incidents involving the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac. In Genesis 20, Abraham moved to Gerar and, out of fear, claimed that his wife Sarah was his sister. Abimelech took Sarah into his household, but God warned him in a dream that she was Abraham's wife. Abimelech, who had not touched Sarah, pleaded his innocence, and God acknowledged that he had acted in integrity. Abimelech then restored Sarah to Abraham, along with gifts of livestock and servants, and allowed Abraham to settle in his land (Gen.20.1-18).
Later, in Genesis 21, Abimelech and his commander Phicol made a treaty with Abraham at Beersheba, recognizing Abraham's right to a well he had dug (Gen.21.22-34).
In Genesis 26, Isaac, like his father, claimed that his wife Rebekah was his sister while living in Gerar. Abimelech discovered the truth when he saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. He rebuked Isaac for the deception, fearing that one of his people might have slept with Rebekah and brought guilt upon them. Abimelech warned his people not to touch Isaac or Rebekah under penalty of death (Gen.26.1-11).
Despite these incidents, Abimelech recognized the blessing of God upon Abraham and Isaac. He sought peace with them, and they made treaties together (Gen.21.22-34; 26.26-33). The interactions between Abimelech and the patriarchs highlight the challenges and tensions that existed between the people of God and the surrounding nations, as well as God's faithfulness in protecting and blessing His chosen people.
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 11 are drawn. All 11 are listed below.
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.
The pattern
Where Abimelech is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
23 verses across 1 of 66 books; 65 write the name nowhere. Named in Genesis (23).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 23, across 1 book. The name is written 24 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Nothing in the graph stands one hop from this entity yet. These are the best-connected entities of the same type, so the page still ends somewhere. 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.
- Genesis 20Abimelech took Sarah, received a warning in a dream, returned her, reproved Abraham, and gave him gifts and freedom to settle.
- Genesis 21Abimelech asked Abraham for an oath, answered his complaint about the well, and made a covenant with him.
- Genesis 26Abimelech discovered Isaac’s deception, protected him and Rebekah, sent him away for being too powerful, and later returned to make an oath of peace.
Sources