Abimelech means "my father is king" in Hebrew. This may be a metaphorical reference to God instead of literally a claim to the throne (but try explaining metaphor to a Christian...)

Apparently it was given as a personal name (see Judges 8:31) but there is some evidence that it could have been used as the title of all Philistine kings for a time.

One of the Bible's cruelest tricks on historians is the ancients' use of Pharaoh as the personal name for any Egyptian ruler mentioned, making it difficult to place some OT events in any reasonable timeline.

[edited for spelling]

[This message has been edited by smugg (edited February 16, 2001).]

[quote]
However, right off the bat I know that "Abimelech" means "My father is a king".
[quote]

Not so fast. Strong's Concordance indicates that what I said was equally (if not more) probable.
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Abimelech = "Melek is father" or "my father is king"
1) king of Gerar in Abraham's time
2) king of Gath in David's time; maybe title of Philistine kings
3) son of Gideon by a concubine
4) priest, son of Abiathar

http://www.bju.edu/bible/h/0.html#1

Omnedon1:

"Not so fast. Strong's Concordance indicates that what I said was equally (if not more) probable."

Which of your posts and points are you referring to? The one about the names? I'll have to look a little closer at that list. Many of those references seemed to be the same person, though I'm sure not all.

Anyway, I don't see a problem with Strong's Concordance, though I do take issue with your "Molech, a canaanite God". "Melek" is the Hebrew word for king.

I have to admit however, that the "Melek is father" thing I wonder about. I've seen this format before and it confuses me. This is reversed in ordering and ignores the suffix 'i'. I'll have a look at Weingreen's Hebrew Grammar.

I'm not going to argue strongly that it wasn't a personal name and possibly a "contradiction" (unless I later determine otherwise), I'm just saying that it could *easily* have been a title as well. If "My father is King", then "Abimelech" might also have been a king, right? Seems kind of silly to name yourself that unless it had some sort of truth behind it.

Ish


[This message has been edited by Ish (edited February 16, 2001).]

If you read all the Biblical accounts with the name Abimelech, you will find that 3 of them were kings. A 4th one held the office of High Priest in the reign of David and may have been the same as Ahimelech (or "My brother is king", yet another possible title), so the 4th Abimelech could possibly be Ahimelech. If the switch here wasn't intentional, it was an easy slip to change 1 letter (Beth to Heth). The 5th Abimelech (the one this post is originally about) is more than likely Achish. Easton's Bible Dictionary says: "Abimelech, my father a king, or father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as "Pharaoh" was of the Egyptian kings."

Ish


[This message has been edited by Ish (edited February 17, 2001).]

As an atheist, I am aware of the extreme irony of my given name: Joel. From the Hebrew, "there is a God!" Silly indeed, but I didn't pick it.

Not an argument, just anecdote.

Smugg/Joel:
"As an atheist, I am aware of the extreme irony of my given name: Joel. From the Hebrew, "there is a God!" Silly indeed, but I didn't pick it."

...and not just "There is *a* God" but "*Yahweh* is God".

Smugg, I'm sorry, I just had to chuckle a little at this...that an Atheist's name proclaims *the* Judeo-Christian God. Don't worry though, I don't think many will know *or* really care today.

Anyway, your point is well taken, but I still think Abimelech as well as Ahimelech could have been kingly/priestly titles.

Perhaps luckily, names are just names today and don't necessarily have the meaning they did back then.

Ish