Bible Person

Abimelech

Meaning: father of the king · Male · 24 cross references

This Abimelech entry refers to the Philistine or Gerarite ruler who appears in the Abraham and Isaac narratives. He is the foreign king drawn into the patriarchal story when the covenant family brings both blessing and danger into his territory through deception and divine intervention. First appears in Gen 20:2.1

AI summary: This Abimelech matters because he appears at the boundary between the covenant household and surrounding political powers. The cross references present him as the king who takes Sarah under false assumptions, is warned directly by God, restores her to Abraham, and later appears again in relation to Isaac and the tensions over wells, land, and peaceful coexistence. He is not portrayed as the covenant bearer, but neither is he a flat villain. Taken together, the material presents this Abimelech as a foreign ruler whose encounters with Abraham and Isaac reveal how God's protection, moral accountability, and the patriarchal promise extend beyond the immediate family circle.1

Central Figure

Abimelech

Meaning: father of the king