Abimelech
אֲבִימֶ֫לֶךְStrong’s H0397avimelekh (a-vi-me-lekh)
Appears in 20 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Avimelekh is the Hebrew word usually translated “achish”. It appears in 20 verses of the Old Testament.
“And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.”
Meaning
- King of Gerar in Abraham's time
- King of Gath in David's time; maybe title of Philistine kings
- Son of Gideon by a concubine
- Priest, son of Abiathar
How it's translated
- achish 21
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- 1 Samuel 18
- 1 Kings 2
2 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- 1 Samuel 21:11And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
- 1 Samuel 21:12And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
- 1 Samuel 21:14Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
- 1 Samuel 27:2And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
- 1 Samuel 27:3And David dwelt 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 27:5And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
Hebrew dictionary
אֲבִימֶ֫לֶךְ avimelekh · Abimelech
A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.21.10; son of: Maoch (H4582); also called Abimelech (NIV: Abimelek) at Psa.34.1; Another name of a.khish (אָכִישׁ "Achish" H0397) § 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
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.