Ahimelech

“ Others reconcile the accounts thus: Ahimelech was called Ahimelech Abiathar, אב ab, father, understood; and Abiathar was called Abiathar Ahimelech, בן ben, son, understood. Probably they both officiated in the high priesthood; and the name of the office was indifferently applied to either.
Shew-bread - See [118] .
Verse 27
The Sabbath was made for man - That he might have the seventh part of his whole time to devote to the purposes of bodily rest and spiritual exercises. ”

“ But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. ”

“ Now when Abimelech heard of the strife, he came with Phicol, his chief captain, to seek Abraham, and to be reconciled with him. "God is with all that thou doest," said Abimelech; "He protected thee when Sodom was destroyed. He has given thee a son in thine old age. He rescued thy first-born when perishing in the desert. Swear to me, as I have offered thee my whole land, my own palace not excepted, in which to dwell, that thou wilt show equal love and liberality to my descendants to the third generation." ”

“ NOw therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet; and he will pray for thee and thou shalt live. But if thou restore not, be assured that thou and all belonging to thee shall die. And Abimelech arose early next morning and called all his servants and related all these things in their hearing. And all the men were exceedingly terrified. Then Abimelech sent for Abraham and said to him, Why hast thou dealt thus with us? Have we in any respect sinned against thee, that thou shouldst bring up on me and upon my kingdom this great sin? Thou hast done to me what no one should do. ”

“ III. The issue of all is that Abimelech being slain, 1. Israel's peace was restored, and an end was put to this civil war; for those that followed him departed every man to his place, v. 55. 2. God's justice was glorified (v. 56, 57) : Thus God punished the wickedness of Abimelech, and of the men of Shechem, and fulfilled Jotham's curse, for it was not a curse causeless. Thus he preserved the honour of his government, and gave warning to all ages to expect blood for blood. The Lord is known by the judgments which he executes, when the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. ”

“ And such was the calamity which fell upon the Shechemites; and men's grief on their account had been greater than it was, had they not brought so much mischief on a person who had so well deserved of them, and had they not themselves esteemed this as a punishment for the same.
5. Now Abimelech, when he had aftrighted the Israelites with the miseries he had brought upon the Shechemites, seemed openly to affect greater authority than he now had, and appeared to set no bounds to his violence, unless it were with the destruction of all. ”

“ People are coming down from middle [21] of the land, and another division is coming by way of the diviners' tree."
38And Zebul said to him, "Now where is that mouth of yours, that said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out and fight with him." 39 And Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from him, and many fell wounded as far as the entrance to the gate. 41 And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers from living in Shechem. ”

“ Abimelech reigns in his place, and has slain all the children of Gideon save myself. Israel has returned to Baal; its strength has departed; before long we shall be subdued under the Philistines. Excepting in our own house, there are none that have not gone a-whoring after Baal; the memory of the battle by the hill Moreh is clean forgotten; and soon the memory of my father will also disappear, and it will be as if he had never lived. To think that the vision of the angel in Ophrah and the night in the valley of Jezreel should end in nothing! ”

“ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord. ”

“ And he said to the people who were with him, Be quick and do as you have seen me do.
9:49 So all the people got branches, every man cutting down a branch, and they went with Abimelech at their head and, massing the branches against the inner room, put fire to the room over them; so all those who were in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, were burned to death with it.
9:50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and put his army in position against Thebez and took it. ”

“ Thus are the mighty things of the world often confounded by the weakest and those things that are most made light of. See here what rebukes those are justly put under many times by the divine providence that are unreasonable in their demands of satisfaction for injuries received. Abimelech had some reason to chastise the Shechemites, and he had done it with a witness; but when he will carry his revenges further, and nothing will serve but that Thebez also must be sacrificed to his rage, he is not only disappointed there, but destroyed; for verily there is a God that judges in the earth. ”

“ Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, "Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of thine hand?" ”

“ Chapter 20 Abraham sojourned in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimelech's house, but by God's commandment is restored untouched.
1 Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.
2 And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.
3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.
4 Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation that is ignorant and just? ”

“ Thou hast created man that he may increase and propagate his kind. Grant that Abimelech and his house may multiply and increase!" [200] God fulfilled Abraham's petition in behalf of Abimelech and his people, and it was the first time it happened in the history of mankind that God fulfilled the prayer of one human being for the benefit of another. [201] Abimelech and his subjects were healed of all their diseases, and so efficacious was the prayer offered by Abraham that the wife of Abimelech, barren hitherto, bore a child. ”

“ This prophet prophesied in the days of the reigns of five kings, that is to say Uziah, and Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah his son, and Manasseh the son of Hezekiah. And he prophesied to Ahaz, saying, “A virgin shall conceive, and she shall bear a son, and his name shall be called ‘Emanuel, the interpretation of which is, ‘God with us.’ And it shall come to pass that he shall teach the nations, and shall bring them into his kingdom and into his faith, and he shall destroy the altars of the Jews and their priests. ”

“ Verses 1-2Verses 1-2 Jdg 10:1-2Tola arose after Abimelech's death to deliver Israel, and judged Israel twenty-three years until his death, though certainly not all the Israelites of the twelve tribes, but only the northern and possibly also the eastern tribes, to the exclusion of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, as these southern tribes neither took part in Gideon's war of freedom nor stood under Abimelech's rule. ”

“ And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife.
26:9. And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.
26:10. And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. ”

“ Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Phichol, captain of his host, seeing Abraham a worshipper of the true God, made him swear by the object of his worship that there should be a lasting peace between them and him; for as they saw that God was with Abraham, they well knew that he could not expect the Divine blessing any longer than he walked in integrity before God; they therefore require him to swear by God that he would not deal falsely with them or their posterity. ”

“ Toward evening, before retiring, while he was still seated upon his throne, Abimelech fell into a sleep, and he slept until the morning, and in the dream he dreamed he saw an angel of the Lord raising his sword to deal him a death blow. Sore frightened, he asked the cause, and the angel replied, and said: "Thou wilt die on account of the woman thou didst take into thy house this day, for she is the wife of Abraham, the man whom thou didst cite before thee. Return his wife unto him! But if thou restore her not, thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine." ”

“ The jealous men of Ephraim, who sought to foment dissension among the seventy sons and grandsons of Gideon, found in Abimelech, one of his sons, an unscrupulous ally. This Abimelech, being the son of a woman of Shechem, was elected by the Shechemites to be their leader. His first act was to put his brothers to death. Only Jotham, the youngest of them, escaped. On Mount Gerizim, Jotham pronounced his trenchant parable of the trees, who, in their search of a ruler, met with refusals from the fruitful olive, fig, and vine trees. ”

“ The Amalekites were the implacable and hereditary enemies of the Israelites, and had displayed the greatest cruelty towards them during their wanderings in the desert, and on their entry into the Holy Land. These enemies often joined other nations in order to crush the Israelites. The Amalekite king Agag appears to have caused great trouble to the tribe of Judah in the days of Saul. ”

“ He utters before God all his thoughts and cares in this matter; for God gives us leave to be free with him. 1. "Lord, the people have made me their head; wilt thou confirm the choice, and own me as thy people's head under thee and for thee?" God justly complains of Israel (Hos. viii. 4) , they have set up kings, but not by me. "Lord," said Jephthah, "I will be no head of their making without thee. I will not accept the government unless thou give me leave." Had Abimelech done this, he might have prospered. ”

“ Gaal aimed not to recover Shechem's liberty, only to change their tyrant: " O that this people were under my hand! What I would do! I would challenge Abimelech to try titles for the crown;" and it should seem he desired his friends to send him word that he was ready to dispute it with him whenever he pleased: " Increase thy army, and come out. Do thy worst; let the point be determined by the sword." This pleased the Shechemites, who were now as sick of Abimelech as ever they had been fond of him. Men of no conscience will be men of no constancy. ”