This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Heffelfinger, K. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

`My Father is King': Chiefly Politics and the Rise and Fall of Abimelech *

1200 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, USA

This study argues that the `complex secondary chieftainship' model recently articulated by Robert D. Miller offers explanatory power for understanding several inconsistencies in the Abimelech narrative of Judges 8 and 9. The `complex secondary chieftainship' model is briefly sketched and applied to four logical gaps in Abimelech's story. These gaps are (1) the contradiction between Gideon's refusal of hereditary kingship and the assumption by all of the characters that one of Gideon's sons would rule after him, (2) the appeal Abimelech makes to the best interests of the lords of Shechem, (3) the story's treatment of the raiding done by the lords of Shechem as a personal offense against Abimelech, and (4) the reason for Abimelech's unmotivated attack on Thebez.

Key Words: Abimelech • complex secondary chieftainship • hierarchy • tribute mobilization • sub-chiefs • kinship.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Vol. 33, No. 3, 277-292 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0309089209102497


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?