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

Abstract

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.