Achish
Also called Abimelech
Mentioned 1061–1010 BC traditional (Jones)
The king with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in the superscription of Ps. 34.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of the Kingdom, 1050–587 BC.
- Named in the same verses as David, Saul, Maachah, Shimei, Abigail, Ahinoam, and Nabal.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Places
Places named in the same verses as Achish, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1086–985 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 4 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
Begat counts Achish in 20 tagged verses across 2 books.
Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Achish 19Abimelech 68 |
| KJV | Achish 21Abimelech 67 |
| ASV | Achish 21Abimelech 67 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 20 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
1 Samuel18 verses
- 21:10
That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.
- 21:11
But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
- 21:12
Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
- 21:14
Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me?
- 27:2
So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
- 27:3
David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
- 27:5
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
- 27:6
That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.
- 27:9
Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,
- 27:10
who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”
- 27:12
So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
- 28:1
Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”
- 28:2
David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.” “Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
- 29:2
As the Philistine leaders marched out with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched behind them with Achish.
- 29:3
Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”
- 29:6
So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.
- 29:8
“But what have I done?” David replied. “What have you found against your servant, from the day I came to you until today, to keep me from going along to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
- 29:9
Achish replied, “I know that you are as pleasing in my sight as an angel of God. But the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
The king with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in the superscription of Ps. 34. It was probably this same king to whom David a second time repaired at the head of a band of 600 warriors, and who assigned him Ziklag, whence he carried on war against the surrounding tribes (1 Sam. 27:5-12). Achish had great confidence in the valour and fidelity of David (1 Sam. 28:1, 2), but at the instigation of his courtiers did not permit him to go up to battle along with the Philistine hosts (1 Sam. 29:2-11). David remained with Achish a year and four months.