1. Judges 9:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the threefold recurrence of the root for “king” emphasize?

Judges 9:6 (ESV)

6 And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

Literally, it says, “And they kinged My-Father-Is-King as king.” This emphasizes Abimelech’s infatuation with kingship. So Abimelech becomes an anti-judge prompted only by self-interest and designs on the monarchy. He is not called or appointed by God, and deity is marked in this narrative by his near-total absence.1