Abimelech

A Biblical character who was the son of Gideon and who ruled in Shechem for three years after the death of his father. He is the first person mentioned in the Bible who committed suicide: he ordered his armour-bearer to kill him after he had been hit on the head by a stone thrown by a woman during a siege (Comay, 1995; Evans & Farberow, 2003; Feinsod, 1997; Galpaz-Feller, 2006; Gardner, 1998; Kastenbaum, 2003). The indignity of suicide was less than that of dying at the hands of a woman.

"Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died."

(Judges 9: 54, King James Bible)

The Death of Abimelech by Gustave Dore

References:

Comay, J. (1995). Who’s who in the Old Testament. London, England: Routledge.

Evans, G., & Farberow, N.L. (2003). The encyclopedia of suicide. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Feinsod, M. (1997). Three head injuries: the Biblical account of the deaths of Sisera, Abimelech and Goliath. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 6, 3, 320-324.

Galpaz-Feller, P. (2006). ‘Let my soul die with the Philistines’ (Judges 16.30). Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 30, 3, 315-325.

Gardner, P. (Ed.) (1998). The complete who’s who in the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Kastenbaum, R. (Ed.) (2003). Macmillan encyclopedia of death and dying. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA.