When Samuel, the last judge of Israel, was very old, the people told him to appoint a king over them since his sons weren’t worthy enough to be judges.

They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

1 Samuel 8:5 (NIV)

Subsequently, Saul is made king of Israel. 

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

1 Samuel 10:24 (NIV)

However, was Saul really the first king of Israel? 

Consider these verses from Judges 9.

Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.

Judges 9:6 (NIV)

“Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves?

Judges 9:16 (NIV)

Judges 9 tells us that the first king in Israel was Abimelek. Yet we are told, “In those days Israel had no king” (Judges 18:1, 19:1). Furthermore, Judges ends with this insight.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

Judges 21:25 (NIV)

When Abimelek was made a king, he was only king over Shechem and Beth Millo, which is what Judges 9:6 tells us. Therefore, Abimelek, though he may have been given a crown and was called a “king,” was only a king over a few people and not all of Israel. 

Was Abimelek a judge in Israel, as some say? 

What does the text tell us about the “process” of becoming a judge?

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them (emphasis added).

Judges 2:18 (NIV)

The Lord appointed someone to be a judge over Israel, and He was with the judge, who saved Israel from their enemies. However, what was God’s stance toward Abimelek?

After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.

Judges 9:22-24 (NIV)

Although Abimelek was said to have “governed Israel three years,” he wasn’t appointed as a judge over Israel by the Lord, and he wasn’t appointed a king over Israel. Instead, Abimelek took it upon himself to establish himself as a ruler. 

Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.”

Judges 9:1-2 (NIV)

Therefore, the first king of Israel was Saul, not Abimelek. Furthermore, we can see that Abimelek was never considered a judge of Israel. Instead, Abimelek was an opportunist who sought only glory for himself and cared little about Israel’s well-being. Indeed, instead of delivering Israel from its enemies, Abimelek was one of those enemies.