Adoni-Bezek, ( ''’Ăḏōnî-Ḇezeq'', "lord of Bezek"), also written Adonibezek or Adoni Bezek, was a

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

ite

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

referred to in the

Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom i ...

( ). Previous to the occupation of Canaan by the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

, he had subdued seventy of the kings of cities around him. The tribes of Judah and

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated as Shimon. In Greek it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Symeon. Meaning The name is derived from Simeon, son ...

attacked the Canaanites and the

Perizzites The Perizzites ( ''Pərīzzī'') are a group of people mentioned many times in the Bible as having lived in the land of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites. The name may be related to a Hebrew term meaning "rural person."For the etymology, ...

at Bezek and defeated him. The historical reality of events described in the book of Judges is the subject of ongoing dispute among scholars, who vary in their opinions about how much of the book is historical.

Bezek

Some scholars propose that Bezek was near

Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (eithe ...

. Others suggest that the place is to be identified with Khirbet Ibzik or the nearby

Khirbet Salhab Salhab ( ar, سلحب, also known as Khirbet Salhab) is a small Palestinians, Palestinian village in the Tubas Governorate in the northeastern West Bank, located four kilometers north of Tubas (city), Tubas. According to the Palestinian Central Bu ...

, while others think that "Bezek" is a corruption of "Zedek," in reference to the story of

Adonizedek According to the Book of Joshua, Adonizedek ( ''ʾĂḏōnī-ṣeḏeq'', also transliterated Adoni-zedec) was king of Jerusalem at the time of the Israelite invasion of Canaan. According to Cheyne and Black, the name originally meant "Ṣedeḳ ...

. Bezek appears again in as the site where

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

assembled the Israelite armies to fight against Nahash the Ammonite.

Mutilation

Adoni-Bezek, according to Judges, had removed the large toes and thumbs of kings he subjugated to render them harmless as warriors, presumably so they could no longer wield weapons or run. After

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

had died, the tribes of Judah and Simeon continued the Israelite conquest of Canaan by leading an army against this Canaanite king. Employing the biblical law of "

eye for an eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

" they apparently did the same to Adoni-Bezek before sending him to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as a slave. Adoni-Bezek is recorded as saying "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." According to Elicott's Commentary for English readers, "The cutting off of his thumbs would prevent him from ever again drawing a bow or wielding a sword. Romans who desired to escape conscription cut off their thumbs".

Later life

According to the Book of Judges, he confessed that

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

had requited him for his cruelty to the seventy kings whom he had subdued. Otherwise, nothing is known of his life after his

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...

Comparison with Adonizedek

According to Coggins he is probably the same person as

mentioned in Joshua 10 who flourished c. 1200 BC. While some scholars think that the story of Adoni-bezek is a variation on the story of Adonizedek, James Martin argues that the stories are "so dissimilar" that the Adoni-Bezek narrative is most likely not "simply a variant" of the Adonizedek narrative. According to Joshua 10, Adonizedek was captured after taking refuge with four other rulers in a cave, and put to death in the course of Joshua's campaign in Canaan. Adonibezek, on the other hand, was captured, in a campaign following Joshua's death, in his own city (Judges 1). His name is missing in the list of thirty-one city kings in

12:9-24, although he had subjugated seventy other kings in the Judges account. It has been argued that the latter figure may not be literally true: ''The Temple Dictionary of the Bible'' (1910) stated: '"This 0is a round number, meaning 'many'".

References

{{reflist

External links

''Jewish Encyclopedia'':
Adoni-Bezek

Adonibezek Book of Judges Canaanite people Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible