King living before Israel's Monarchy
Adoni-bezek was a Canaanite king who was defeated by the men of Judah, and had his thumbs and big toes cut off as he had done to seventy other kings.
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Adoni-bezek was a Canaanite king mentioned in Jdg.1.5-7. He ruled over the city of Bezek, which was located in the territory allocated to the tribe of Judah after the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
According to the account in Judges, the men of Judah and Simeon fought against Adoni-bezek and defeated him. During the battle, Adoni-bezek fled, but he was pursued, caught, and captured by the Israelites.
As punishment for his cruelty, the Israelites cut off Adoni-bezek's thumbs and big toes. This was an act of retribution, as Adoni-bezek himself confessed that he had done the same to seventy other kings who had gathered scraps under his table. The seventy kings Adoni-bezek mutilated likely represented the extent of his power and dominion over the surrounding areas.
Adoni-bezek acknowledged the justice of his punishment, stating, "As I have done, so God has repaid me" (Jdg.1.7). This statement reflects the biblical principle of reaping what one sows and the concept of divine retribution for evil deeds.
After his capture and mutilation, Adoni-bezek was brought to Jerusalem, where he died. The defeat of Adoni-bezek was part of the larger conquest of Canaan by the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua and the subsequent judges.
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the lightning of the Lord; the Lord of lightning
ADON'I-BE'ZEK. Jud 1:5. Lord or king of Bezek, a city of the Canaanites. See Bezek. His name was a title, not a proper name. He fled from the armies of Judah, but was caught and his thumbs and great toes cut off, so that he could neither fight nor flee. He was then carried to Jerusalem, where he died. He seems to have regarded the maiming he suffered as a just requital of his own cruelty, he having mutilated seventy kings or chieftains in the same inhuman manner.
ADON'I-BE'ZEK. Jud 1:5. Lord or king of Bezek, a city of the Canaanites. See Bezek. His name was a title, not a proper name. He fled from the armies of Judah, but was caught and his thumbs and great toes cut off, so that he could neither fight nor flee. He was then carried to Jerusalem, where he died. He seems to have regarded the maiming he suffered as a just requital of his own cruelty, he having mutilated seventy kings or chieftains in the same inhuman manner.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0137
And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.
As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.