Adoni-Besek was a Canaanite ruler in the city of Bezek mentioned at the beginning of Judges. After Joshua's death, the Israelites sought the Lord's guidance on who should lead the fight against the Canaanites, and Judah was chosen. Together with the tribe of Simeon, they defeated Adoni-Besek in a battle at Bezek. This ruler was notorious for his brutal treatment of his enemies – he had ordered seventy defeated kings to have their thumbs and big toes cut off and forced them to gather food scraps under his table. After his defeat, Adoni-Besek himself suffered the same mutilation. His acknowledgment is remarkable: "Seventy kings with cut-off thumbs and big toes gathered food under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." These words show that even a pagan ruler could recognize the true God's just retribution. Adoni-Besek was then taken to Jerusalem, where he died. The story opens Judges and establishes a central theme in the book: God's sovereign control of history and his righteous judgment over the wickedness of the Canaanites.
Nyckelhändelser
Judah and Simeon's campaign against Bezek
After Joshua's death, the Israelites sought the Lord's will on who should go up first against the Canaanites. The Lord appointed Judah, who allied with his brother Simeon. Together they attacked the city of Bezek and defeated an army of ten thousand men.
3Then Judah said to his brother Simeon, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, and let us fight the Canaanites together; then I will go with you into your territory." So Simeon went with him.
The tribes of Judah and Simeon met Adoni-Besek in Bezek and fought against him and his forces of Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Besek fled from the battlefield but was pursued and taken captive.
The Israelites cut off the thumbs and big toes of Adoni-Besek—the same treatment he had inflicted on his defeated enemies. Adoni-Besek openly acknowledged that God had repaid him justly, admitting that seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off had gathered food under his table.
7Then Adoni-bezek said, "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." They brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
7Then Adoni-bezek said, "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." They brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.