Hebrew word · H137

אֲדֹנִי־בֶ֫זֶק

'adoni-

Adoni-bezek

A title used as a name: "Lord of Bezek". ʾAdon means lord or master. The -î ending is probably an old linking vowel ("lord of") rather than the possessive "my". Compare Adoni-zedek, "lord of righteousness" or "my lord is Zedek", king of Jerusalem in Joshua 10:1.

Appears 6 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Jdg.1.5

§ Adoni-Bezek = "my lord is Besek"

king of the Canaanite city of Bezek, killed by Israelites

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Judges 1:6

Range of meaning

A title used as a name: "Lord of Bezek". ʾAdon means lord or master. The -î ending is probably an old linking vowel ("lord of") rather than the possessive "my". Compare Adoni-zedek, "lord of righteousness" or "my lord is Zedek", king of Jerusalem in Joshua 10:1.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it as "Adoni-bezek", so the reader never learns that the name is a ruler's title. To Hebrew ears it described what he was: a petty lord of a single town.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Judges 1:5–7. In the Septuagint (Greek) of Joshua 10:1 and 10:3, the king of Jerusalem called Adoni-zedek in the Hebrew is named "Adonibezek". That has led many scholars to link the two figures (see Debates).

Where it appears

Judges · 6

  1. Judges 1:5 אֲדֹנִ֥י בֶ֙זֶק֙ Adoni-, Bezek

    And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

  2. Judges 1:6 אֲדֹ֣נִי בֶ֔זֶק Adoni-, Bezek

    As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

    Here: This is the first half of a title-name, "Lord of Bezek". The -î ending here probably works as an old way of joining two nouns ("lord of") rather than as "my lord". The name labels him as ruler of a town.

  3. Judges 1:7 אֲדֹֽנִי־ בֶ֗זֶק Adoni-, Bezek

    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.

    Here: First half of the name/title 'Adoni-bezek', 'lord of Bezek'. It may be a title more than a personal name: 'the lord of Bezek', the ruler of that town.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.