ADONIBEZEK (Hebrew “lord of Bezeq”: a dynastic title rather than a proper name). — A Canaanite king of Bezeq, a city identified by some with modern Bezkah southeast of Lydda, by others with the Bezeq of Saul (1 Sam 11:8), perhaps Khirbet Ibziq between Neapolis and Beth-shean. After defeating all the chiefs of the neighboring clans, Adonibezek boasted that he had made seventy princes his slaves, cutting off the thumbs and big toes of each. When the allied tribes of Judah and Simeon attacked him, he was defeated and taken captive. The mutilation he had inflicted on the defeated princes was in turn inflicted on him. Brought to Jerusalem, he died acknowledging in his misfortune the just punishment of God (Judg 1:4–7).
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