Adoni-zedek

From BibleWiki

Meaning: lord of justice or righteousness

Adoni-zedek was the king of Jerusalem at the time of the Israelite invasion of Palestine. He led a coalition of five neighboring Amorite rulers (himself, along with Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon) to resist the Israelites, but the allies were routed by Joshua in an assault on Gibeon. While being pursued along the road to Beth-horon, they suffered additional casualties from a great hail storm sent by the Lord, which killed more men than the battle had.

The five kings took refuge in a cave at Makkedah, where they were imprisoned by Joshua while the rest of their armies were utterly defeated by the Israelites. The kings were then released from the cave, humiliated, and put to death. Joshua 10:1-28

Tell El-Amarna Tablets

Among the Tell el-Amarna Tablets (see Egypt) are some very interesting letters from Adoni-zedek to the King of Egypt. These illustrate in a very remarkable manner the history recorded in Joshua Chapter 10, and indeed throw light on the wars of conquest generally, so that they may be read as a kind of commentary on the book of Joshua. Here the conquering career of the Abiri (i.e., Hebrews) is graphically described: "Behold, I say that the land of the king my lord is ruined", "The wars are mighty against me", "The Hebrew chiefs plunder all the king's lands", "Behold, I the chief of the Amorites am breaking to pieces." Then he implores the king of Egypt to send soldiers to help him, directing that the army should come by sea to Ascalon or Gaza, and thence march to Wru-sa-lim (Jerusalem) by the valley of Elah.

In Rabbinical Literature

According to the Midrash, the name Adoni-zedek means "Master of Zedek"—that is, "of Jerusalem," the city of righteousness (ẓedeḳ; Gen. R. xliii. 6).

Alternate spellings: Adoni-zedec, Adonizedek, Adonizedec, Adoni-Tzedek

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