seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Judges 1: After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”
3 The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites went with them.
4 When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
2 The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”
3 The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites went with them.
4 When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
The commentary this morning is from gotquestions.org.
Adoni-Bezek is a name meaning “lord of Bezek” and is mentioned in Judges 1:5–7: “It was there that [the men of Judah] found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then Adoni-Bezek said, ‘Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.’ They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.”
This violent ruler was defeated by the tribe of Judah, with Simeon’s help. Adoni-Bezek’s captors cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then he was taken as a prisoner to Jerusalem where he later died. God did not specifically command the maiming of the lord of Bezek, yet the king himself confessed that the act was just, based on his treatment of other rulers.
The town of Bezek is today called Khirbet Ibziq, a village north of Tubass in the West Bank (see 1 Samuel 11:8). The facts that Adoni-Bezek oversaw 10,000 soldiers and that he had tortured 70 kings indicates that he was very powerful. Bezek, meaning “lightning,” may have had a connection with the worship of the Canaanite storm god, Baal, whose images typically depicted him holding a lightning bolt.
This violent ruler was defeated by the tribe of Judah, with Simeon’s help. Adoni-Bezek’s captors cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then he was taken as a prisoner to Jerusalem where he later died. God did not specifically command the maiming of the lord of Bezek, yet the king himself confessed that the act was just, based on his treatment of other rulers.
The town of Bezek is today called Khirbet Ibziq, a village north of Tubass in the West Bank (see 1 Samuel 11:8). The facts that Adoni-Bezek oversaw 10,000 soldiers and that he had tortured 70 kings indicates that he was very powerful. Bezek, meaning “lightning,” may have had a connection with the worship of the Canaanite storm god, Baal, whose images typically depicted him holding a lightning bolt.
This is from the blueletterbible.org site.
Their punishment of him may seem cruel, but realize that it is justice in its truest sense - he had done this same thing to seventy kings, now he has his own toes and fingers cut off.
The punishment made Adoni-Bezek worthless as a warrior; he could trouble Israel no more as a military man. "It was a custom among those Romans who did not like a military life, to cut off their own thumbs, that they might not be called into the army. Sometimes the parents cut off the thumbs of their children, that they might not be called into the army."
We also see Judah and Simeon being unselfish; they are fighting a battle in a territory that did not directly belong to them. The city of Bezek was far to the north of Judah's tribal lands.
The punishment made Adoni-Bezek worthless as a warrior; he could trouble Israel no more as a military man. "It was a custom among those Romans who did not like a military life, to cut off their own thumbs, that they might not be called into the army. Sometimes the parents cut off the thumbs of their children, that they might not be called into the army."
We also see Judah and Simeon being unselfish; they are fighting a battle in a territory that did not directly belong to them. The city of Bezek was far to the north of Judah's tribal lands.
So did anyone notice? We finished Joshua. After trudging through Leviticus and Deuteronomy for months... Joshua just flew by!
Already, in Judges, we're gruesome.... cutting off thumbs and big toes ..... in Joshua they would have hung old Adoni-Bezek on a pole....
I am going to enjoy this book. It started with humans being humans!
