Adoni-zedec (Hebrew: lord of justice or righteousness) was king in
Jerusalem at the
time when the
Israelites invaded
Canaan (Josh. 10:1,3). He
formed a confederacy with the other
Canaanitish[?] kings against
the Israelites, but was utterly routed by
Joshua when he was
engaged in besieging the
Gibeonites[?]. The history of this victory
and of the treatment of the five confederated kings is recorded
in Josh. 10:1-27. (Comp. Deut. 21:23). Among the
Tell Amarna[?]
tablets are some very interesting letters
from Adoni-zedec to the
King of
Egypt. These illustrate in a
very remarkable manner the history recorded in Josh. 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[?].
Originally from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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