H0139 H0139
Adoni-zedek (personal name: 'my lord is righteous' or 'my lord is Zedek')
The Canaanite king of Jerusalem who organized a coalition of five Amorite kings against Israel (Joshua 10:1, 3). His name means either 'my lord is righteous' or invokes the deity Zedek. He mirrors Melchizedek ('my king is righteous/Zedek'), an earlier king-priest of Jerusalem. When Adoni-zedek heard that Joshua had conquered Jericho and Ai, and that Gibeon had made peace with Israel, he rallied neighboring kings to attack Gibeon—triggering the battle where the sun stood still.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Adoni-zedek appears exclusively in Joshua 10's account of the southern coalition. His name pairs with Melchizedek's, both ruling Jerusalem centuries apart, both invoking 'Zedek' (either as divine name or attribute). Phoenician inscriptions preserve similar constructions (Adonibaal = 'my lord is Baal'). Adoni-zedek's strategic response to Gibeon's defection shows political savvy—he recognized that Joshua's advance threatened to split the Canaanite city-states. His defeat and the hanging of the five kings became a defining moment in Israel's conquest of the southern hill country. 2×
AR["أَدوني-صادَقَ", "أَدوني-صادَقُ"]·ben["আদোনী-সেদক"]·DE["Adoni-Tsedek"]·EN["Adoni-Tsedek"]·FR["Adoni-Tsedek"]·heb["אדוני-צדק"]·HI["अदोनी-सेदेक-ने"]·ID["Adoni-Zedek"]·IT["Adoni-Tsedek"]·jav["Adoni-Zedek"]·KO["아도니-세덱이"]·PT["'Adoni-Tsedeq"]·RU["Адони-Цедек"]·ES["Adoni-Sédec"]·SW["Adoni-Sedeki"]·TR["Adoni-Tsedek"]·urd["ادونی-صدق-نے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֲדֹנִי־צֶ֫דֶק n.pr.m. Canaan. king of Jerusalem Jos 10:1, 3 (Lord of righteousness; my Lord is righteous, or my Lord is Ṣidiq—divine name—cf. מַלְכִּי צֶדֶק, אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ, Ph. אדנבעל etc.)