Judges Chapter 1 verse 7 Holy Bible

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(7) Threescore and ten kings.--The number might seem incredible, were it not that the title "king" was freely given to every petty Emir, and even to village Sheykhs. The "seventy" kings may have been the rulers of the towns which Adoni-bezek had taken in extending the territory of Bezek. Josephus says seventy-two kings (Antt. v. 2, ? 2), and this common variation is found in some MSS. of the LXX. The Persians treated their Greek captives in this way (Curtius, v. 5,6). Mutilation in the East was so common that it was hardly accounted cruel (Xen. Anab. i. 9-13). Cutting off the hand or foot was the prescribed Mohammedan punishment for theft in British India (Mill, iii. 447), and many mutilated persons are still to be seen in Northern Scinde (see Grote's Greece, xii. 235).Gathered their meat under my table.--The words "their meat" are wanting in the original. Adoni-bezek, with cruel insolence, treated these subject Sheykhs like dogs "which eat of the fragments that fall from the table of their lords" (Matthew 15:27). Posidonius says that the king of Parthia used to fling food to his courtiers, who seized it like dogs (Athen. 4:152). The existence of these feuds among the Canaanites would render the task of the Israelites more easy.As I have done, so God hath requited me.--Comp. Judges 8:19; 1Samuel 15:33, "As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women;" Judges 15:11, "As they (the Philistines) did unto me, so have 1 (Samson) done unto them;" Jeremiah 51:56, "The Lord God of recompences shall surely requite thee;" Exodus 18:11, "For the thing wherein they sinned came upon them." (See Matthew 7:2; Galatians 6:7; James 2:13.) The word used for God is Elohim. In Greek theology this punishment of like by like is called "the retribution of Neoptolemus," who murdered Priam at an altar, and was himself murdered at an altar (Pausan. v. 17, 3). The fate of Phalaris, burnt in his own brazen bull (Ovid, De Art. Am. i. 653), and of Dionysius ('lian, Var. Hist. ix. 8), were also prominent illustrations of the law. We must not suppose that this Canaanite prince worshipped Jehovah, but only that he recognised generally that a Divine retribution had overtaken him. It is one of the commonest facts of history that . . . Parallel Commentaries ...HebrewThen Adoni-bezekבֶ֗זֶק (ḇe·zeq)Noun - proper - masculine singularStrong's 137: Adoni-bezek -- 'lord of Bezek', a ruler in Canaansaid,וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 559: To utter, say“Seventyשִׁבְעִ֣ים ׀ (šiḇ·‘îm)Number - common pluralStrong's 7657: Seventy (a cardinal number)kingsמְלָכִ֡ים (mə·lā·ḵîm)Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 4428: A kingwith their thumbsבְּֽהֹנוֹת֩ (bə·hō·nō·wṯ)Noun - masculine plural constructStrong's 931: The thumb of the hand, great toe of the footand big toesוְרַגְלֵיהֶ֜ם (wə·raḡ·lê·hem)Conjunctive waw | Noun - fdc | third person masculine pluralStrong's 7272: A foot, a step, the pudendacut offמְקֻצָּצִ֗ים (mə·quṣ·ṣā·ṣîm)Verb - Pual - Participle - masculine pluralStrong's 7112: To chop offhave gathered [the scraps]מְלַקְּטִים֙ (mə·laq·qə·ṭîm)Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine pluralStrong's 3950: To pick up, to gather, to gleanunderתַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)PrepositionStrong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu ofmy table.שֻׁלְחָנִ֔י (šul·ḥā·nî)Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singularStrong's 7979: A table, a mealAsכַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר (ka·’ă·šer)Preposition-k | Pronoun - relativeStrong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order thatI have done,עָשִׂ֔יתִי (‘ā·śî·ṯî)Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singularStrong's 6213: To do, makesoכֵּ֥ן (kên)AdverbStrong's 3651: So -- thusGodאֱלֹהִ֑ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlativehas repaidשִׁלַּם־ (šil·lam-)Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 7999: To be safe, to be, completed, to be friendly, to reciprocateme.”לִ֖י (lî)Preposition | first person common singularStrong's Hebrew And they brought himוַיְבִיאֻ֥הוּ (way·ḇî·’u·hū)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine singularStrong's 935: To come in, come, go in, goto Jerusalem,יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם (yə·rū·šā·lim)Noun - proper - feminine singularStrong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israelwhere he died.וַיָּ֥מָת (way·yā·māṯ)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 4191: To die, to killJump to PreviousAdonibezek Adoni-Bezek Big Cut Died Jerusalem Kings Meat Requited Seventy Table Ten Threescore Thumbs Toes