ADONIS (a-clo'nis). See Tammuz.
ad-o'nee-zee'deb ; Sept.' AScoviP(E'Asc, ah-doh-nee-bee zek', confounding him with Adonihezek). The mime denotes lord of justice, i.e.,fiest lord, king of Zedek.
(1) Canaanitish King. He was the Canaan itish king of Jerusalem when the Israelites in. vaded Palestine, and the similarity of the name to that of a more ancient king of (as is supposed) the same place, Melchi-zedek (king of justice, or king of Zedek), has suggested that Zedek was one of the ancient names of Jerusalem. Be that as it may, this Adonizedek was the first of the native princes that attempted to make head against the invaders.
(2) Confederacy. After Jericho and Ai were taken, and the Gibeonites had succeeded in form ing a treaty with the Israelites, Adonizedek was the first to rouse himself from the stupor which had fallen on the Canaanites (Josh. x :1-5), and he induced the other Amoritish kings of Hebron —Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—to join him in a confederacy against the enemy. They did not, however, march directly against the invaders, but went and besieged the Gibeonites, to punish them for the discouraging example which their seces sion from the common cause had afforded. Joshua no sooner heard of this than he marched all night from Gilgal to the relief of his allies, and falling unexpectedly upon the besiegers, soon put them to utter rout.
(3) The Five Kings. The pursuit was long, and was signalized by Joshua's famous command to the sun and moon, as well as by a tremendous hailstorm, which greatly distressed the fugitive Amorites. (See Josnuw.) The five kings took
refuge in a cave, but were observed, and by Joshua's order the mouth of it was closed with large stones and a guard set over it until the pursuit was over. When the pursuers returned the cave was opened and the five kings brought out. The Hebrew chiefs then set their feet upon the necks of the prostrate monarchs—an ancient mark of triumph, of which the monuments of Persia and Egypt still afford illustrations. They were then slain, and their bodies hung on trees until the evening, when, as the law forbade a longer exposure of the dead (Deut. xxi :23), they were taken down and cast into the cave, the month of which was filled up with large stones, which remained long after (Josh. x :1-27). The severe treatment of these kings by Joshua has been censured and defended with equal disregard of the real circumstances, which are, that the war was avowedly one of extermination, no quar ter being given or expected on either side, and that the war usages of the Jews were neither worse nor better than those of the people with whom they fought, who would most certainly have treated Joshua and the other Hebrew chiefs in the same manner had they fallen into their hands.