And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
And Adoni-bezek said, 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps of food 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 verse shows a defeated king recognizing that God gave him the same cruel punishment he had given to others - divine justice in action.
📚 Historical Context
In the time of the Judges, after Joshua's death, the Israelites were engaged in conquering the land of Canaan as part of God's promise to give it to them. Adonibezek, a Canaanite king, had previously captured and mutilated seventy other kings by cutting off their thumbs and big toes, a brutal practice that left them disabled and dependent, symbolizing his dominance. When the Israelites defeated him in battle, they subjected him to the same treatment, and he acknowledged it as divine justice before his death in Jerusalem.
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