AdonizedekAdonizedek (variously transliterated as Adoni-zedec or Adoni-Zedek (in Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Adoni-Tzedek) was, according to the Book of Joshua

Book of Joshua

The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....

, king of Jerusalem at the time of the Israelite

Israelite

According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...

 invasion of Canaan

Canaan

Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...

 . His name means "my lord is righteousness" in Hebrew.

Adonizedek led a coalition of five of the neighboring Amorite

Amorite

Amorite refers to an ancient Semitic people who occupied large parts of Mesopotamia from the 21st Century BC...

 rulers (Hoham king of Hebron

Hebron

Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

, and unto Piram

Piram

Piram is the name given in the Book of Joshua for the king of Jarmut, a city in the region of Canaan....

 king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish

Lachish

Lachish was an ancient Near East town located at the site of modern Tell ed-Duweir in the Shephelah, a region between Mount Hebron and the maritime plain of Philistia . The town was first mentioned in the Amarna letters as Lakisha-Lakiša...

, and unto Debir

Debir

A Biblical word, debir may refer to:noun* The debir , the inner-most part of the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple.Personal name...

 king of Eglon

Eglon

Eglon may refer to:*Eglon, Canaan, a Biblical city*Eglon , a Biblical king*Eglon, West Virginia, a community in the U.S. state of West Virginia*Eglon, Washington, a community in the U.S. state of Washington on the Kitsap Peninsula...

) to resist the invasion, but the allies were defeated at Gibeon, and suffered at Beth-horon

Beth-horon

Bethoron was the name for two adjacent towns, Bethoron Elyon , and Bethoron Tahton , named for the Egypto-Canaanite deity Horon mentioned in Ugaritic literature and other texts...

, not only from their pursuers, but also from a great hail-storm. The five allied kings took refuge in a cave at Makkedah and were imprisoned there until after the battle, when Joshua commanded that they be brought before him; whereupon they were brought out, humiliated, and put to death.

According to the Midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

, the name Adoni-zedek is translated as "Master of Zedek" — that is, "of Jerusalem," the city of righteousness (Genesis Rabbah xliii. 6).

Identification with Abdi-Heba

Abdi-Heba

Abdi-Heba was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period . Abdi-Heba's name can be translated as "servant of Hebat", a Hurrian goddess. Some scholars believe the correct reading is Ebed-Nob...

The author of the article for the Easton's Bible Dictionary states that amongst the Amarna letters

Amarna letters

The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...

 are some letters from Adonizedek to the Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, which add to the history recorded in Josh. 10. However, the only king of Jerusalem mentioned in this archive is one `Abdi-Heba (whose name translates as "servant of Heba"), who is said to have succeeded Lab'ayu. Six of his letters to the king of Egypt (EA 285-290) are included in the Amarna letters

Amarna letters

The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...

, and he is mentioned in a seventh (EA 280). Perhaps the Dictionary author saw how `Abdi-Heba complained of the raids by the Habiru

Habiru

Habiru or Apiru or ˁpr.w was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources to a group of people living as nomadic invaders in areas of the Fertile Crescent from Northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan...

, who at the time were unquestioningly identified with the Hebrews

Hebrews

Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...

, and forced the identification.