Judges 1:7 Meaning and Explanation
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Adonibezek confesses that God has repaid him exactly as he had treated seventy maimed kings, and he dies at Jerusalem.
What Does Judges 1:7 Mean?
The captured king speaks, and his words give the chapter one of its clearest moral lessons. He had mutilated seventy kings and reduced them to scavenging scraps beneath his table. Now, maimed in the same way, he acknowledges that God has requited him measure for measure. He is brought to Jerusalem and dies there.
Out of a pagan king's own mouth comes the confession that there is a God who judges the proud and repays cruelty in kind. What a man sows, he reaps; the violence he poured out returns to him. Yet the verse also leaves room for sober reflection rather than gloating, for it shows that none escape accountability before the Lord of all the earth. The reader is left to weigh his own deeds before such a God.
Judges 1:7 in the Original Language
shalem (שָׁלֵם), 'requited' -- to repay or make complete, here the just returning of a deed upon its doer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Judges 1:7
What does Judges 1:7 mean?
Adonibezek confesses that God has repaid him exactly as he had treated seventy maimed kings, and he dies at Jerusalem.