They came upon Adoni-bezek at Bezek: The narrator now focuses on one individual, Adoni-bezek, who represents the combined forces of the Canaanites and Perizzites. The previous verse seems to give a summary of what happened, while this one focuses on some details of that fight. Thus instead of rendering the Hebrew waw conjunction at the beginning of this verse as a sequential “Then,” we might say “At that time.”

The pronoun They may refer to the warriors of both Judah and Simeon, but the last reference in the text is to Judah. While some versions translate in a way that refers to both tribes (see Good News Translation), the last full referent is Judah (verse 1.4). The Hebrew verb rendered came upon is literally “found,” which New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates as “encountered.” The text does not say whether this was a chance discovery or the result of a search. Contemporary English Version proposes “Judah’s army found out where the king of Bezek was.” If a more specific verb cannot be found, we might say “They saw….”

Adoni-bezek means literally “lord of Bezek,” so it is clear that he is the leader of the group of people living in the area where the battle took place. The Hebrew word for “lord” (ʾadoni) is the same word, though not the same form, used to refer to God as “Lord.” Adoni-bezek is obviously a compound word, and it is hard to know if this is his personal name, as Revised Standard Version seems to imply, or whether it is his title, “lord of Bezek.” While at least one French version (La Bible de Jérusalem [Bible de Jérusalem]) proposes a slight variant (“Adoni-zedek”), most versions retain Adoni-bezek, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an {A} rating. Contemporary English Version calls this person the “king of Bezek” here. The repetitive Adoni-bezek at Bezek may convey irony or mockery of this king. Some versions have chosen to avoid the repetition by linking this verse back to the previous one, beginning with “In that city they came upon….”

And fought against him: Fought renders the same Hebrew verb translated “fight” in verse 1.1, appearing so frequently in this book (verse 1.1, 3, 8, 9; verse 5.19; and so on). The pronoun him refers to the leader of Bezek. When the text says that the men of Judah fought against him, it obviously means they fought against the king and his armies, as the next clause makes clear. Combining the first two clauses, we might say “They saw Adoni-bezek and attacked him.”

And defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites: This information has already been given in the previous verse. If repetition is not appreciated in the target language, 1.4-5 can be combined, as in Contemporary English Version.

Some translation models for this verse are:

• In that city they found the king of Bezek and fought against him and his men, defeating the people of Canaan and Periz.

• At Bezek they came across Adoni-bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites there.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .