And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
They found, х wayimtsª'uw (H4672), they found, came upon].
Adoni-bezek - i:e., lord of Bezek; i:e., they surprised and routed him [Septuagint, [katelaboon] in a pitched battle, whence he fled; but being taken prisoner, be was treated with a severity unusual among the Israelites, because they "cut off his thumbs and his great toes." Barbarities of various kinds were commonly practiced on prisoners of war in ancient times; and the object of this particular mutilation of the hands and feet was to disable them for military service ever after. The infliction of such a horrid cruelty on this Canaanite chief would have been a foul stain on the character of the Israelites, if there were not reason for believing it was done by them as an act of retributive justice; and as such it was regarded by Adonibezek himself, whose conscience read his atrocious crimes in their punishment.