The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) is a translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek language. The name “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy. The tradition is that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars were the translators behind the Septuagint.

1. Does the Septuagint say they cut off Adoni-
Bezek's hands and feet?
The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) is a translation of the Hebrew
Bible into the Greek language. The name “Septuagint” comes from the
Latin word for seventy. The tradition is that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars
were the translators behind the Septuagint. The Septuagint was
translated in the third and second centuries B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt.
As Israel was under the authority of Greece for several centuries, the
Greek language became more and more common. By the 2nd and 1st
centuries B.C., most people in Israel spoke Greek as their primary
language. That is why the effort was made to translate the Hebrew
Bible into Greek – so that those who did not understand Hebrew
could have the Scriptures in a language they could understand. The
Septuagint represents the first major effort at translating a significant
religious text from one language into another. That being said, what
the Septuagint says is exactly what is stated in the book of Judges.
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2. Adoni-Bezek is a name meaning “lord of Bezek” and is mentioned in
Judges 1:5–7 “And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought
against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But
Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his
thumbs and his great toes. 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.”
This violent ruler was defeated by the tribe of Judah, with Simeon’s
help. Adoni-Bezek’s captors cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then he
was taken as a prisoner to Jerusalem where he later died. God did not
specifically command the maiming of the lord of Bezek, yet the king
himself confessed that the act was just, based on his treatment of other
rulers.
The town of Bezek is today called Khirbet Ibziq, a village north of
Tubass in the West Bank (1 Samuel 11:8). The facts that Adoni-Bezek
oversaw 10,000 soldiers and that he had tortured 70 kings indicates
that he was very powerful. Bezek, meaning “lightning,” may have had
a connection with the worship of the Canaanite storm god, Baal,
whose images typically depicted him holding a lightning bolt.
Some point out the torture of Adoni-Bezek as either an evil act or an
act of retributive justice, but it is clear that the Israelites’ treatment of
this king was an act of disobedience.
“And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their
name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee,
until thou have destroyed them.” Deuteronomy 7:24
Rather than torturing the kings they defeated, the Israelites were
commanded to completely destroy them. This lack of obedience in
completely defeating their enemies is a repeated theme in Judges.
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3. “And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the
mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they
had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he
expelled thence the three sons of Anak. And the children of Benjamin did not
drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with
the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.” Judges 1:19-21
The final verses of chapter 1 emphasize the incomplete nature of the
conquest of the Promised Land. This introduction sets the reader up
for what follows—an ongoing cycle of sin that leads to oppression
from enemies, followed by a calling out to God, and then the raising
up of a judge to rescue the people.
Adoni-Bezek was an evil Canaanite ruler. He was one among many
whom the people of Israel defeated, yet he was allowed to live in
direct disregard of God’s command. The Book of Judges provides
many other examples of the Israelites’ disobedience and how it led to
difficult times for Israel until they returned to Him in repentance and
obedience.
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