ADONAY

(A·do·nayʹ; Heb., ʼAdho·nayʹ) [Lord].

The ending ay added to the Hebrew word ʼa·dhohnʹ (see ADON) is a different form of the plural of excellence. It is used exclusively of Jehovah and implies that he is Sovereign. Its use by men in addressing him suggests submissive acknowledgment of that great fact.—Gen. 15:2, 8; Deut. 3:24; Josh. 7:7.

Evidently by early in the Common Era the divine name, YHWH, had come to be regarded by the Jewish rabbis as too sacred to be pronounced. Instead, they substituted ʼAdho·nayʹ (sometimes ʼElo·himʹ) when reading the Scriptures aloud. The sopherim or scribes went even farther by replacing the divine name in the written text with ʼAdho·nayʹ 134 times. Later, the Masoretes, who copied the text with great care from the fifth to the ninth centuries of our Common Era, noted in the Masorah (their notes on the text) where the sopherim had made such changes. Hence, these 134 changes are known. (For a list see the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1961 edition, page 1453.) Taking this into account, there remain 298 places where ʼAdho·nayʹ did originally appear in the text.

The title ʼAdho·nayʹ is used mostly by the prophets, and much more frequently by Ezekiel than any other. Nearly every time he combines it with the divine name to form ʼAdho·nayʹ Y^eho·wihʹ, “Lord Jehovah.” Another combination title, appearing sixteen times, is ʹAdho·nayʹ Y^eho·wihʹ ts^eva·ʼohthʹ, “Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies,” and all but two of its occurrences (Ps. 69:6; Amos 9:5) are in Isaiah and Jeremiah. The title is used to reveal Jehovah as the One with the power and determination to avenge his oppressed people, but also to punish their unfaithfulness.

ADONI-BEZEK

(A·doʹni-beʹzek) [lord of Bezek, or lord of lightning].

A powerful ruler, who, prior to the Israelite attack at Bezek, had humbled seventy pagan kings by cutting off their thumbs and great toes. A similar practice was employed at one time by the ancient Athenians, who decreed that prisoners of war should lose their thumbs. Thereafter they could row but were unfit to handle a sword or spear.

Soon after Joshua’s death the combined forces of Judah and Simeon clashed with 10,000 troops of the Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, causing Adoni-bezek to flee from the defeat. Upon being captured, his thumbs and great toes were also severed at which time he declared: “Just the way I have done, so God has repaid me.” He was transported to Jerusalem, where he died.—Judg. 1:5-7.

ADONIJAH

(Ad·o·niʹjah) [Jah is my Lord].

1. David’s fourth son, born of Haggith in Hebron. (2 Sam. 3:4) Though of a different mother, Adonijah was quite similar to Absalom in being “very good looking in form” and in his ambition. (1 Ki. 1:5, 6; compare 2 Samuel 14:25; 15:1.) He becomes prominent in the Bible record during David’s waning years. Despite Jehovah’s declaration that the kingship would go to Solomon (1 Chron. 22:9, 10), Adonijah began boasting that he would be Israel’s next king. Though there was neither law nor precedent in Israel to show that the eldest son should be the king’s heir, Adonijah doubtless founded his claim on this basis, since Amnon and Absalom, and probably Chileab, were dead. Like Absalom, he made a showy display of his pretensions and went uncorrected by his father. He built up party support by gaining the favor of the head of the army, Joab, and the head of the priesthood Abiathar. (1 Ki. 1:5-8) He then held a sacrificial feast near En-rogel, a short distance from the city of Jerusalem inviting most of the royal household, but not Solomon, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah. His obvious purpose was to have himself declared king.—1 Ki. 1:9, 10, 25.

Nathan the prophet acted promptly to block Adonijah’s scheme. He counseled Solomon’s mother Bath-sheba to remind David of his oath in favor of Solomon’s kingship and then appeared after her at the king’s quarters to confirm her words and alert David to the gravity of the situation, also, in effect, indicating that he felt David may have been acting behind the backs of his close associates. (1 Ki. 1:11-27) This stirred the old king to action and he promptly gave orders for the immediate anointing of Solomon as coregent and successor to the throne. This action provoked a joyful uproar by the people, which was heard at Adonijah’s banquet. Soon a runner, priest Abiathar’s son, appeared with the disquieting news of David’s proclamation of Solomon as king. Adonijah’s supporters quickly dispersed and he fled to the tabernacle courtyard seeking refuge. Solomon then granted him pardon on the provision of his good behavior.—1 Ki. 1:32-53.

However, following David’s death, Adonijah approached Bath-sheba and induced her to act as his agent before Solomon to request David’s youthful nurse and companion, Abishag, as his wife. Adonijah’s statement that “the kingship was to have become mine, and it was toward me that all Israel had set their face for me to become king” indicates that he felt he had been deprived of his right, even though he professedly acknowledged God’s hand in the matter. (1 Ki. 2:13-21) While his request may have been based solely on the desire for some compensation for the loss of the kingdom, it strongly suggested that the fires of ambition continued in Adonijah, since by Oriental custom the wives and concubines of a king could only become those of his legal successor. (Compare 2 Samuel 3:7; 16:21.) Solomon so viewed this request made through his mother and ordered Adonijah’s death, which order was promptly carried out by Benaiah.—1 Ki. 2:22-25.

2. A Levite sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah.—2 Chron. 17:8.

3. One of the “heads of the people” whose descendant, if not himself, joined certain princes and Levites in attesting by seal the confession contract made by the returned Israelites in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. (Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 14, 16) He is suggested by some to be the same as Adonikam at Ezra 2:13, whose descendants, numbering six hundred and sixty-six returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E. A comparison of the names of those whose representatives sealed the resolution at Nehemiah chapter 10 and of those listed as heads of the returning exiles at Ezra chapter 2 seems to bear this out.—See ADONIKAM.

ADONIKAM

(Ad·o·niʹkam) [the lord is risen].

A founder of one of the paternal houses of Israel. More than 600 members of this family returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel after the exile at Babylon. (Ezra 2:13; Neh. 7:18) An additional sixty-three members of this paternal house accompanied Ezra to Jerusalem in 468 B.C.E. (Ezra 8:13) When the representatives of the paternal houses attested to the “trustworthy arrangement” or resolution drawn up in Nehemiah’s day, this family was apparently listed by the name Adonijah.—Neh. 9:38; 10:16.

ADONIRAM

(Ad·o·niʹram) [my lord is exalted].

A prince, able administrator, and the son of Abda. Adoniram served as overseer of those conscripted for forced labor during the reigns of David, Solomon and Rehoboam, playing an important part in Solomon’s many building projects. Later, when the ten tribes revolted against the harsh dictates of Rehoboam at Shechem in 997 B.C.E., the king sent this conscriptor for forced labor to the people, but they “pelted him with stones, so that he died.” (2 Chron 10:18) He is variously referred to as Adoniram (1 Ki. 4:6; 5:14), Adoram (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Ki. 12:18) and as Hadoram.—2 Chron. 10:18.

ADONIS

(A·doʹnis).

In Greek mythology, the handsome youth beloved of Aphrodite the goddess of sensual love. The name “Adonis,” however, is derived from the Semitic word ʼa·dhohnʹ, “lord,” indicating that his worship did not originate in Greece. This deity