Now it happened, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;
How is this wicked device implemented here?  Note the following: "Some have suggested that Zedek was originally the name of a deity.  This would make the meaning of Adonizedek to be, `My lord is Zedek.'"[2]  Therefore, unbelievers will reject what the text plainly declares and announce the postulation that both Melchizedek and Adonizedek were not worshippers of the One God at all, but worshippers of Zedek!  We need to remember, however, that "There is no sufficient evidence for this suggestion."[3] Very recent scholars like Boling and Wright have pointed out that, "The form and meaning of this name (Zedek) tell nothing with certainty about the identity of this (alleged) Jerusalem deity."[4]  Morton attempted to make a big thing out of the Zedek suggestion, as follows: "Since Zedek is known to have been a Canaanite divine name, its earlier meaning probably was `My lord (the god) Zedek.' The same element appears also in the name Melchizedek."[5]  Note that Morton uses the word probably, which means that there is no solid evidence whatever to sustain this evil suggestion. Absolutely nothing is known of any Canaanite god called Zedek!  For generations, the meaning of Zedek has been understood as "righteous", or "righteousness".[6]  Similar efforts have been made to corrupt the plain meaning of "Most High God" through the `discovery' of a Babylonian pagan god called Elyon, or "the Most High."[7]  In all such cases, the Biblical usage of "God Most High" (all three of these titles have the same meaning) squarely denies the aberrations that men would impose upon the word Zedek or Adonizedek and Melchizedek.