שופטים, פרק א׳, פסוק ה׳

As the military campaign advances, the forces reach the city of Bezek, coming face to face with its leader and defenders. The ruler of the stronghold is a governor named Adoni Bezek [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The unfolding events build upon a prior victory in the region, though there are different ways to understand the exact timeline of the battle. One approach views the earlier record of a massive defeat of ten thousand men as a general summary of the campaign's final outcome. In this view, the narrative now provides the specific details of how that triumph occurred, starting with the discovery of the governor and the direct combat against his army [אברבנאל].

Alternatively, these events can be seen as sequential stages of an ongoing war. After securing an initial victory on the battlefield outside Bezek, the warriors advanced to conquer the city itself. Inside, they discovered Adoni Bezek. Unlike other kings who abandoned their cities and left them exposed to attackers, he chose to remain behind his fortified walls to protect his stronghold [מלבי״ם]. During this subsequent phase of the campaign, a second clash erupted. The advancing forces fought the governor directly, striking down the Canaanite and Perizzite defenders who had barricaded themselves within the city behind locked doors and bars [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].