Joshua 11:5

5 And all the kings assembled in person, and came to the same place, and encamped at the waters of Maron to war with Israel.

Joshua 11:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 11:5

And when all those kings were met together
At some certain place, which Jabin had appointed:

they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom:
Josephus F1 says it was at Berotha; perhaps it should be Merotha, a city of upper Galilee, not far from Cedesa, the same he elsewhere calls F2 Meroth, These waters are the same with the lake Samachonitis, on which Hazor was situated; so that it was near Jabin where the rendezvous was. This lake is thought F3 to have its name from the Arabic word "Samacha", which signifies high, as Merom does in Hebrew. It was, as Josephus says


FOOTNOTES:

F4 thirty furlongs broad, and sixty long, and its waters clayish. Jerom says F5, in his time there was here a village called Merrus, twelve miles from the city Sebaste by Dothaim: here the kings and their armies met

to fight against Israel;
so that they were the aggressors, which made the war still more lawful.


F1 Ibid. (Antiq. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 8.)
F2 De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 20. sect. 6.
F3 Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 1. p. 262.
F4 De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 1. sect. 1. & l. 3. c. 9. sect. 7.
F5 De loc. Heb. fol. 93. D.

Joshua 11:5 In-Context

3 and to the Chananites on the coast eastward, and to the Amorites on the coast, and the Chettites, and the Pherezites, and the Jebusites in the mountain, and the Evites, and those dwelling under Aermon in the land Massyma.
4 And they and their kings with them went forth, as the sand of the sea in multitude, and horses, and very many chariots.
5 And all the kings assembled in person, and came to the same place, and encamped at the waters of Maron to war with Israel.
6 And the Lord said to Joshua, Be not afraid of them, for to-morrow this time I will put them to flight before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire
7 And Joshua and all the men of war came upon them at the water of Maron suddenly; and they attacked them in the hill country.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.