Joshua 11:1

The Campaign Against the Cities in the North

1 Jabin was the king of Hazor. He heard about the battles Israel had won. So he sent a message to Jobab. Jobab was the king of Madon. Jabin sent the same message to the kings of Shimron and Acshaph.

Joshua 11:1 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 11:1

And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard [these
things]
The taking of Jericho and Ai, the defeat of the five kings, and the conquest of the southern part of the land of Canaan; he was alarmed by them, and sent to all the northern kings to join with him against Israel; and he the rather took this upon him, because as Adonizedek king of Jerusalem was the principal king in the southern part of the land, so was he in the northern part; see ( Joshua 11:10 ) ; Hazor fell to the tribe of Naphtali, ( Joshua 19:36 ) . It was situated, as Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 says, on the lake Samachonitis, the same with the waters of Merom, ( Joshua 11:5 ) . According to Adrichomius ^F15, it was four miles from the castle Theron to the north, six miles from Caesarea Philippi to the southwest, and nine miles from the great sea to the east; and was, in the times of Christ, one of the ten principal cities of the region of Decapolis, in which he preached, ( Matthew 4:25 ) ; and is now called Antiopia; and in the Arabic version here it is called Caesarea, and, according to Bunting ^F16, it lay eighty miles from Jerusalem to the north:

that he sent to Jobab king of Madon;
of which place we nowhere else read but in ( Joshua 12:19 ) ; though Brocard ^F17 finds a place near Dan, called Madan by the Turks at this day:

and to the king of Shimron;
not Samaria, as many think, for that was built by Omri, king of Israel, and had its name from Shemer, the owner of the hill on which it was built some hundreds of years after this; besides Samaria was in the tribe of Ephraim, this in the tribe of Zebulun, ( Joshua 19:15 ) ; and is called Shimronmeron, ( Joshua 12:20 ) ; and in the Jerusalem Talmud ^F18 Simoniah, and here in the Septuagint version Symoson:

and to the king of Achshaph:
a city which fell to the lot of the tribe of Asher, ( Joshua 19:25 ) . The Septuagint calls it Aziph, as if it was the same with Achzib, or Ecdippa, now called Zib: but Achshaph and Achzib are manifestly distinguished, ( Joshua 19:25 Joshua 19:29 ) . Jerom says ^F19, in his time it was a little village, and went by the name of Chasalus, eight miles from Diocaesarea, at the foot of Mount Tabor. The Arabic version adds a fourth king that Jabin sent to, called "the king of Mausel"; but we read not of any such place in the land of Canaan.

F14 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 5. sect. 1.
F15 Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 102.
F16 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 101.
F17 Apud Fuller's Pisgah Sight, B. 2. c. 4. p. 114.
F18 Megillah, fol. 70. 1.
F19 De loc. Heb. fol. 88. C. D.

Joshua 11:1 In-Context

1 Jabin was the king of Hazor. He heard about the battles Israel had won. So he sent a message to Jobab. Jobab was the king of Madon. Jabin sent the same message to the kings of Shimron and Acshaph.

2 He also sent it to a lot of other kings. Some ruled in the mountains in the north. Some ruled in the Arabah Valley south of Kinnereth. Others ruled in the western hills. Still others ruled in Naphoth Dor in the west.

3 Jabin sent the same message to the people of east Canaan and west Canaan. He sent it to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites. They lived in the central hill country. He also sent it to the Hivites who lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah.

4 Those kings marched out with all of their troops. They had a large number of horses and chariots. It was a huge army. The fighting men were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.

5 All of those kings gathered their armies together to fight against Israel. They set up camp together at the Waters of Merom.