Joshua 11:1

1 And when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron, and to the king of Achsaph:

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 And when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron, and to the king of Achsaph:

2 And to the kings of the north, that dwelt in the mountains and in the plains over against the south side of Ceneroth, and in the levels and the countries of Dor by the sea side:

3 To the Chanaanites also on the east and on the west, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Jebusite in the mountains: to the Hevite also who dwelt at the foot of Hermon in the land of Maspha.

4 And they all came out with their troops, a people exceeding numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore, their horses also and chariots a very great multitude,

5 And all these kings assembled together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.