Joshua 11:5

5 And all these kings came together at the waters of Merom, to fight against 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

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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) Canaanite from the east and (the) west, and to (the) Amorite, and Hittite, and Perizzite, and (the) Jebusite in the mountains, and to (the) Hivite, that dwelled at the roots of the hill of Hermon (who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon), in the land of Mizpeh.

4 And (they) all went out with their companies, a full much people, as the gravel which is in the brink of the sea (like the gravel, or the sand, which is at the seashore), and horses, and chariots, of great multitude.

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

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, Dread thou not them, for tomorrow, in this same hour, I shall betake all these men to be wounded in the sight of Israel; thou shalt hock the horses of them, and thou shalt burn the chariots by fire. (And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not thou fear them, for tomorrow, at this same hour, I shall make all these men to be killed before the army of Israel; and thou shalt hock their horses, and thou shalt burn up their chariots with fire.)

7 And Joshua came, and all his host with him, against them suddenly, at the waters of Merom, and felled on them. (And so Joshua, and all his army, suddenly came against them, at the waters of Merom, and fell upon them.)