Joshua 11:5

5 All these kings joined forces and encamped 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 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.

5 All these kings joined forces and encamped at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”

7 So by the waters of Merom, Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly and attacked them,