Joshua 11:5

5 All these kings came together. They came and camped 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

---

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 He sent word to the Canaanites from east and west, to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the highlands, and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 They went out with all their battalions as a great army. They were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. There were very many horses and chariots.

5 All these kings came together. They came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 The LORD said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow, I will make them all dead bodies in Israel's presence. Cripple their horses! Burn their chariots!"

7 Then Joshua along with the entire army launched a surprise attack against them at the waters of Merom.