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All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”
So Joshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.
Joshua 11:5-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”
So Joshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them. Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining. Joshua did to them as Yahweh told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword: for Hazor used to be the head of all those kingdoms. They struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed. He burned Hazor with fire. Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only. Joshua burned that. The children of Israel took all the plunder of these cities, with the livestock, as plunder for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They didn’t leave any who breathed.
All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”
So Joshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.
And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.
And all these kings met together, and they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
And the LORD said unto Joshua: 'Be not afraid because of them; for to-morrow at this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel; thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.'
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v6 6. And the Lord said unto, Joshua, etc The…
6. And the Lord said unto, Joshua, etc The greater the labor and difficulty of destroying an army, so numerous and so well equipped, the more necessary was it to inspire them with new confidence. The Lord, therefore, appears to his servant Joshua, and promises the same success as he had previously given him on several occasions. It is to be carefully observed, that as often as he reiterates his promises men are reminded of their forgetfulness, or their sloth, or their fickleness. For unless new nourishment is every now and then given to faith, they forthwith faint and fall away. And yet such is our perverse fastidiousness, that to hear the same thing twice is usually felt to be irksome. Wherefore let us learn, as often as we are called to engage in new contests, to recall the remembrance of the divine promises, which may correct our languor, or rouse us from our sloth. And especially let us make an application of that which is here said in general, to our daily practice; as the Lord now intimates, that that which he had declared concerning all nations would be specially sure and stable on the present occasion.
We infer from the account of the time employed, that these kings had marched a considerable distance, in order to attack Joshua and the people in Gilgal. For immediately after the divine intimation, mention is made of the expedition used by Joshua. He is promised the victory on the following day. Hence they were not far distant. And the lake of Merom, where they had pitched their camp, is contiguous to the Jordan, and much nearer to Gilgal than Gennesaret, from which district some of the enemy had come. It is said that this lake diminishes or increases according to the freezing of the snow on the mountains, or to its melting. Moreover, the command given to Joshua and the people, to cut the legs or thighs of the horses, and to burn the chariots, was undoubtedly intended to prevent them from adopting those more studied modes of warfare which were in use among profane nations. It was indeed necessary that they should serve as soldiers, and fight strenuously with the enemy, but still they were to depend only on the Lord, to consider themselves strong only in his might, and to recline on him alone.
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This could scarcely have been the case, if they had been provided with cavalry, and an array of chariots. For we know how such showy equipment dazzles the eye, and intoxicates the mind with overweening confidence. Moreover, a law had been enacted, (Deuteronomy 17:16) that their kings were not to provide themselves with horses and chariots, obviously because they would have been extremely apt to ascribe to their own military discipline that which God claimed for himself. Hence the common saying, (Psalm 20:7)
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
God wished to deprive them of all stimulants to audacity, in order that they might live quietly contented with their own limits, and not unjustly attack their neighbors. And experience showed, that when a bad ambition had impelled their kings to buy horses, they engaged in wars not less rashly than unsuccessfully. It was necessary, therefore, to render the horses useless for war, by cutting their sinews, and to destroy the chariots, in order that the Israelites might not become accustomed to the practices of the heathen.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v6 That neither they should serve to the use of…
That neither they should serve to the use of war, nor the Israelites should put their trust in them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Jos 11:5 And when all these kings were met…
Jos 11:5 And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
Ver. 5. And when all these kings were met together.] Heb., Assembled by appointment, at a set time. Ducunt volentes fata, nolentes trahunt. See Psa 37:12-13.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–7 The waters of Merom; a lake made by the…
The waters of Merom; a lake made by the river Jordan in the northern part of it, which was in the territory of the king of Shimron, or Shimron-meron, and near Hazor, Jabin’s royal city, and almost in the middle of these confederate kings.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–7 And when all those kings were met together,.... At…
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 (a) says it was at Berotha; perhaps it should be Merotha, a city of upper Galilee, not far from Cedesa, the same he elsewhere calls (b) 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 (c) to have its name from the Arabic word "Samacha", which signifies high, as Merom does in Hebrew. It was, as Josephus says (d) thirty furlongs broad, and sixty long, and its waters clayish. Jerom says (e), 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
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to fight against Israel; so that they were the aggressors, which made the war still more lawful.
(a) Ibid. (Antiq. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 8.) (b) De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 20. sect. 6. (c) Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 1. p. 262. (d) De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 1. sect. 1. & l. 3. c. 9. sect. 7. (e) De loc. Heb. fol. 93. D.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Merom - A lake made by the river Jordan…
Merom - A lake made by the river Jordan in the northern part of it, which was in the territory of the King of Schimron, near Hazor, Jabin's royal city, and almost in the middle of these confederate kings.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Verse 5. The waters of Merom] Where these waters…
Verse 5. The waters of Merom] Where these waters were, interpreters are not agreed. Whether they were the waters of the Lake Semechon, or the waters of Megiddo, mentioned Jdg 5:19, cannot be easily determined. The latter is the more probable opinion.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Jos 11:5. These kings — pitched at the waters…
Jos 11:5. These kings — pitched at the waters of Merom — A lake made by the river Jordan in the northern part of it, which was in the territory of the king of Shimron, near Hazor, Jabin’s royal city, and almost in the middle of these confederate kings.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Waters of Merom - i. e. “the upper waters,”…
Waters of Merom - i. e. “the upper waters,” the modern Bahr el Huleh, the lake Semechonitis, or Samochonitis of Josephus. This lake occupies the southern half of the Ard el Huleh, a depressed basin some 15 miles long and 3 or 4 miles wide lying between the hills of Galilee on the west and the lower spurs of Hermon on the east. The size of the lake varies with the season, and the northern side of it ends in a large swamp. The shape of the lake is triangular, the point being at the south, where the Jordan, which enters it on the north, again quits it. There is a considerable space of tableland along the southwestern shore, and here probably the troops of Jabin and his confederates were encamped, preparing to move southward when Joshua and his army fell suddenly upon them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Merom, or the lake of Semechon, according to most…
Merom, or the lake of Semechon, according to most interpreters; though it is more probable, that the confederates would advance to meet Josue near the lake of Cisson, to the important pass 12 miles north of Samaria, in the canton of Meron, or Merone, Judges iv. 10., and v. 18. This place was famous for the victory of Barac, and for the defeat of king Josias.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v6 to-morrow, about this time will I deliver them up…
to-morrow, about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel--As it was impossible to have marched from Gilgal to Merom in one day, we must suppose Joshua already moving northward and within a day's distance of the Canaanite camp, when the Lord gave him this assurance of success. With characteristic energy he made a sudden advance, probably during the night, and fell upon them like a thunderbolt, when scattered along the rising grounds (Septuagint), before they had time to rally on the plain. In the sudden panic "the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them." The rout was complete; some went westward, over the mountains, above the gorge of the Leontes, to Sidon and Misrephothmaim ("glass-smelting houses"), in the neighborhood, and others eastward to the plain of Mizpeh.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. Waters of Merom — This first lake through…
5. Waters of Merom — This first lake through which the Jordan flows was the Samochonitis of Josephus. Its modern name is Huleh. Its name Merom occurs nowhere else in the Bible. It is of a triangular shape, and measures about six miles in each direction. It is surrounded by a marshy basin, which is sufficiently elevated on the southwestern margin to afford an encampment and battle-field. It was the use of “horses and chariots very many” which probably fixed the scene of the encampment on the uplands near by the plain of the lake, along whose level shores they could have full play for their force. See Jos_11:7, note.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. at the waters of Merom] i.e. “the Upper…
5. at the waters of Merom] i.e. “the Upper Waters;” the uppermost of the three lakes in the Jordan valley, called by the Greeks “Semechonitis,” or Samochonitis (Jos. Ant. 5:5. 1), and by the Arabs “Hûleh.” The lake is formed by the expansion of the descending Jordan, about 7 miles long by 5 in breadth, of a triangular shape, the point being at the south, where the Jordan, which enters it on the north, again quits it. It is surrounded by marshes and numberless streams bordered with thickets of papyrus. For the fullest and most graphic description of this lake, and the surrounding morasses, see Macgregor’s Rob Roy on the Jordan, xii.—xvii.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 (5) The waters of Merom.—The most northerly of the…
(5) The waters of Merom.—The most northerly of the three lakes on the course of the Jordan.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–7 The waters of Merom. Robinson and the later travellers…
The waters of Merom. Robinson and the later travellers generally identify this with the Samochonitis (Joseph, Ant. 5:1; Bell. Jud_1:3:9:7 4:1:1), now Huleh. Keil and Delitzseh deny this, but it may be regarded as established, on the authority of Ritter, Vandevelde, Tristram, in short of all who have visited Palestine during the last thirty years. But its name, "the waters of height," would seem to answer to this, the highest of the inland lakes of Palestine. The Jordan runs through it, and it is also the reservoir for numerous other streams. "In the centre of this plain, half morass, half tarn, lies the uppermost lake of the Jordan the little lake Phiala excepted seven miles long, and at its greatest width six miles broad, the mountains slightly compressing it at either extremity, surrounded by an almost impenetrable jungle of reeds, abounding in wild fowl, the sloping hills near it scoured by herds of gazelles" (Stanley, "Sinai and Palestine," p. 382).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 I am giving them all to Israel as dead…
I am giving them all to Israel as dead men
Yahweh enabling Israel to conquer the enemy army and kill all of the soldiers is spoken of as if Yahweh killed the soldiers and then gave them to Israel. AT: "I will enable Israel to kill all of them in battle" (See: Metaphor)
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hamstring their horses
"cripple their horses by cutting their legs." This is a practice where the tendons in the backs of the legs are cut so that the horses cannot walk.
Merom
This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
Yahweh
Joshua
fear
die
chariot
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5–7 11:5 The location of Merom is unclear. The most…
11:5 The location of Merom is unclear. The most likely site was in Upper Galilee a few miles west of Hazor.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.