1And it happened, when Jabin the king of Hazor heard, he sent to Jobab the king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings that were on the north of the heights, and in the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the low country, and in the hills of Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanite on the east, and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the heights, and the Hivite below Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh. 4And they went out, they and all their camps with them, a people plentiful as the sand on the seashore in number, and very many horses and chariots. 5And all these kings met together. And they came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. 6And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear before them, for about this time tomorrow I will give all of them up wounded before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. 7And Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom. And they suddenly fell on them. 8And Jehovah gave them into Israel's hand, and they struck them, and pursued them to the great Sidon, and to the burning waters, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward. And they struck them until he did not have a survivor left to them. 9And Joshua did to them as Jehovah said to him. He hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire. 10And Joshua returned and captured Hazor at that time. And he struck its king by the sword; for Hazor was formerly head of all these kingdoms. 11And they struck every person in it by the mouth of the sword. He destroyed them, he did not leave anyone breathing; and he burned Hazor with fire. 12And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings. And he struck them by the mouth of the sword. He destroyed them, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded. 13But as for all the cities which stood by their mounds, Israel did not burn them; but Joshua only burned Hazor. 14And the sons of Israel seized for themselves all the plunder of these cities, and the livestock. But they struck every human being by the mouth of the sword, until they had destroyed them; they did not leave anyone breathing. 15As Jehovah commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He did not turn aside from anything of all that Jehovah commanded Moses. 16And Joshua took all this land: the heights, and all the Negeb, and all the land of Goshen, and the Lowlands, and the Arabah and the mountains of Israel, and its lowlands, 17from Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir, even to Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon. And he took all their kings, and struck them, and killed them. 18And Joshua made war many days with all those kings. 19There was not a city that made peace with the sons of Israel except the Hivites, ones living in Gibeon. They took all in battle. 20For it was of Jehovah to harden their hearts, so that they should come against Israel in battle, so that they might be destroyed, so that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses. 21At that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anah, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities. 22There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only some remained in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23And Joshua took the whole of the land, according to all that Jehovah had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for Israel according to their divisions, by their tribes. And the land had rest from war.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 DIVERS KINGS OVERCOME AT THE WATERS OF MEROM. (
Josh 11:1-
Josh 11:9)
And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things--The scene of the sacred narrative is here shifted to the north of Canaan, where a still more extensive confederacy was formed among the ruling powers to oppose the further progress of the Israelites. Jabin ("the Intelligent"), which seems to have been a hereditary title (
Judg 4:2), took the lead, from Hazor being the capital of the northern region (
Josh 11:10). It was situated on the borders of lake Merom. The other cities mentioned must have been in the vicinity though their exact position is unknown.
2 the kings that were on the north of the mountains--the Anti-libanus district.
the plains south of Chinneroth--the northern part of the Arabah, or valley of the Jordan.
the valley--the low and level country, including the plain of Sharon.
borders of Dor on the west--the highlands of Dor, reaching to the town of Dor on the Mediterranean coast, below mount Carmel.
3 the Canaanites on the east and on the west--a particular branch of the Canaanitish population who occupied the western bank of the Jordan as far northward as the Sea of Galilee, and also the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.
under Hermon--now Jebel-es-sheikh. It was the northern boundary of Canaan on the east of the Jordan.
land of Mizpeh--now Cślo-Syria.
4 they went out, . . . as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude--The chiefs of these several tribes were summoned by Jabin, being all probably tributary to the kingdom of Hazor. Their combined forces, according to JOSEPHUS, amounted to three hundred thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand war chariots.
with horses and chariots very many--The war chariots were probably like those of Egypt, made of wood, but nailed and tipped with iron. These appear for the first time in the Canaanite war, to aid this last determined struggle against the invaders; and "it was the use of these which seems to have fixed the place of rendezvous by the lake Merom (now Huleh), along whose level shores they could have full play for their force." A host so formidable in numbers, as well as in military equipments, was sure to alarm and dispirit the Israelites. Joshua, therefore, was favored with a renewal of the divine promise of victory (
Josh 11:6), and thus encouraged, he, in the full confidence of faith, set out to face the enemy.
6 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.
8 they left none remaining--of those whom they overtook. All those who fell into their hands alive were slain.
9 Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him--(See
Josh 11:6). Houghing the horses is done by cutting the sinews and arteries of their hinder legs, so that they not only become hopelessly lame, but bleed to death. The reasons for this special command were that the Lord designed to lead the Israelites to trust in Him, not in military resources (
Ps 20:7); to show that in the land of promise there was no use of horses; and, finally, to discourage their travelling as they were to be an agricultural, not a trading, people.
11 he burnt Hazor with fire--calmly and deliberately, doubtless, according to divine direction.
13 as for the cities that stood still in their strength--literally, "on their heaps." It was a Phśnician custom to build cities on heights, natural or artificial [HENGSTENBERG].
16 So Joshua took all that land--Here follows a general view of the conquest. The division of the country there into five parts; namely, the hills, the land of Goshen, that is, a pastoral land near Gibeon (
Josh 10:41); the valley, the plains and the mountains of Israel, i. e., Carmel, rests upon a diversity of geographical positions, which is characteristic of the region.
17 from the mount Halak--Hebrew, "the smooth mountain."
that goeth up to Seir--an irregular line of white naked hills, about eighty feet high, and seven or eight geographical miles in length that cross the whole Ghor, eight miles south of the Dead Sea, probably "the ascent of Akrabbim" [ROBINSON].
unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon--the city or temple of the god of destiny, in Baalbec.
23 Joshua took the whole land--The battle of the take of Merom was to the north what the battle of Beth-horon was to the south; more briefly told and less complete in its consequences; but still the decisive conflict by which the whole northern region of Canaan fell into the hands of Israel [STANLEY].