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Joshua 11:5

in Joshua 11

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

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And all these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

KJV

And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

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This verse in Joshua 11

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
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.

This site's exposition

even as the sand that

on Joshua 11:4-5

Sand upon the sea shore is the measure God gave Abraham for his own descendants at Genesis 22:17 and Jacob at Genesis 32:12, and here it counts the army assembled to destroy them. This verse is the first place in Scripture where that figure is turned on an enemy, and it does the same work later at 1 Samuel 13:5 of the Philistines and at Revelation 20:8. The waters of Merom are named twice in the whole King James Bible and both are in this chapter, at verses 5 and 7.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

on Joshua 11:1-9

Jabin ("the Intelligent"), which seems to have been a hereditary title (Jud 4:2), took the lead, from Hazor being the capital of the northern region (Jos 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.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּוָּ֣עֲד֔וּand they gathered

    vaiyivaaduH3259 →

  • כֹּ֖לall

    kolH3605 →5413 times

  • הַמְּלָכִ֣יםthe kings

    hamelakhimH4428 →2525 times

  • הָאֵ֑לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֜אוּand they came

    vaiyavouH935 →2568 times

  • וַיַּחֲנ֤וּand they encamped

    vaiyachanuH2583 →143 times

  • יַחְדָּו֙together

    yachdavH3162 →

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מֵ֣י[the] water of

    meiH4325 →581 times

  • מֵר֔וֹםMerom

    meromH4792 →

  • לְהִלָּחֵ֖םto wage war

    lehilachemH3898 →177 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 3:1

    O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!

    it leads to

    • Psalms 17:7

      Show the wonders of Your loving devotion, You who save by Your right hand those who seek refuge from their foes.

    • 2 Samuel 17:11–13

      Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.

  • Through

    Revelation 16:14

    These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 17:14

      They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen…

    • 1 Timothy 4:1

      Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

    • Revelation 20:8

      and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.

    • James 3:15

      Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

    • 1 John 5:19

      We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.

  • Through

    Isaiah 8:9

    Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 14:5–6

      The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 11 →