MEROM, WATERS OF

(Merʹom) [a height, a high place].

It was here that the confederate Canaanite forces under Jabin the king of Hazor encamped before being defeated by Joshua. Probably for the first time the Israelites faced Canaanites equipped with horses and chariots, as may be inferred from Joshua’s receiving divine instructions then about burning the chariots and hamstringing the horses.—Josh. 11:1-9.

The identification of the “waters [Heb., meh] of Merom” is uncertain. They have long been associated with the former Lake Huleh, about ten and a half miles (17 kilometers) N of the Sea of Galilee. But many who reject that identification link the “waters of Merom” with a spring and a torrent valley (Wadi Meiron) near Meiron (about twelve miles [19 kilometers) S-SW of the Huleh Basin). Others favor a stream (Wadi ʽAuba) near Jebel Marun and N of Meiron. Both of these identifications agree with the Greek Septuagint rendering indicating that the battle took place “in the hill country.”—Josh. 11:7, Bagster.

If Merom was a region rather than a city, any of the aforementioned identifications or other waters in the area would fit the Bible account. One of the plains or level areas in this region could have accommodated the chariots.