Merom

Merom, a place near the waters of Merom where Joshua defeated a coalition of Canaanite kings led by Jabin king of Hazor (Joshua 11:5, 7).

Merom is mentioned in the context of Joshua's conquest of Canaan. A coalition of Canaanite kings, led by Jabin king of Hazor, gathered together to fight against Israel at the waters of Merom (Joshua 11:5). Joshua and the Israelite army attacked them by surprise, defeating them and pursuing them until no survivors were left (Joshua 11:7-8). The exact location of the waters of Merom is uncertain, but it is generally believed to be in the vicinity of Lake Huleh in northern Israel. The decisive victory at Merom was a significant milestone in the Israelite conquest of Canaan.

Height, a lake in Northern Palestine through which the Jordan flows. It was the scene of the third and last great victory gained by Joshua over the Canaanites (Josh. 11:5-7). It is not again mentioned in Scripture. Its modern name is Bakrat el-Huleh. “The Ard el-Huleh, the centre of which the lake occupies, is a nearly level plain of 16 miles in length from north to south, and its breadth from east to west is from 7 to 8 miles. On the west it is walled in by the steep and lofty range of the hills of Kedesh-Naphtali; on the east it is bounded by the lower and more gradually ascending slopes of Bashan; on the north it is shut in by a line of hills hummocky and irregular in shape and of no great height, and stretching across from the mountains of Naphtali to the roots of Mount Hermon, which towers up at the north-eastern angle of the plain to a height of 10,000 feet. At its southern extremity the plain is similarly traversed by elevated and broken ground, through which, by deep and narrow clefts, the Jordan, after passing through Lake Huleh, makes its rapid descent to the Sea of Galilee.”

The lake is triangular in form, about 4 1/2 miles in length by 3 1/2 at its greatest breadth. Its surface is 7 feet above that of the Mediterranean. It is surrounded by a morass, which is thickly covered with canes and papyrus reeds, which are impenetrable. Macgregor with his canoe, the Rob Roy, was the first that ever, in modern times, sailed on its waters.