Joshua 11:1

Joshua 11:1-15. Confederacy of the Kings of Northern Canaan

1. And it came to pass We now enter upon a different scene in the conquests of Joshua. Just as before Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, had summoned the five kings of southern Canaan, so now Jabin, the king of Hazor, summons the chiefs of the north against the Israelitish leader.

Jabin This was an hereditary and official title of the chief of Hazor. It denotes "the wise" or "intelligent" Here we find a king of the same name at a considerably later date (Judges 4:2).

Hazor= "enclosed," "fortified" was an important, and apparently almost impregnable, stronghold of the Canaanites of the north, situated in the mountains, north of the waters of Merom. We find it afterwards fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15), and its inhabitants were carried away captive by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15:29). The most probable site is Tell Khuraibeh. It lay apparently between Ramah and Kedesh, on the high ground overlooking the Lake of Merom.

Jobab king of Madon The three places here mentioned, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, were probably in the neighbourhood of Hazor, but their sites cannot be determined. Schwarz on very slight grounds proposes to identify Madon with Kefr Menda, a village at the western end of the Plain of Buttauf, four or five miles N. of Sepphoris.

the king of Shimron Its full name appears to have been Shimron-Meron. It was afterwards included in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15).

the king of Achshaph This place was afterwards included within the territory of Asher (Joshua 12:20; Joshua 19:25). It has been identified with Chaifa, a place which, from its situation, must always have been of great importance.