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. It was, as Josephus says d thirty furlongs broad, and sixty long, and its waters clayish. Jerom says e, in his time there was here a village called Merrus, twelve miles from the city Sebaste by Dothaim: here the kings and their armies met
to fight against Israel; so that they were the aggressors, which made the war still more lawful.
a Ibid. (Antiq. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 8.) b De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 20. sect. 6. c Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 1. p. 262. d De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 1. sect. 1. & l. 3. c. 9. sect. 7. e De loc. Heb. fol. 93. D.