Joshua 11:7

THE MESSAGE

Joshua, his entire army with him, took them by surprise, falling on them at the Waters of Merom. God gave them to Israel, who struck and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and then to the Valley of Mizpah on the east. No survivors. Joshua treated them following God 's instructions: he hamstrung their horses; he burned up their chariots.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Joshua and all his troops surprised them at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.

Hebrew Names Version
So Yehoshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell on them.

King James Version
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.

Lexham English Bible
So Joshua, and all the fighting men with him, came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.

English Standard Version
So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them.

New Century Version
So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy by attacking them at the waters of Merom.

New English Translation
Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.

Amplified Bible
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.

New American Standard Bible
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and attacked them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then came Ioshua and al the men of warre with him against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell vpon them.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they fell upon them.

Contemporary English Version
Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond

Complete Jewish Bible
So Y'hoshua came against them suddenly with all his fighting men and fell on them at the Merom Spring.

Darby Translation
And Joshua, and all the people of war with him, came upon them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.

Easy-to-Read Version
So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy and attacked them at the river of Merom.

George Lamsa Translation
So Joshua came suddenly to the waters of Meron, he and all the people of war who were with him; and they fell upon them.

Good News Translation
So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook.

Literal Translation
And Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom. And they suddenly fell on them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Iosua came sodenly vpon them, and all the men of warre with him by the water of Merom, & fell vpon them.

American Standard Version
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.

Bible in Basic English
So Joshua and all the men of war with him came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and made an attack on them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And so Iosuah came, and all the men of warre with him against them by the waters of Merom, and sodenly fell vpon them.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.

King James Version (1611)
So Ioshua came, and all the people of warre with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell vpon them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joshua and all the men of war came upon them at the water of Maron suddenly; and they attacked them in the hill country.

English Revised Version
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.

Berean Standard Bible
So by the waters of Merom, Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly and attacked them,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Josue cam, and al his oost with hym, ayens hem sodenli, at the watris of Meron, `and felden on hem.

Young's Literal Translation
And Joshua cometh, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fall on them;

Update Bible Version
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell on them.

Webster's Bible Translation
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell upon them.

World English Bible
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell on them.

New King James Version
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.

New Living Translation
So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly.

New Life Bible
So Joshua with all the men of war came upon them by surprise at the waters of Merom, and fought against them.

New Revised Standard
So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So Joshua, and all the army with him, came in upon them, by the waters of Merom, suddenly, and fell upon them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Josue came, and all the army with him, against them to the waters of Merom on a sudden, and fell upon them.

Revised Standard Version
So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his people of war, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.

Contextual Overview

¹When Jabin king of Hazor heard of all this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the king of Shimron; to the king of Acshaph; to all the kings in the northern mountains; to the kings in the valley south of Kinnereth; to the kings in the western foothills and Naphoth Dor; to the Canaanites both east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. ⁴They came out in full force, all their troops massed together—a huge army, in number like sand on an ocean beach—to say nothing of all the horses and chariots. All these kings met and set up camp together at the Waters of Merom, ready to fight against Israel. ⁶ God said to Joshua: "Don't worry about them. This time tomorrow I'll hand them over to Israel, all dead. You'll hamstring their horses. You'll set fire to their chariots." ⁷Joshua, his entire army with him, took them by surprise, falling on them at the Waters of Merom. God gave them to Israel, who struck and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and then to the Valley of Mizpah on the east. No survivors. Joshua treated them following God 's instructions: he hamstrung their horses; he burned up their chariots.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

suddenly: Joshua 10:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:3

Cross-References

Genesis 1:26
God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Genesis 3:22
God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never—this cannot happen!"

Genesis 10:20
These are the descendants of Ham by family, language, country, and nation.

Genesis 10:32
This is the family tree of the sons of Noah as they developed into nations. From them nations developed all across the Earth after the flood.

Genesis 11:4
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."

Genesis 11:5
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.

Genesis 11:12
When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah. After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 42:23
Joseph had been using an interpreter, so they didn't know that Joseph was understanding every word. Joseph turned away from them and cried. When he was able to speak again, he took Simeon and had him tied up, making a prisoner of him while they all watched.

Deuteronomy 28:49
If you listen obediently to the Voice of God , your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God , your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God , your God: God 's blessing inside the city, God 's blessing in the country; God 's blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks. God 's blessing on your basket and bread bowl; God 's blessing in your coming in, God 's blessing in your going out. God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They'll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads. God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he'll bless you in the land that God , your God, is giving you. God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God , your God, and live the way he has shown you. All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe. God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God , your God, that I am commanding you today. Don't swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods. Here's what will happen if you don't obediently listen to the Voice of God , your God, and diligently keep all the commandments and guidelines that I'm commanding you today. All these curses will come down hard on you: God 's curse in the city, God 's curse in the country; God 's curse on your basket and bread bowl; God 's curse on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks. God 's curse in your coming in, God 's curse in your going out. God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on everything you try to do until you've been destroyed and there's nothing left of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me. God will infect you with The Disease, wiping you right off the land that you're going in to possess. God will set consumption and fever and rash and seizures and dehydration and blight and jaundice on you. They'll hunt you down until they kill you. The sky over your head will become an iron roof, the ground under your feet, a slab of concrete. From out of the skies God will rain ash and dust down on you until you suffocate. God will defeat you by enemy attack. You'll come at your enemies on one road and run away on seven roads. All the kingdoms of Earth will see you as a horror. Carrion birds and animals will boldly feast on your dead body with no one to chase them away. God will hit you hard with the boils of Egypt, hemorrhoids, scabs, and an incurable itch. He'll make you go crazy and blind and senile. You'll grope around in the middle of the day like a blind person feeling his way through a lifetime of darkness; you'll never get to where you're going. Not a day will go by that you're not abused and robbed. And no one is going to help you. You'll get engaged to a woman and another man will take her for his mistress; you'll build a house and never live in it; you'll plant a garden and never eat so much as a carrot; you'll watch your ox get butchered and not get a single steak from it; your donkey will be stolen from in front of you and you'll never see it again; your sheep will be sent off to your enemies and no one will lift a hand to help you. Your sons and daughters will be shipped off to foreigners; you'll wear your eyes out looking vainly for them, helpless to do a thing. Your crops and everything you work for will be eaten and used by foreigners; you'll spend the rest of your lives abused and knocked around. What you see will drive you crazy. God will hit you with painful boils on your knees and legs and no healing or relief from head to foot. God will lead you and the king you set over you to a country neither you nor your ancestors have heard of; there you'll worship other gods, no-gods of wood and stone. Among all the peoples where God will take you, you'll be treated as a lesson or a proverb—a horror! You'll plant sacks and sacks of seed in the field but get almost nothing—the grasshoppers will devour it. You'll plant and hoe and prune vineyards but won't drink or put up any wine—the worms will devour them. You'll have groves of olive trees everywhere, but you'll have no oil to rub on your face or hands—the olives will have fallen off. You'll have sons and daughters but they won't be yours for long—they'll go off to captivity. Locusts will take over all your trees and crops. The foreigner who lives among you will climb the ladder, higher and higher, while you go deeper and deeper into the hole. He'll lend to you; you won't lend to him. He'll be the head; you'll be the tail. All these curses are going to come on you. They're going to hunt you down and get you until there's nothing left of you because you didn't obediently listen to the Voice of God , your God, and diligently keep his commandments and guidelines that I commanded you. The curses will serve as signposts, warnings to your children ever after. Because you didn't serve God , your God, out of the joy and goodness of your heart in the great abundance, you'll have to serve your enemies whom God will send against you. Life will be famine and drought, rags and wretchedness; then he'll put an iron yoke on your neck until he's destroyed you. Yes, God will raise up a faraway nation against you, swooping down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you can't understand, a mean-faced people, cruel to grandmothers and babies alike. They'll ravage the young of your animals and the crops from your fields until you're destroyed. They'll leave nothing behind: no grain, no wine, no oil, no calves, no lambs—and finally, no you. They'll lay siege to you while you're huddled behind your town gates. They'll knock those high, proud walls flat, those walls behind which you felt so safe. They'll lay siege to your fortified cities all over the country, this country that God , your God, has given you. And you'll end up cannibalizing your own sons and daughters that God , your God, has given you. When the suffering from the siege gets extreme, you're going to eat your own babies. The most gentle and caring man among you will turn hard, his eye evil, against his own brother, his cherished wife, and even the rest of his children who are still alive, refusing to share with them a scrap of meat from the cannibal child-stew he is eating. He's lost everything, even his humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns. And the most gentle and caring woman among you, a woman who wouldn't step on a wildflower, will turn hard, her eye evil, against her cherished husband, against her son, against her daughter, against even the afterbirth of her newborn infants; she plans to eat them in secret—she does eat them!—because she has lost everything, even her humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns. If you don't diligently keep all the words of this Revelation written in this book, living in holy awe before This Name glorious and terrible, God , your God, then God will pound you with catastrophes, you and your children, huge interminable catastrophes, hideous interminable illnesses. He'll bring back and stick you with every old Egyptian malady that once terrorized you. And yes, every disease and catastrophe imaginable—things not even written in the Book of this Revelation— God will bring on you until you're destroyed. Because you didn't listen obediently to the Voice of God , your God, you'll be left with a few pitiful stragglers in place of the dazzling stars-in-the-heavens multitude you had become. And this is how things will end up: Just as God once enjoyed you, took pleasure in making life good for you, giving you many children, so God will enjoy getting rid of you, clearing you off the Earth. He'll weed you out of the very soil that you are entering in to possess. He'll scatter you to the four winds, from one end of the Earth to the other. You'll worship all kinds of other gods, gods neither you nor your parents ever heard of, wood and stone no-gods. But you won't find a home there, you'll not be able to settle down. God will give you a restless heart, longing eyes, a homesick soul. You will live in constant jeopardy, terrified of every shadow, never knowing what you'll meet around the next corner. In the morning you'll say, "I wish it were evening." In the evening you'll say, "I wish it were morning." Afraid, terrorized at what's coming next, afraid of the unknown, because of the sights you've witnessed. God will ship you back to Egypt by a road I promised you'd never see again. There you'll offer yourselves for sale, both men and women, as slaves to your enemies. And not a buyer to be found.

Psalms 33:10
God takes the wind out of Babel pretense, he shoots down the world's power-schemes. God 's plan for the world stands up, all his designs are made to last. Blessed is the country with God for God; blessed are the people he's put in his will.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them,.... Being encouraged by the Lord, they set out with Joshua at the head of them, to fight the kings and their forces. It is highly probable that these were not the whole body of armed men in the camp of Israel, but a select company Joshua took of them, and who would be able to make quicker marches on this expedition:

by the waters of Merom suddenly; the Targum is,

"they lay by the waters of Merom;''

as they were thoughtless and careless, and not on their guard, Joshua and his forces came to them suddenly, unawares, and they not provided for them:

and they fell upon them; at once, which threw them into disorder and confusion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Suddenly - As before, at Gibeon Joshua 10:9, so now Joshua anticipates his enemies. Taken by surprise, and hemmed in between the mountains and the lake, the chariots and horses would have no time to deploy and no room to act effectively; and thus, in all probability, the unwieldy host of the Canaanites fell at once into hopeless confusion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 11:7. By the waters of Merom suddenly — Joshua, being apprised of this grand confederation, lost no time, but marched to meet them; and before they could have supposed him at hand, fell suddenly upon them, and put them to the rout.