CHAPTER III.

_BATTLE OF MEROM AND DIVISION OF THE LAND._ JOSH. XI.–XXI. B.C. 1450–1444.

INTELLIGENCE of the decisive battle of Beth-horon before long reached the ears of that powerful chief in northern Palestine, who has been already mentioned, JABIN, _the Wise_, whose capital Hazor was the principal fortress in that part of the country. Determined to make a last effort to defeat the Israelites he rallied round his standard[160] not only the chiefs in his own immediate neighbourhood, but from the plains south of the sea of Galilee, or, as it was then called, _the sea of Chinnereth_, from the valley of the Jordan, the maritime plain of Dor, and the as yet unconquered fortress of Jebus.

Again encouraged by the Lord with the promise of a decisive victory, Joshua did not shrink from encountering this formidable confederacy. Setting forth on a forced march, he burst upon the combined armies of the northern chiefs, as they were encamped by the waters of Merom. As before, his attack was irresistible. The Lord delivered the vast hosts of the foe into the hands of Israel, who smote them with great slaughter, and chased them as far as the friendly city of great Zidon on the west, and the valley of Mizpeh on the east. This was the first occasion on which the Israelites encountered the horses and iron chariots of the Canaanites. According to the special command of their leader (Josh. xi. 6), they cut the ham-strings of their horses, so as to render them unfit for further use, and burnt the chariots with fire. Hazor, the stronghold of Jabin, was captured and burnt, its king and all its inhabitants were put to the sword, the flocks and herds only being reserved as spoil for the people.

The battle of Merom was the last of Joshua’s recorded engagements, but a long war, considered to have lasted nearly seven years, now occupied his energies, during which he proved his fidelity to the instructions given by the great Lawgiver of the nation. _As the Lord commanded Moses His servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua_, till by the time he had completed his campaigns, six nations and thirty-one kings had swelled the roll of his triumphs (Josh. xi. 18–23; xii. 24).

At length, when he was old and stricken in years, he was commanded to divide the conquered territory among the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.

The mode adopted was twofold.

1. In some cases individual chiefs claimed particular spots on the score of their own prowess, or putting themselves at the head of armed predatory expeditions conquered certain portions with the sword. The chief instance of this was afforded by the aged compeer of Joshua, CALEB the son of Jephunneh, who now won distinction and renown for his own tribe of Judah. Forty-five years had elapsed since as one of the twelve spies in company with Joshua he had come down the _Valley of the Cluster_ to Hebron, the fortress of the giant Arba, where they gathered the enormous bunch of Syrian grapes. On that memorable day Moses had rewarded his eminent faithfulness by promising him the _land whereon his feet had trod as an inheritance for himself and his children for ever_ (Num. xiv. 23, 24; Josh. xiv. 9). This winding _Valley_, then, _of the Cluster_, this _mountain_ (Josh. xiv. 12) on which rose the stronghold of the Anakims, was the portion Caleb desired for himself, and hence with the Divine aid he vowed to drive forth its gigantic possessors, and take it for his own.

Joshua willingly granted his request, and the great warrior of the tribe of Judah went up against the city of Arba, and drove out the sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. Thence he proceeded southward to DEBIR or Kirjath-sephir[161], _the City of Books_, probably a sacred oracular place, and promised to give to its successful assailant his daughter Achsah in marriage. Thereupon OTHNIEL his nephew, or according to others his younger brother, attacked and took the fortress, and won the promised prize. On the way to Othniel’s house, Achsah dismounted from the ass on which she rode, and begged her father to give her some “better heritage than the dry and thirsty frontier of the desert.” Below the spot on which rose the newly captured fortress was a bubbling rivulet, falling into a rich valley. _Thou hast given me_, said she, _a south land, give me also the bubbling rills_, and he gave her _the upper and lower bubblings_, and thus Hebron and Debir with the rich valley below became the inheritance of the great warrior of Judah, and was long after known by his name (1 Sam. xxv. 3; xxx. 14).

2. But the more general mode of dividing the conquered land, in accordance with the Divine instructions, was by casting lots before the Tabernacle at Shiloh[162], in the presence of Joshua, the High-priest, and the elders of the nation. As the distribution of the tribes of REUBEN, GAD, and the half-tribe of MANASSEH on the east of the Jordan has been already described, we may confine ourselves to those on the western side, under the threefold division of (a) _The South_, (b) _the Centre_, (c) _the North_.

(a) _The South._