Joshua 11:1
And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard these things,.... The taking of Jericho and Ai, the defeat of the five kings, and the conquest of the southern part of the land of Canaan; he was alarmed by them, and sent to all the northern kings to join with him against Israel; and he the rather took this upon him, because as Adonizedek king of Jerusalem was the principal king in the southern part of the land, so was he in the northern part; see Joshua 11:10; Hazor fell to the tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:36. It was situated, as Josephus {n} says, on the lake Samachonitis, the same with the waters of Merom,
Joshua 11:5. According to Adrichomius {o}, it was four miles from the castle Theron to the north, six miles from Caesarea Philippi to the southwest, and nine miles from the great sea to the east; and was, in the times of Christ, one of the ten principal cities of the region of Decapolis, in which he preached, Matthew 4:25; and is now called Antiopia; and in the Arabic version here it is called Caesarea, and, according to Bunting {p}, it lay eighty miles from Jerusalem to the north:
that he sent to Jobab king of Madon; of which place we nowhere else read but in Joshua 12:19; though Brocard {q} finds a place near Dan, called Madan by the Turks at this day:
and to the king of Shimron; not Samaria, as many think, for that was built by Omri, king of Israel, and had its name from Shemer, the owner of the hill on which it was built some hundreds of years after this; besides Samaria was in the tribe of Ephraim, this in the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:15; and is called Shimronmeron, Joshua 12:20; and in the Jerusalem Talmud {r} Simoniah, and here in the Septuagint version Symoson:
and to the king of Achshaph: a city which fell to the lot of the tribe of Asher, Joshua 19:25. The Septuagint calls it Aziph, as if it was the same with Achzib, or Ecdippa, now called Zib: but Achshaph and Achzib are manifestly distinguished, Joshua 19:25. Jerom says {s}, in his time it was a little village, and went by the name of Chasalus, eight miles from Diocaesarea, at the foot of Mount Tabor. The Arabic version adds a fourth king that Jabin sent to, called "the king of Mausel"; but we read not of any such place in the land of Canaan.
{n} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 5. sect. 1.
{o} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 102.
{p} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 101.
{q} Apud Fuller's Pisgah Sight, B. 2. c. 4. p. 114.
{r} Megillah, fol. 70. 1.
{s} De loc. Heb. fol. 88. C. D.