Paragraph 11:7–9

11:7a

So by the waters of Merom: The waters of Merom were mentioned in 11:5b. The battle between the Israelites and the enemy armies took place near this riverbed.

11:7b

Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly: The clause Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly indicates that Joshua and his army attacked the Canaanite armies by surprise. These words are similar to the words in 10:9, and you may be able to translate them in a similar way.

and his whole army: The phrase and his whole army indicates that Joshua’s entire army was with him. In Hebrew, this is more literally “all the people of war with him”.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise (NET Bible)
-or-
So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly (New International Version)

and attacked them: The clause and attacked them indicates that Joshua and his army attacked the enemy armies. It may be more natural in some languages to combine this clause with the clause in 11:7a, for example:

So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook (Good News Translation)
-or-
Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond (Contemporary English Version)

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