When the news of Israel’s victories reached King Jabin may not be possible in languages where news does not “reach” someone, but rather a person hears the news. If such is the case, one may translate “King Jabin of Hazor heard that the Israelite army had conquered all this territory.” Or “King Jabin of Hazor heard about the victories of Israel’s army.”

King Jabin of Hazor heard of Israel’s victories in the south, and immediately he sent messengers to the rulers in the northern part of the country proposing all join forces against the invaders. Hazor is in Galilee, about 15 kilometers north of the northern end of Lake Galilee. It was a large and important city-state, and mention of it is made in nonbiblical texts.

Before listing the kings to whom Jabin addressed his message, it may be wise both to indicate that they were neighboring kings and to specify the reason for this message. In verses 4 and 5 the reason does become clear, but it could be very helpful to indicate from the outset the nature of the communication. For example:

• So King Jabin sent a message to the neighboring kings and asked them to bring their armies together to fight against Israel. He sent this message to King Jobab of Madon, to … near Dor.

Madon is 30 kilometers southeast of Hazor, and 4 kilometers west of Lake Galilee.The Masoretic text is madon; the Septuagint marron (and the Syriac, more or less) represents the Hebrew maron. The name of the place where the battle took place is Merom Brook (verse 5; Revised Standard Version “waters of Merom”); Merom itself is identified as a city some 12 kilometers southwest of Hazor, and its location is certain. On the basis of historical and archaeological evidence, some scholars prefer to read Merom (and not Madon) here and in 12.19-20 (see below). (It should be noticed that Merom in the Masoretic text, verses 5,7, is spelled merom not maron.) Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, citing Factors 12 (accidental change) and 9 (deliberate change), prefers to read here maron or merom (decision “D”), and recommends translating “Maron.” Bible de Jérusalem has “Merom” here; the other translations (An American Translation Revised Standard Version New American Bible New English Bible Jerusalem Bible Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Good News Translation Zur) have Madon.

There is considerable uncertainty over the identification and location of Shimron and Achshaph.Instead of the Masoretic text shimeron, the Septuagint has Sumoon, which represents the Hebrew shimeon, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers (decision “D”), recommending translating “Shimeon” (here and also in 12.20 and 19.15). On the maps Shimron is located in Zebulun (see 19.15), about 51 kilometers southwest of Hazor; and Achshaph is located about 42 kilometers southwest of Hazor. But the location of these places is far from certain.

In verse 2 “the Arabah” (Revised Standard Version) is the Jordan Valley, and “Chinneroth” (Revised Standard Version) is Lake Galilee.Some think that “Chinneroth” here means not Lake Galilee but the town of Chinnereth, on the northwest coast of the lake (see Bright, Gray, Smith). The hill country in the north is the highlands of Galilee.

On the coast near Dor translates the Hebrew naphothdor (see Revised Standard Version). It is not quite certain what the Hebrew naphoth means; perhaps “the coast” (Bright), referring to the Mediterranean coast plains south of Mount Carmel, of which Dor was the chief city. Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, have “the hillsides of Dor”; An American Translation “the uplands of Dor”; also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. Gray defines it as “the foothills of Carmel.”In the New Oxford Bible maps the city of Dor is located on the coast, south of Mt. Carmel; and Naphath-Dor (as in 12.23; 1 Kgs 4.11) is identified as a region inland from the city.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .