Meroz standard
lp of Yahweh" on the day of Deborah and Barak's victory (Jud 5:23). It is a strange fate, shared with Chorazin, to be preserved from oblivion only by the record of a curse.
Where is Meroz in the Bible?
Meroz was a settlement in ancient Israel, though its exact location remains uncertain and is not precisely identified in modern geography. It appears only once in the Bible, in Judges 5:23, where it is cursed by the angel of the Lord for failing to assist Deborah and Barak in their battle against the Canaanite commander Sisera. The curse of Meroz is particularly significant because it suggests the settlement was located near enough to the conflict to have rendered aid, making its refusal to participate especially grave. This curse represents one of only a few instances in scripture where a place is remembered primarily for divine judgment rather than for positive biblical events.
In Scripture1 biblical book
- Judges
Meroz
ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)lp of Yahweh" on the day of Deborah and Barak's victory (Jud 5:23). It is a strange fate, shared with Chorazin, to be preserved from oblivion only by the record of a curse. The bitterness in the treatment of Meroz, not found in the references to any of the other delinquents, must be due to the special gravity of her offense. Reuben, Gilead and Da were far away. This, however, is not true of Asher, who was also absent. Perhaps Meroz was near the field of battle and, at some stage of the conflict, within sight and hearing of the strife. If, when Zebulun "jeopardized their lives unto the death, and Naphtali, upon the high places of the field," they turned a deaf ear and a cold heart to the dire straits of their brethren, this might explain the fierce reproaches of Deborah.
Meroz may possibly be identified with el-Murussus, a mud-built village about 5 miles Northwest of Beisan, on the slopes to the North of the Vale of Jezreel. If the Kedesh where Heber's tent was pitched be identical with Qadish to the West of the Sea of Galilee, Sisera's flight, avoiding the Israelites in the neighborhood of Mt. Tabor, may have carried him past el-Murussus. If the inhabitants had it in their power to arrest him, but suffered him to escape (Moore, "Jgs," ICC, 163), such treachery to the na tion's cause might well rouse the indignation of the heroic prophetess.
W. Ewing
mer'-an (Merran; the King James Version Meran): Many identifications have been suggested on the assumption that the text as it stands is correct. Some of these are the Sidonian Meareh (Grotius), Marane, a city of which