MEROM (Heb. Mērōm). - A locality in northern Palestine. Near the waters of M. (= mē-Mērōm, Ios. 11, 5.7), Joshua defeated the hostile coalition of the kings of northern Canaan.
In Byzantine times (Eusebius, Onomasticon, 128: 4-6), M. was sought near Dothaim, in the village of Marrus, probably Hirbet el-Mahrūneh. Since the Middle Ages, “the waters of M.” have been identified with Lake el-Hūleh, and the battlefield with the small plain west of the lake ('ard el-Hūleh).
Since in biblical usage the designation “the waters ...” followed by a proper name always applies to a spring (cf. Ios. 15, 79; 16, 1), the site of the battle is located at Mejrōn (Mrm in the list of Thutmosis III, no. 12), rich in water in the Wādi Mejrōn, 6 km southwest of Safed, at the foot of Mount Germali, on the road leading from northern Galilee to the plain of Acre.
The addition in the Greek version of the Septuagint, ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ (= “in the mountain”), makes Joshua’s successful stratagem against an enemy equipped with chariots and horses more intelligible.