MEROM (Hebrew *Mérôm*). — A locality in northern Palestine. Near the waters of M. (= *mê-Mêrôm*, Jos. 11:5,7) Joshua defeated the enemy coalition of the kings of northern Canaan.
In the Byzantine period (Eusebius, *Onomasticon*, 128; 4-6), M. was sought near Dothaim in the village of Marrus, probably Hürbet el-Mahrûneh. From the Middle Ages onward, “the waters of M.” were identified with Lake el-Ḥūleh and the battlefield with the small plain to the west of the lake (*ard el-Ḥūleh*).
Since in biblical usage the designation “the waters...” with a proper name always refers to a spring (cf. *Jos. 15:79; 16:1*), the site of the battle is fixed at the locality of Mejrôn (*Mrm in the list of Thutmosis III, no. 12*), abundant in water in the Wâdi Mejrôn, 6 km southwest of Ṣâfed, at the foot of Mount Êermak, on the road leading from northern Galilee into the Plain of Acre.
The addition in the Greek version of the Septuagint of δὲ ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ (= “in the mountain”) makes Joshua’s stratagem against the enemy’s chariots and horses more intelligible.