Merom

(high place), The waters of, a lake formed by the river Jordan, about ten miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It is a place memorable in the history of the conquest of Palestine. Here Joshua completely routed the confederacy of the northern chiefs under Jabin. (Joshua 11:5,7) It is a remarkable fact that though by common consent “the waters of Merom” are identified with the lake thorough which the Jordan runs between Banias and the Sea of Galilee—the Bahr el-Huleh of the modern Arabs— Yet that identity cannot be proved by any ancient record. In form the lake is not far from a triangle, base being at the north and the apex at the south.

It measures about three miles in each direction, and eleven feet deep. The water is clear and sweet; it is covered in parts by a broad-leaved plant, and abounds in water-fowl. (The northern part is a dense swamp of papyrus reeds, as large as the lake itself. See “Rob Roy on the Jordan.”—ED.)