Meroz

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("asylum".)  Judges 5:23, "curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty" (rather among Israel's mighty ones). They gave asylum to the fleeing Canaanites accursed of God, whereas Jael who slew their general is "blessed" ( Judges 5:24). Bather their sin was omission (Faint-Heartedness, Neutrality Where There Can Be No Real Neutrality:  Matthew 12:30 ;  Matthew 25:30 ) , they neglected the duty of coming to Israel's help in the struggle against God's foes. If Meroz be Merasas or Murussus, a ruin four miles N.W. of Beisan on the southern slopes of the hills continuing "little Hermon," they had command of the pass and might have prevented the escape m that quarter of any of Sisera's host. Bather Kerr Musr on the S. of Tabor (Raumer). The Angel of Jehovah who fought for Israel at Megiddo pronounces, through Deborah, Meroz' curse.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MEROZ. A place which the angel of Jahweh bids men curse, together with its inhabitants, because they did not come to fight Jahweh’s battle against Sisera. It is mentioned only in   Judges 5:23 , and probably owes its mention merely to the fact that it ‘lay in the line of Sisera’s flight’ (Moore).

W. O. E. Oesterley.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Me'roz. (Refuge). A place,  Judges 5:23, denounced because its inhabitants had refused to take any part in the struggle with Sisera. Meroz must have been in the neighborhood of the Kishon, but its real position is not known. Possibly, it was destroyed in the obedience to the curse.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An unknown place in Galilee, cursed in the song of Deborah and Barak for not joining with them against the foes of Israel,  Judges 5:23 . Probably their vicinity to the scene of conflict, or the opportunity they had of rendering some special assistance, rendered their refusal peculiarly guilty.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Meroz ( Mç'Rŏz ), Refuge. A place in the northern part of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were accursed for not having taken the field with Barak against Sisera.  Judges 5:23.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A place near the brook Kishon. (See  Judges 5:23) The word signifies secret. Perhaps in those times of trouble the inhabitants here secreted themselves.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a place in the neighbourhood of the brook Kishon, whose inhabitants, refusing to come to the assistance of their brethren, when they fought with Sisera, were put under an anathema,  Judges 5:23 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Judges 5:23 Joshua 12:19 Joshua 11:5 Joshua 12:20

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Some unknown place, the inhabitants of which were to be cursed bitterly because they came not to the aid of Barak.  Judges 5:23 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Judges 5:23 1 Samuel 11:7

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Meroz', מֵרוֹז , perh., as suggested by Gesenius, for מֶארֵוֹז , from the Arabic, Refuge ; but Furst disapproves of this etymology; Sept. Μηρώζ , V ulg. Terra Meroz ), a place in the northern part of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were severely reprehended ( Judges 5:23) for not having taken the field with Barak against Sisera (comp.  Judges 21:8-10;  1 Samuel 11:7). It would seem as if they had had an opportunity of rendering some particular and important service to the public cause which they neglected (see Dr. Robinson's note in the Bib. Repos . 1831, p. 606). The tradition of its site was lost as early as the time of Procopius of Gaza, who had attempted in vain to recover it (Reland, Palaest . p. 896). Possibly the city was utterly destroyed in consequence of the curse. In the Jewish traditions preserved in the Commentary on the Song of Deborah attributed to Jerome, Meroz, which may be interpreted as Secret ,, is made to signify the. evil angels who led on the Canaanites, and are cursed by Michael, the angel of Jehovah, the leader of the Israelites. Eusebius and Jerome ( Onomast . s.v. Merrus) fix it twelve Roman miles from Sebaste, on the road to Dothaim; but this position would place it south of the field of battle, and therefore scarcely agrees with the history. Schwarz ( Palest . p. 36) says it is mentioned in the Talmud under the name of Marchesheth or Maresheth, and locates it (ib. p. 168) at the village, of Murussus, two or three miles north or north-west of Bethshan, on the line of hills separating the basin of Tayibeh from the valley of Jezreel (Robinson's Researches, new ed. 3:339). The town must have commanded the Pass, and if any of Sisera's people attempted, as the Midianites did when routed by Gideon, to escape in that direction, its inhabitants might no doubt have prevented their doing so, and have slaughtered them. Furst (Lex. s.v.) suggests that it was a locality in a district of Galilee partly inhabited-by Gentiles ( 1 Kings 9:11), not far from Kedesh-Naphtali, and consequently in the neighborhood of the Lake Merom, perhaps the locality (reading מֵרוֹם , High Place ) which gave name to the lake itself. Wilson ( Lands Of The Bible , 2:89) identifies it with the Kefr-Mesr, on the southern slope of Mount Tabor, and this Van de Velde approves (Memoir, p. 334). Thomson thinks it may be the present Meiron, a famous Jewish cemetery six miles west of Safed; this would be between Barak's residence and Tabor ( Judges 4:12), and therefore render the inhabitants liable to a summons to arms by the Hebrew general ( Land And Book , 1:424). This last place is possibly the Meroth , strongly fortified by Josephus (Life , p. 37; War , 2:20, 6; 3:3, 1).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mē´roz ( מרוז , mērōz  ; Codex Vaticanus, Μηρώζ , Mērṓz  ; Codex Alexandrinus, Μαζώρ , Mazṓr ): This name occurs only once in Scripture. The angel of the Lord is represented as invoking curses upon Meroz because the inhabitants "came not to the help of Yahweh" on the day of Deborah and Barak's victory (  Judges 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 Dan 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 Beisân , on the slopes to the North of the Vale of Jezreel. If the Kedesh where Heber's tent was pitched be identical with Ḳadish 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.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Me´roz, a place in the northern part of Palestine, the inhabitants of which are severely reprehended in , for not having taken the field with Barak against Sisera. It would seem as if they had had an opportunity of rendering some particular and important service to the public cause, which they neglected. The site is not known: Eusebius and Jerome fix it twelve Roman miles from Sebaste, on the road to Dothaim; but this position would place it south of the field of battle, and therefore scarcely agrees with the history.