Meroz, a place cursed by the angel of the Lord for not coming to help fight against Sisera (Judges 5:23).
Meroz is a place mentioned only once in the Bible, in the Song of Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:23). The exact location of Meroz is unknown, but it was likely situated near the Kishon River, close to where the Israelites, led by Deborah and Barak, fought against the Canaanite army commanded by Sisera. In the song, the angel of the Lord pronounces a curse upon Meroz and its inhabitants for not coming to help in the battle against Sisera. The severity of the curse suggests that Meroz may have been in a position to provide significant assistance but chose not to do so. Some scholars propose identifying Meroz with el-Murussus, a village about 5 miles northwest of Beisan, on the slopes north of the Jezreel Valley, but this remains uncertain.
Approximate location: 32.687, 35.391 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
A plain in the north of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were severely condemned because they came not to help Barak against Sisera (Judg. 5:23: comp. 21:8-10; 1 Sam. 11:7). It has been identified with Marassus, on a knoll to the north of Wady Jalud, but nothing certainly is known of it. Like Chorazin, it is only mentioned in Scripture in connection with the curse pronounced upon it.
(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.
ME'ROZ (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. Jud 5:23. Wylie supposes the ruins el-Mazraah, near the river Kishon, to mark the site of Meroz; Wilson prefers Kefr-Musa, south of Tabor; and Thomson Meiron, 6 miles west of Safed, as the representative of Meroz.
ME'ROZ (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. Jud 5:23. Wylie supposes the ruins el-Mazraah, near the river Kishon, to mark the site of Meroz; Wilson prefers Kefr-Musa, south of Tabor; and Thomson Meiron, 6 miles west of Safed, as the representative of Meroz.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H4789
‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.