The scene is removed to the waters of Merom, near the sources of the Jordan. Hazer was the capital of the region; Jabin, like Pharaoh, was an hereditary title, Judges 4:2. All the northern nations combined. Joshua’s heart might well have failed, had it not been for the divine promise on the night before the battle, verse 6.

His attack under cover of night was like the falling of a thunderbolt. The effect was immediate. The huge host dissolved. The hocking of the horses disabled them, - so that Israel was not tempted to trust in chariots and horses, Deut. 17:16; Iso. 31:1. God’s will was literally carried out. But what a noble record is given of this simple-minded soldier! “He left nothing undone,” verse 15. It is only as we literally obey that we can count on such success as his. See 2 Tim. 4:7.