Original Word: שִׁמְרוֹן מְראוֹן
Part of Speech: Proper Name Location
Transliteration: Shimrown Mro'wn
Pronunciation: shim-ROHN meh-ROHN
Phonetic Spelling: (shim-rone' mer-one')
KJV: Shimon-meron
NASB: Shimron-meron
Word Origin: [from H8110 (שִׁמרוֹן - Shimron) and a derivative of H4754 (מָרָא - lifts)]

1. guard of lashing
2. Shimron-Meron, a place in Israel

Shimon-meron

From Shimrown and a derivative of mara'; guard of lashing; Shimron-Meron, a place in Palestine -- Shimon-meron.

see HEBREW Shimrown

see HEBREW mara'

Word Origin
from shamar and mara
Definition
a Canaanite city conquered by Joshua, the same as NH8110a
NASB Translation
Shimron-meron (1).

Biblical Occurrence

Shimron-meron appears once, in the catalog of defeated Canaanite rulers (Joshua 12:20). Its king is the twentieth named among the thirty-one kings subdued under Joshua.

Geographical Context

Most scholars locate the site in Upper Galilee, between the plain of Acco and the Hula Basin, near modern Meron and Mount Meron (the highest peak in western Galilee). This position places it a few miles northwest of the Waters of Merom—precisely where the northern coalition of kings massed before Joshua’s surprise attack (Joshua 11:5-7). The double name may indicate either (1) a single city distinguished by a nearby landmark (Meron), or (2) a twin-city polity in which the stronghold at Shimron controlled the pasturelands around Meron.

Historical Significance in the Conquest

1. Part of Jabin’s Northern Confederacy
• Joshua 11:1 lists “the king of Shimron” among the leaders summoned by Jabin of Hazor.
• The coalition fielded “horsemen and chariots, and a vast host, as numerous as the sand on the seashore” (Joshua 11:4).

2. Defeat at the Waters of Merom
• Joshua’s forced march from Gilgal culminated in a sudden uphill strike that shattered the alliance (Joshua 11:7-9).
• Shimron-meron’s fall displayed the LORD’s fulfillment of the promise, “Tomorrow I will give all of them slain before Israel” (Joshua 11:6).

3. Permanent Record of Victory
• Joshua 12 preserves a legal ledger of conquered kings. By naming Shimron-meron, Scripture certifies that even strongholds linked with chariot warfare could not withstand Israel’s God.

Later Tribal Allotments and Possible Identifications

• Shimron is listed among Zebulun’s inheritance (Joshua 19:15).
• Meron (or Maron) later lies inside Naphtali’s territory (Joshua 20:7; 21:32, if the identification with Kedesh-in-Naphtali and its environs is correct).
• Tell Shimron (Tell Samuniyeh) and Khirbet Maroun have yielded Late Bronze pottery consistent with a flourishing Canaanite city-state in Joshua’s era.

Theological Themes and Ministry Insights

1. Completeness of Divine Victory

Joshua 12:20, by itemizing even lesser-known kings, underlines that no enemy, whether great like Hazor or obscure like Shimron-meron, escaped the sweep of God’s judgment. Believers may rest in the total sufficiency of Christ’s triumph over every power (Colossians 2:15).

2. God’s Faithfulness to Promise

From the first assurance in Joshua 1:5—“No man shall stand against you”—to the ledger of chapter 12, Scripture traces a straight line of fulfilled promise. Shimron-meron stands as a historical marker that God keeps His word down to the last detail.

3. Encouragement for Obedience

Joshua acted “without turning aside from all that the LORD had commanded” (Joshua 11:15). The fall of fortified Shimron-meron reinforces that obedience, not numerical strength, secures victory for God’s people.

4. Warning Against Alliance with the World

Shimron-meron joined a coalition that seemed strategically invincible yet was swiftly overthrown. The episode cautions against trusting in worldly alliances opposed to God’s purposes (Psalm 20:7; James 4:4).

Key Scripture

“the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one” (Joshua 12:20).

Summary

Though mentioned only once, Shimron-meron contributes to the tapestry of Joshua’s conquest by highlighting the breadth of the LORD’s dominion. Its inclusion in the inspired record reminds readers that every opponent of God’s redemptive plan—named or nameless, mighty or modest—must eventually bow before the King of kings.

מְראוֹן֙ מראון mə·r·’ō·wn mər’ōwn merOnInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts