Jabin: Discerner; the wise.1. A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into
Canaan
(Joshua 11:1-14) whose overthrow and that of the northern
chief with whom he had entered into a confederacy against Joshua
was the crowning act in the conquest of the land
(Joshua 11:21-23)
comp.
(Joshua 14:6-15) This great battle, fought at Lake Merom, was
the last of Joshua's battles of which we have any record. Here
for the first time the Israelites encountered the iron chariots
and horses of the Canaanites.
2. Another king of Hazor, called "the king of Canaan," who
overpowered the Israelites of the north one hundred and sixty
years after Joshua's death, and for twenty years held them in
painful subjection. The whole population were paralyzed with
fear, and gave way to hopeless despondency
(Judges 5:6-11) till
Deborah and Barak aroused the national spirit, and gathering
together ten thousand men, gained a great and decisive victory
over Jabin in the plain of Esdraelon
(Judges 4:10-16) comp.
(Psalms 83:9) This was the first great victory Israel had gained
since the days of Joshua. They never needed to fight another
battle with the Canaanites
(Judges 5:31)