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Encyclopedia entry

Jabin

Discerner; the wise.

  1. Jabin (1)

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    A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into Canaan (Josh. 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 (11:21-23; comp. 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. Jabin (2)

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    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 (Judg. 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 (Judg. 4:10-16; comp. Ps. 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 (Judg. 5:31).

Also from Smith's (1884) +

(whom God observes).

King of Hazor, who organized a confederacy of the northern princes against the Israelites. (Joshua 11:1-3) Joshua surprised the allied forces by the waters of Merom, ver. 7, and utterly routed them. (B.C. 1448.) During the ensuing wars Joshua again attacked Jabin, and burnt his city. (Joshua 11:1-14) A king of Hazor, whose general, Sisera, was defeated by Barak. (Judges 4:2,13) (B.C. 1316.)

In the Bible

7

Verses where Jabin is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).

  • Joshua 11:1

    Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph;

  • Judges 4:2

    So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.

  • Judges 4:3

    Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

  • Judges 4:17

    Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

  • Judges 4:23

    On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.

  • Judges 4:24

    And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

+1 more verse naming Jabin.

Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)

Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.