Eric Cline

Yeah.

So they march up, he says, in like 10 days.

They march up to Yechem, and they stop, and they have a war council, because it seems that there are three ways to get to Megiddo from where they are.

There is the central way, which is the fastest, but also the most narrow, and therefore susceptible to ambush.

And that comes right out of Megiddo.

It's known as the Wadi Arra, the Nahal Irron,

It's still used today to get up there.

The other two ways are more roundabout.

One goes around to the north.

and comes out by Yochniam, and the other comes around to the south and comes out by Tanakh.

Well, his generals said, please don't go up the middle route.

It's suicide, basically.

Take either the northern route or the southern route.

And Thutmose III tells us that he said to the generals, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, that's exactly what the Canaanites will be expecting, because

They know that I'm not that stupid, that I would go up the central route, you know, that would be, you know, committing suicide.

And he said, but you know what?

I am that stupid.

I'm going to go right up there because they're not going to be expecting it.

And we're told in the inscription that they went one guy after the next, and it took like 12 hours, and they came out at Megiddo, and sure enough, it was unguarded.

The Canaanites were at the northern and the southern border.