Mount Hermon

Hebrew: הר חרמון

Meaning: a peak

also known as: Baal-hermon (Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23), Sion (Deuteronomy 4:48), the Hermonites (Psalm 42:6), Sirion, Shenir, snowy mountain, mountain of snow

This a mountain cluster (the narrow Hermon range) on the most southern part of the anti-Lebanon range. Hermon has 3 summits and reaches a height of 9,232 feet (2,814 meters) above the Mediterranean Sea.

Jesus Christ and his disciples climbed this “high mountain apart” one day, and remained on its summit all night, “weary after their long and toilsome ascent.” During the night “he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun.” The next day they descended to Caesarea Philippi.

Mt. Hermon—satellite view

This mountain marked the north boundary of ancient Israel (Deuteronomy 3:8, 4:48; Joshua 11:3, 17; 13:11; 12:1), and can be seen from a great distance. It is about 40 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Some of its melt water feeds the Jordan River.

“In whatever part of Palestine the Israelite turned his eye northward, Hermon was there, terminating the view. From the plain along the coast, from the Jordan valley, from the heights of Moab and Gilead, from the plateau of Bashan, the pale, blue, snow-capped cone forms the one feature in the northern horizon.”

It is called “the Hermonites” (Psalm 42:6) because it has more than one summit. The Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Amorites called it Shenir (Deuteronomy 3:9; Song of Songs 4:8).

It is also called Baal-hermon (Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23) and Sion (Deuteronomy 4:48).

The abundant dew of Mt. Hermon is referred to (Psalm 133:3).

Its modern names are Mt. Hermon and Jabal al-Shaykh or Jabal ash-Shaykh—“Mountain of the Sheikh.” Today, it has a ski resort, and the mountain range’s spine is the border between modern Syria and Lebanon.

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Article Version: September 5, 2017