Hermon

Hermon is a high mountain at the northern edge of the land Israel took east of the Jordan. Moses speaks of it as the far point of that territory, “from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon,” and notes that other peoples used other names for it, Sirion and Shenir. The half tribe of Manasseh spread out in that region. The Song of Solomon places it among wild, faraway heights, calling a beloved to come down from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens. In these verses Hermon works as a landmark, a boundary line that people on every side could see.

5 verses

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 3:8

And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;

Deuteronomy 3:9

( Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)

Deuteronomy 4:48

From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 5:23

And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon.

Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 4:8

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

A peak, the eastern prolongation of the Anti-Lebanon range, reaching to the height of about 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean. It marks the north boundary of Palestine (Deut. 3:8, 4:48; Josh. 11:3, 17; 13:11; 12:1), and is seen from a great distance. It is about 40 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It is called “the Hermonites” (Ps. 42:6) because it has more than one summit. The Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir (Deut. 3:9; Cant. 4:8). It is also called Baal-hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chr. 5:23) and Sion (Deut. 4:48). There is every probability that one of its three summits was the scene of the transfiguration (q.v.). The “dew of Hermon” is referred to (Ps. 89: 12). Its modern name is Jebel-esh-Sheikh, “the chief mountain.” It is one of the most conspicuous mountains in Palestine or Syria. “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.”

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Our Lord 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.

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(a peak, summit), a mountain on the northeastern border of Palestine, (3:8; Joshua 12:1) over against Lebanon, (Joshua 11:17) adjoining the plateau of Bashan. (1 Chronicles 5:23) It stands at the southern end, and is the culminating point of the anti-Libanus range; it towers high above the ancient border city of Dan and the fountains of the Jordan, and is the most conspicuous and beautiful mountain in Palestine or Assyria. At the present day it is called Jebel esh-Sheikh , "the chief mountain," and Jebel eth-Thelj , "snowy mountain." When the whole country is parched with the summer sun, white lines of snow streak the head of Hermon. This mountain was the great landmark of the Israelites. It was associated with their northern border almost as intimately as the sea was with the western. Hermon has three summits, situated like the angles of a triangle, and about a quarter of a mile from each other. In two passages of Scripture this mountain is called Baal-hermon , (Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23) possibly because Baal was there worshipped. (It is more than probable that some part of Hermon was the scene of the transfiguration, as it stands near Caesarea Philippi, where we know Christ was just before that event --ED.) The height of Hermon has never been measured, though it has often been estimated. It may safely be reckoned at 10,000 feet.