Kishon

Deborah’s song gives the Kishon its best-known line: “The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon” (Judges 5:21). Sisera had gathered “nine hundred chariots of iron” along that river (Judges 4:13), and the same stream that had looked like open ground for him became the end of his army. Centuries later it appears again, when Elijah brings the prophets of Baal down to the brook Kishon after the contest on Carmel (1 Kings 18:40). One small river, two turning points. Judges 4 and 5 tell the first story, once as narrative and once as song.

4 verses

Judges

Judges 4:7

And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.

Judges 4:13

And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

Judges 5:21

The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

1 Kings

1 Kings 18:40

And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into the Mediterranean at the north-eastern corner of the bay of Acre, at the foot of Carmel. It is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains that surround it find their way to the sea. It bears the modern name of Nahr el-Mokattah, i.e., “the river of slaughter” (comp. 1 Kings 18:40). In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judg. 5:21) it is spoken of as “that ancient river,” either (1) because it had flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the Targum, because it was “the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel of old;” or (3) probably the reference is to the exploits in that region among the ancient Canaanites, for the adjoining plain of Esdraelon was the great battle-field of Palestine.

Read the full entry

This was the scene of the defeat of Sisera (Judg. 4:7, 13), and of the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 Kings 18:40). “When the Kishon was at its height, it would be, partly on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean itself to a retreating army.” (See DEBORAH.)

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(winding), The river, a torrent or winter stream of central Palestine, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Israelitish history --the defeat of Sisera, Judges 4, and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah. (1 Kings 18:40) The Nahr Mukutta , the modern representative of the Kishon, is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains which enclose that plain find their way through the plain of Acre to the Mediterranean. The part of the Kishon at which the prophets of Baal were slaughtered by Elijah was doubtless close below the spot on Carmel where the sacrifice had taken place.