An important hill in lower Galilee located in the northeast area of the Jezreel Valley. About six miles (9.7 kilometers) east of Nazareth, Tabor rises suddenly from flat land around it. Though not the tallest mountain in the area at 587.9 meters (1,929 feet), Mount Tabor was an important landmark.
Mount Tabor defined the western boundary of Issachar’s tribe (Joshua 19:22). It was a useful navigation tool on the international coastal highway, the Via Maris. The highway passed through Megiddo in Galilee on the way to Hazor. Mount Tabor was sometimes compared with Mount Hermon far to the north (Psalms 89:12; compare Jeremiah 46:18).
What Important Events Happened at Mount Tabor?
In the Old Testament, Mount Tabor is mentioned in the book of Judges when Deborah and Barak fight the Canaanite army. Sisera, the commander of a Canaanite army from Hazor led the army (Judges 4:1–24). Barak’s troops from the nearby tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun met on Mount Tabor. At Deborah’s command, the Israelites launched a successful campaign against Sisera. Gideon finally confronted Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midanite kings who had killed his brothers, at Mount Tabor (Judges 8:18).
The peak of Mount Tabor is 1.3 square kilometers (a half-mile square). It was strategically located and easily fortified. During the Old Testament kingdom period, shrines for worship may have been there (see Hosea 5:1), but by the Greek era, military defenses. The Ptolemies strengthened it, and by the time of Antiochus III (218 BC), Tabor may have become the administrative center of the Jezreel Valley. Various conflicts took place on Mount Tabor during the Roman era. In the major Jewish war of AD 66, Josephus fortified the hill with a large wall, which is still visible.
Did the Transfiguration of Jesus Happen on Mount Tabor?
Since the fourth century, people have believed Mount Tabor is where a miraculous event called the Transfiguration took place—when Jesus's appearance suddenly changed and became bright with heavenly light (Mark 9:2–13). This is uncertain since the New Testament does not mention Mount Tabor by name. Helena, the mother of emperor Constantine, claimed many places as historical sites in Israel and Palestine. She was certain the Transfiguration occurred on Mount Tabor, and in AD 326 she built a church on the site. Shrines, monasteries, and churches were built up on the hill until Arab conquerer Saladin destroyed them at the end of the 12th century. Today a Greek Orthodox monastery and a Latin basilica dating from the 19th century can be seen on the mountain.