A town in the hill country of the territory of Judah.
About Carmel (of Judah)
A mountain ridge that stretches about 32.2 kilometers (20 miles) along the Mediterranean Sea and extends southeast into the Jezreel Valley. Its widest point at the southeast is 20.9 kilometers (13 miles). Its highest peak stands at 530.7 meters (1,742 feet). The ridge is made of the same limestone as the central mountains of Palestine.
The mountain forms a point of land that extends into the sea south of the Bay of Acre. The modern city of Haifa, which is built on different levels of the hillside on the northwest corner of Carmel, has excellent harbor facilities. Several Jewish settlements and two large Druze villages are also located on the slopes of Mount Carmel. (Druzes are members of a distinct sect within Islam.) The plain of Sharon extends to the south.
Mount Carmel was known for its beauty and fertile land (Isaiah 33:9; 35:2). In ancient times, it was covered with oak forests, olive trees, and vineyards. The name “Carmel” comes from a Hebrew word that means “vineyard” or “garden of God.” The mountain was so thick with wild plants that, along with its gorges and caves, it became a hideout for robbers and people rejected by society (Amos 9:3).
Today, Mount Carmel is still forested, and large areas have been turned into a nature reserve. In Song of Solomon 7:5, the poet describes his beloved, saying, "Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel," perhaps suggesting her hair was thick and full like the many trees on the mountain.
Mount Carmel’s rocky terrain was a barrier to north-south trade and military routes. Most conquerors and traders went around it. They traveled through the Jezreel Valley to the east or the Zebulun Valley to the northeast. However, important passes cut through the mountain. One narrow pass at the southern end connects the plains of Sharon and Esdraelon. Pharaoh Thutmose III used this pass in the 15th century BC. British General Lord Allenby used it in 1918 when he conquered Palestine. The tribal lands of Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, and Manasseh met at Mount Carmel, but it seems that none of the tribes fully controlled the mountain’s heights.
Mount Carmel also held religious importance. It was the site of the famous confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). This was a good location because Mount Carmel lay between Israel and Phoenicia. It demonstrated the struggle between the Phoenician god Baal and the God of Israel. Elijah was not the first to build an altar to God on the mountain. Before offering his sacrifice, he repaired an old, ruined altar of the Lord (1 Kings 18:30).
The event's traditional site is Qeren ha-Carmel. It is 481.7 meters (1,581 feet) high and overlooks the Jezreel Valley. The small stream Kishon, mentioned in 1 Kings 18:40) runs through the Jezreel Valley and around the north side of Mount Carmel before emptying into the Bay of Acre.
Key References
Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
All Scripture References (25)
Joshua (3)
the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,
Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath,
1 Samuel (8)
Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.
When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”
David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.
to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;
2 Samuel (3)
So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
1 Chronicles (2)
These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;
Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai son of Ezbai,
2 Chronicles (1)
Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
Song of Solomon (1)
How fair and pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!
Isaiah (2)
The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
Jeremiah (2)
As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
Amos (2)
He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
Nahum (1)
He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.