Mount Hermon in the Bible is located on the northern state border of Israel. The mountain massif is situated in the border area between Lebanon, Israel, and Syria. Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Syria, and on its southwestern flank is the highest point of the Israeli-controlled territories (Golan Heights), with a height of 2224 meters. The distance to the summit from this point is about 11.5 kilometers. Most of the Hermon Mountains are on Syrian territory. Southwest of this mountain range, at a distance of about 7 kilometers, begins the Hule Valley, or the Hula Plain.

Mount Hermon is a 2814-meter-high mountain in the Middle East in the border area between Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. In the Arabic language, the mountain is referred to as Jabal al-Sheikh. The Hermon Mountains stretch along the Syrian-Lebanese border for 25 kilometers in a southwest-northeast orientation. In the south, the mountain range ends on the Golan Heights, annexed by Israel. In the northeast, the mountains of Anti -Lebanon join the hills. Through its height, Hermon gathers on its western flank considerable precipitation, which feeds various sources. The three Jordan springs, Hasbani, Dan, and Banyas, also rise on the south and west side.

The mountain is mainly made of limestone and volcanic rocks in between. Due to its height of 2814 meters above sea level. Until the Six-Day War in 1967, the southwestern slopes of Mount Hermon in the Bible belonged to Syria; on June 10, 1967, these territories were conquered by Israel and the Golan and annexed on December 14, 1981. The internationally recognized boundary runs at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Bible.

Where is Mount Hermon in the Bible located?

From a biblical point of view, the mountain formed the northern border of the kingdom of Israel. According to the description in the Book of Judges 3.3. In Mount Hermon in the Bible, there is a reference to the fact that there were pagan cults of the Canaanites on Mount Hermon. The massif is called Mount Lebanon, and the mountain is called Baal-Hermon there. In the New Testament, Hermon only plays an indirect role. According to the Gospels, Jesus stayed in Caesarea Philippi at the foot of the mountain, in today’s area of ​​Banyas.

Until the Six-Day War in 1967, the southwestern slopes of Mount Hermon in the Bible belonged to Syria. On June 10, 1967, these territories, along with the Golan, were conquered by Israel and annexed on December 14, 1981. For Israel, whose internationally recognized border runs at the foot of the mountain, the mountain is of significant strategic importance. It is an observation post for the Israeli military intelligence service Aman over western Syria. The Israeli armed forces’ various facilities have located the size of ​​the southern flank. The Hermon Hotel, the world’s highest UN base, is located directly below the summit, manned by UN soldiers as part of Operation UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force).

Representation of Mount Hermon in the Bible

Birkat Ram

At the foot of the Hermon Mountains, near the Druze village of Mas’adeh, there is a peculiarity in Israel – Birkat Ram – a small lake without an outlet. Birket Ram is a crater lake (maar- such as the Maare in der Eifel, Germany) northeast of the Golan Heights, near the Hermon Mountains. Indeed, the only sources of the lake are rainwater and an underground spring. The lake is traditionally referred to as ” Berekhat Ram, “which means “high pond.” Many Druze traditionally live in this area. 

During excavations, traces from the early Bronze Age were found as evidence of settlement in the Byzantine period. Most notably, holes in 1981 led to the discovery of the ” Venus of Berekhat Ram, “a Venus figurine estimated to be between 250,000 – 280,000 years old. This artifact is the oldest known example of performing arts in the world.

Primary Takeaways

• Tel Dan is a hilltop settlement of the tribe of Dan, about 20 meters high and 20 hectares in size, at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Bible, about a kilometer north of present-day Kibbutz Dan at the northern end of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Here is also the largest of the three Jordan sources with the source river Dan. After water planners tried to derive the source in 1966, conservationists prevailed, and Tel Dan became a nature reserve.
  
• Kiryat Shmonah (also referred to as Kiryat Shmona or Qiryat Shmona) is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the northwestern edge of the Hula Valley. The town was founded in 1949 as a Jewish refugee camp and later developed city on the ruins of the Palestinian village of al-Khalsa, which had been destroyed in the Israeli War of Independence a year earlier. 
• Therefore, in choosing Mount Hermon in the Bible, the Lord Jesus wanted to attract the attention of His disciples for what it represents, described in the Prophetic Psalm. Prophetic because it speaks of the union, harmony, and perfect peace of the children of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, it portrays the picture of God’s family gathered around his throne.

Conclusion

The mountain represents a complex, robust and powerful place that is not that of everyday life. It, therefore, becomes a designated place for the divine life. The main feature of the mountain is its elevation to the sky. As if it were a natural altar leaning toward God. It is curious to find among the ancient names of JHWH. ʾĒl ʿĒlyōn, the Highest, and also ʾĒl Shaddaj, the Montanaro, He who dwells on the tops of the mountains.

Also, Mount Hermon in the Bible (2813mt) represents the northern border of the Promised Land. From its slopes rises the Jordan, the river where St. John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Even the transfiguration of Jesus took place on this mountain, called Mount Hermon in the Bible, showing His willingness to see also the followers transfigured. That is, transformed according to the Glory of God to hear the same Voice of the Father. Which says: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” New creatures. Celestial creatures carry within themselves the image and likeness of the Highest, like Adam and Eve, before sin.