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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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CARMEL

1. Mountainous ridge extending about 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) along the Mediterranean Sea and jutting southeastward into the Jezreel Valley. Its greatest width at the southeast is 13 miles (20.9 kilometers); its highest point, 1,742 feet (530.7 meters). Geologically, the ridge is of the same Cenomanian limestone formation as the central range of Palestine. Mt Carmel forms a headland south of the Bay of Acre. The modern city of Haifa, which rises in tiers on Carmel’s northwestern corner, has splendid harbor facilities. Nestled in Mt Carmel’s slopes are also several Jewish settlements and two large Druze villages. (Druzes are members of a particular Muslim sect.) The plain of Sharon extends to the south.

Mt Carmel was renowned for its beauty and fertility (Is 33:9 (RV · LV · Read together); 35:2 (RV · LV · Read together)); in ancient times it was forested with oak trees, olive groves, and vineyards. “Carmel” is a contraction of a Hebrew word meaning “vineyard” or “garden of God.” Parts of Carmel were so covered with dense wild vegetation that, with its gorges and caves, the ridge provided refuge to robbers and outcasts (Am 9:3 (RV · LV · Read together)). Carmel is still forested, and large parts of it have been made a nature reserve. The biblical poet of love described his beloved by saying, “Your head is as majestic as Mount Carmel” (Sg 7:5 (RV · LV SNG 7:6 · Read together), NLT)—perhaps likening her hair to the thick, luxuriant foliage of Carmel.

Mt Carmel was an obstacle to north-south military and trade routes. Conquerors and traders commonly skirted its base and moved through the Jezreel Valley to the east or the Zebulun Valley to the northeast. Important passes cut through the mountain, however, such as the narrow pass through the lower slopes at its southern end linking the plains of Sharon and Esdraelon. That route was taken by Pharaoh Thutmose III early in the 15th century BC and also by British Lord Allenby when he conquered Palestine in 1918. The tribal territories of Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, and Manasseh met at Mt Carmel, but evidently possession of the heights was never fully settled.

Mt Carmel seems to have had special religious significance. It was the scene of a contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18 (RV · LV · Read together)); the site was fitting because Carmel was disputed territory between Israel and the Phoenicians, and thus between the Phoenician god Baal and Israel’s God. Elijah was not the first to build a Hebrew altar on the mountain; the narrative describes him as repairing a ruined “altar of the Lord” before offering his sacrifice (v 30 (RV · LV · Read together)). The traditional location of that contest is Qeren ha-Carmel at 1,581 (481.7 meters), overlooking the Jezreel Valley. The brook Kishon (v 40 (RV · LV · Read together)) flows through that valley and around to the north of Carmel before emptying into the Bay of Acre.

2. Town in Judah (Jos 15:55 (RV · LV · Read together)) identified with el-Kirmil (Kermel), seven miles (11.3 kilometers) south of Hebron. King Saul set up a memorial to his conquest of the Amalekites there (1 Sm 15:12 (RV · LV · Read together)). Carmel was also the home of Nabal, a churlish man who refused kindness to David (25:2-14 (RV · LV · Read together)). After Nabal’s death, his beautiful wife, Abigail, married David. Carmel is mentioned as the home of Hezro, one of David’s 30 heroes (2 Sm 23:35 (RV · LV · Read together)).