Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
A peak, the eastern prolongation of the Anti-Lebanon range, reaching to the height of about 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean. It marks the north boundary of Palestine (Deut. 3:8, 4:48; Josh. 11:3, 17; 13:11; 12:1), and is seen from a great distance. It is about 40 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It is called “the Hermonites” (Ps. 42:6) because it has more than one summit. The Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir (Deut. 3:9; Cant. 4:8). It is also called Baal-hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chr. 5:23) and Sion (Deut. 4:48). ). The “dew of Hermon” is referred to (Ps. 89: 12).
” It is one of the most conspicuous mountains in Palestine or Syria. “In whatever part of Palestine the Israelite turned his eye northward, Hermon was there, terminating the view. ” The next day they descended to Caesarea Philippi.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(a peak, summit), a mountain on the northeastern border of Palestine, (3:8; Joshua 12:1) over against Lebanon, (Joshua 11:17) adjoining the plateau of Bashan. (1 Chronicles 5:23) It stands at the southern end, and is the culminating point of the anti-Libanus range; it towers high above the ancient border city of Dan and the fountains of the Jordan, and is the most conspicuous and beautiful mountain in Palestine or Assyria. ” When the whole country is parched with the summer sun, white lines of snow streak the head of Hermon. This mountain was the great landmark of the Israelites.
It was associated with their northern border almost as intimately as the sea was with the western. Hermon has three summits, situated like the angles of a triangle, and about a quarter of a mile from each other. In two passages of Scripture this mountain is called Baal-hermon, (Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23) possibly because Baal was there worshipped. ) The height of Hermon has never been measured, though it has often been estimated. It may safely be reckoned at 10,000 feet.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
" It has three peaks or summits, hence called "the Herinons;" incorrectly rendered "the Hermonites," Ps 42:6. Hermon was the northern limit of the territory of Israel beyond the Jordan, Deut 3:8; Deut 4:48; Josh 11:3, 1 Kgs 11:17; Acts 13:11. Hermon and Tabor are the representatives of all the mountains of the Promised Land, Ps 89:12; Ps 42:6; Ps 133:3. Some of the names of Hermon may refer to different peaks of the mountain, Deut 3:9; Song 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23. Hermon rises to an elevation of 9000 feet above the Mediterranean.
The top is partially crowned with snow, or rather ice, during the whole year, which, however, lies only in the ravines, and thus presents at a distance the appearance of radiant stripes around and below the summit. The high ridge Jebel-ed-Duhy, on the north of the valley of Jezreel, is sometimes called the Little Hermon, but Jebel-esh-Sheikh is the true and only Hermon of the Scriptures. See cut p. 371. Physical Features. " The mountain constitutes a part of the great Anti-Lebanon range, running from northeast to south-west for over 30 miles.
Its rock-formation is hard limestone, covered at places with soft chalk, while basalt appears in some-spurs. The top of the mountain may be described as consisting of three peaks or summits, of which two are approximately north and south, about 400 yards apart, and of almost equal height, being joined by a flat plateau depressed in the middle. The third peak, 600 yards to the west, is about 100 feet lower, and divided by a valley-head from the former. " The two principal peaks are each 9053 feet above the level of the sea and 11,000 feet above the Ghor or Jordan depression.
No ruins are found, except on the southern peak, where is a hollow bounded by an oval enclosure of stones well hewn. At its southern end is a sacellum, or temple, nearly destroyed. — See Our Work in Palestine, p. 245. In winter the snow extends down the mountain-side for about 5000 feet; it melts as summer advances, until in September only a little is left in the crevices and shaded hollows. In November the snow begins to cover the mountain again. Hence the best time for the ascent is from June to early autumn.
Bears are frequently seen on Mount Hermon, and foxes, wolves, and various kinds of game abound. Porter describes the sides and top of Hermon as the acme of barren desolation; but Tristram, visiting it at a different season, found "many boreal forms of life both in fauna and flora," and from Hermon added 50 species to his catalogue of plants. — See Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 613.
" The traveller may look down upon Sidon, Tyre, the Mediterranean, Mount Carmel, Gerizim, the hills about Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, Gilead and Nebo, the Jordan Valley, Gennesaret, Damascus, Lebanon, etc. Bible History. — Mount Hermon was a great landmark to the Israelites, as it marked their north-eastern boundary. Deut 3:8; Josh 12:1. Joshua extended his conquest nearly to that point. Josh 11:17. The Hebrews extolled its majestic height, Ps 89:12, and its copious dew, Ps 133:4. Modern travellers note the abundant dews, which drench everything, and from which tents afford small protection.
These abundant dews are accounted for by the fact that in the daytime the hot air comes streaming up the Ghor from Lake Huleh, while Hermon arrests the moisture and deposits it congealed at night. " Conder notes it as a curious observation that "on the summit of Hermon there is often a sudden accumulation of cloud, as quickly again dispersed, often visible when the remainder of the atmosphere is perfectly clear. . . .
" Caesarea Philippi, where Christ was just before the transfiguration, is at the foot of Hermon, and there are several retired places on the mountain-side where it might well have occurred. It fits into the points of the narrative in the Gospels far better than Tabor, where the monastic tradition (Greek and Latin) locates this wonderful event. See Tabor.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
anathema; devoted to destruction