Mount, Mountain
Mount Mountain
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Mountain is a somewhat elastic term expressing not only an isolated peak, but an extended range, or even a whole district of high elevation. Palestine being an exceptionally mountainous country, it was natural that Biblical writers should often allude to its physical features; but it is noteworthy that they spend little time in describing the mere scenery. To the ancients mountains played a conspicuous part in religion; they were not infrequently the scenes of theophanies, and when great men, such as Aaron and Moses, died, they were buried on the tops of mountains. Mountains are also the natural image for eternal continuance and stability. But even these monuments of firmness and stability are pictured as moved out of their place in the final cataclysm (Rev 6:14; Rev 16:20).
In apostolic history four conspicuous mountains are especially referred to: the Mount of Olives, Sinai, Zion, and the Mount (of Transfiguration).
1. The Mount of Olives ( , Act 1:12).-In this passage it is related that after the Ascension the disciples returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. Apostolic history thus begins, geographically, where Gospel history leaves off (cf. Luk 24:50-53, Mar 6:19-20). The Mount of Olives, called by the Muslims Jebel et-Tur (Mountain of Light), and Jebel ez-Zeitun (Mount of Olives), is the name of the somewhat elevated range (circa, about 2,650 ft.) lying due east of the Holy City and separated from it by the deep Kidron ravine. Its northern portion is called Scopus by Josephus (Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) v. ii. 3); its southern is known to the Arabs as Batn el-Hawa, and by many is identified as the Mount of Offence. The distance from Jerusalem to its summit is 2,000 cubits, or about 6 furlongs. This was fixed by the Rabbis as the maximum distance to be travelled on the Sabbath day. The view from Olivet is one of the most extensive in all Palestine, including the Holy City, the hill country of Judaea , much of the Jordan Valley, a portion of the Dead Sea, and the broad sweep of the mountains of Gilead and Moab.
2. Mount Sinai (, Act 7:30; Act 7:33, Gal 4:24-25, Heb 8:5; Heb 12:18; Heb 12:20).-In the first of these passages (Act 7:30; Act 7:38) the martyr Stephen recalls to his murderers minds Moses vision of the Burning Bush (Exo 3:1 ff.), and thus defends himself against the charge of speaking against Moses and the Law. In the second (Gal 4:24-25) St. Paul makes Hagar, Abrahams bondwoman, representative of the earthly Jerusalem and the bondage of the Law, whereas Sarah was free and represents the heavenly Jerusalem and the freedom of the gospel. Hagars son Ishmael was a child according to the course of nature, whereas the birth of Isaac was according to the promise, and therefore a Divine event. The whole OT story is here allegorized, and is intended to show the incompatibility of a spirit of bondage with a spirit of sonship. Mount Sinai is usually identified with Jebel Musa (circa, about 7,000 ft. in altitude), though some prefer to identify it with Jebel Serbal (circa, about 6,500 ft.), a few miles to the N. W. of the former, both being located in the southern portion of the Sinai Peninsula. Of the two passages in Hebrews, the first (Heb 8:5) affirms that the tabernacle constructed in the wilderness was a mere copy and shadow of the heavenly things, made by Moses according to the pattern that was showed him in the Mount (cf. Exo 25:40). Even the furniture of the earthly tabernacle had its heavenly archetypes; so also the priesthood of Aaron and his descendants is but a copy of the priesthood of Jesus. In the other passage from Hebrews (Heb 12:18-24) the terrors of the Old Covenant, given at Sinai, are contrasted with the glories of the New. The words a mount are not in the original of Heb 12:18, but they are implied by the words mount Zion in Heb 12:22 (cf. Heb 12:20). The Apostle paints the theophany of Sinai (Exodus 19) vividly, in order to appeal his readers with the awful sanctity of the mountain where God proclaimed His Law. So great was the sacredness of the mountain, indeed, that even unconscious trespass was visited by death.
3. Mount Zion (, Heb 12:22).-Over against Sinai, which quaked at the giving of the Law, the Apostle places Zion, using it, however, in a spiritual sense: But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, etc. The contrast between the two Dispensations is thus emphasized: Sinai, sensible, provisional, and accompanied by the physical phenomena of the world; Zion, ideal, super-sensible, abiding, final, and pertaining to the world above. To the Apostle, Zion is here not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly world of realities, Jerusalem the golden. As there was a Zion below after the order of the world, there is also a Zion above true to the ideal; the one here is only the symbolic abode of God, that above is His real abode; yea, the abode also of the Lamb (Rev 14:1).
4. The Holy Mount.-The expression occurs in St. Peters description of the transfigured glory of Christ, when we were with him in the holy mount ( , 2Pe 1:18). Doubtless the Mount of Transfiguration is meant (cf. Mat 17:1-13). This was very probably one of the spurs of Mount Hermon, Jebel esh-Sheikh, the mount of the chief. It is the highest peak in all Palestine and Syria, rising 9,050 ft. above sea-level, and covered with snow during a great part of the year. The name Hermon signifies that it was considered sacred.
5. The other references in apostolic history to mountains are for the most part mere figures of speech. For example, St. Paul says in his matchless paean on love (1Co 13:2), And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains. Mountains were the image of eternal stability, yet, though one had faith to remove the unmovable, without love one would be nothing. In Heb 11:38 there is an allusion to the sacrifices which the heroes of faith endured in OT times, wandering in deserts and mountains-mountains being symbols of the difficulties and dangers of life. On the other hand, the apostle John, attempting to describe the terrors of the Final Judgment, pictures kings as hiding themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and as saying to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us, etc. (Rev 6:15-16), the swift agony of being crushed to death being considered preferable, as the implication is, to being left face to face with an angry God. The same Seer, when the second angel sounded, beheld a great burning mountain cast into the sea (Rev 8:8). Perhaps he had seen such phenomena in his lonely life of exile amid the islands of the aegean! The allusion in Rev 17:9 is likewise figurative, The seven heads are seven mountains. Finally, the Apostle is carried in the spirit to a mountain great and high (Rev 21:10), from which as a vantage-ground of elevation he saw the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. This was St. Johns mode of describing heaven. There is a peculiar ecstasy associated with mountain tops, even to the most prosaic.
George L. Robinson.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Mount, Mountain
MOUNT, MOUNTAIN ().Mountains figure often in the narratives of Christs life. This is natural, considering the highly mountainous character of the country in which He lived. At no point in His journeyings were the mountains out of sight; and if He was not actually on or among them, they were never a great way off.
The Mount of Olives (wh. see) alone is named in the Gospelsthe mountain that rises beyond the kidron valley, east of Jerusalem, from the S. E. slope of which Bethany looks out over the wilderness. In two passages we see from the context which mountains are referred to. In Mat 21:21 to this mountain points clearly to Olivet, on which Jesus and His disciples stood, viewing the cursed and withered fig-tree. In Joh 4:20 this mountain can be no other than Gerizim, on whose rocky summit, amid the ruins of ancient splendour, the remnant of Samaritans still annually chant their weird service at the feast of the Passover. In other places, such as Mat 24:16, mountain must be taken generally as meaning the wilder and more inaccessible parts, forming natural places of refuge, Judaea itself being almost entirely mountainous (cf. Rev 6:15). So also with the haunts of the demoniac (Mar 5:5). The mountain on (Luk 8:32) or near (Mar 5:11) which the swine were feeding must have been the western edge of the great plateau which stretches from the desert to the lip of the Ghr, and drops a distance of some 2000 feet to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The place intended is probably a little north of the old fortress of Gamala, where the foot of the swift slope runs almost to the water.
Perhaps only men familiar with the steep cliffs and beetling crags of Palestinian mountains would think of calling in their terror upon the mountains to fall and cover them (Luk 23:30).
Regarding the position of three mountains there has been much discussionthe mountain of the Temptation (Mat 4:8, Luk 4:5), the Mount of Beatitudes (Mat 5:1), and the Mount of Transfiguration (Mat 17:1 etc.).
The evidence we possess is mainly negative, tending to show that traditional identifications are impossible. As to the first, if any actual height is intended, Jebel Kuruntul, with its cave-fretted brows frowning over Jericho, and the district to the south, are bleak and inhospitable enough, and there certainly the sojourner by night would be with the wild beasts (Mar 1:13) But there is no height at all suggesting the description an exceeding high mountain.
The tradition identifying Karn Hattin with the scene of the Sermon on the Mount dates only from Crusading times. To the traveller journeying towards Tiberias from Nazareth or Tabor, the double-peaked hill seems easy of approach. But from any part of the seashore the ascent is steep, and from Gennesaret, where our Lord was at work, the way, as the present writer knows from much experience, is both long and toilsome. With so many heights near the plain, quite suitable for the Masters purpose, the necessity for this difficult journey is not apparent. Further, certain traces of ancient buildings lend colour to the idea that, in our Lords time, the hill may have been occupied.
The Roman and Greek Churches still maintain the traditional identification of Mount Tabor with the scene of the Transfiguration, and, in accordance with their separate calendars, that august event is annually commemorated there. It must be remembered, however, that they have much valuable property on the mountainthe great monasterieswhich an admission of error would render worthless, while the contributions received from streams of pilgrims would be diverted. Most modern students of the question locate the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon; if not on the summit itself, on one of the lower spurs. This would satisfy the requirements of the narrative; whereas the journey south to Tabor, through Galilee, and back again to Capernaum, within the time specified, while possible, is highly improbable. The present writer spent some weeks in the summer of 1891 on the top of Tabor, and was led to emphatic agreement with the opinion that the presence of a town or fortress on the mountain in the days of Christ makes the traditional identification utterly impossible. See art. Transfiguration.
On a mountain in Galilee the risen Jesus gave His disciples their great commission (Mat 28:16). The circumstances suggest some height familiar to all, not far from the scenes of the Galilaean ministry, commanding a wide prospect. Certain identification is, of course, impossible, but these conditions are well fulfilled by Jebel Kann, a bold headland projecting southward from the great bulk of Naphtali. The spacious view ranges from Carmel and the Mediterranean to the eastern ridges of Bashan, and from snowy Hermon to the dim mountains guarding the Dead Sea. In the great hollow below sleep the blue waters of Galilee, the white-sailed fishing boats recalling imperishable memories.
In hours of devotion Jesus seemed to long for the solitude and stillness to be found only on lonely heights by night (Mat 14:23, Mar 6:46, Luk 6:12; Luk 9:28, Joh 6:15). From a mountain at last He passed into the invisible (Luk 24:50, Act 1:9; Act 1:12). See also art. Hill.
Literature.G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] , p. 47 ff.; W. M. Ramsay, Education of Christ, cf. ExpT [Note: xpT Expository Times.] xiv. [1903] p. 194.
W. Ewing.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Mount, Mountain
MOUNT, MOUNTAIN.Although on the whole a mountainous country, Palestine has few striking or commanding peaks to show; consequently, though we find frequent mention of mountains in the Bible, there are comparatively few names of individual summits. Mountain, as well as its cognate mount, is used both of isolated elevations and of extensive districts of lofty groundsuch as Sinai, Horeb, Carmel on the one hand, Mount Seir or the Mountain of Gilead on the other.
Mountains served various functions to the ancient inhabitants of the land. (1) They were dwelling-places, for which the numerous caves, natural and artificial, excavated in their soft limestone sides, well fitted them: thus Esau dwelt in Mount Seir (Gen 36:8). (2) They served the purpose of landmarks: thus Mount Hor was indicated (Num 34:7) as a boundary of the Promised Land. (3) They were used as platforms, for addressing large crowds of people, as in the famous ceremony at Ebal and Gerizim (Jos 8:30 ff.), in the address of Jotham to the Shechemites (Jdg 9:7), and that of Abijah to the Ephraimites (2Ch 13:4). (4) They were burial-places (sepulchres that were in the mount, 2Ki 23:16). (5) They served as refuges (Gen 14:10, Mat 24:16); (6) as military camps (1Sa 17:3); (7) as sources of wood and plants (2Ch 2:18, Neh 8:15, Hag 1:8); (8) as watch-towers and look-out stations (Eze 40:2, Mat 4:8); (9) as pasturage (Psa 50:10, Luk 8:32); (10) as fortresses (Psa 125:2). Their obvious fitness for typifying strength and endurance gives rise to metaphors and comparisons to be found in almost every book of both Testaments.
But it is in their aspect as holy places that mountains are of the deepest interest to the student of the Scriptures or of Palestine. In modern Palestine almost every hill a little loftier or more striking than its fellows is crowned by a domed shrine, now regarded as the tomb of a Moslem saint, but no doubt the representative of a sacred precinct that goes back to the earliest Semitic inhabitants of the land. Sinai, Horeb, Carmel occur to the memory at once as mountains consecrated by a theophany. The worship at high places was so deeply engrained in the Hebrews that no amount of legislation could eradicate it; the severe discipline of the Exile was needed for its destruction.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Mount, Mountain
mount, mountin. See HILL, MOUNT, MOUNTAIN.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mount, Mountain
The ordinary word for this is har , which is employed both for the mountain ranges, some of which run through Palestine from north to south, and also for the higher mountains that rise upon those ranges or on the plains. Thus in 2Ch 13:4 it says “Mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim,” which means that mount Zemaraim was situated in the hill-country of Ephraim. Mount Ephraim does not refer to any particular mountain; but to the range of hills, or hill country in Ephraim, extending from Bethel to the plains of Jezreel. In like manner there are parts that can be called hill-country throughout all the land, as in Jos 13:6; Luk 1:39; Luk 1:65. Each of the mountains is considered under its own name.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Mount, Mountain
is used (a) without specification, e.g., Luk 3:5 (distinct from bounos, “a hill,” see HILL, No. 3); Joh 4:20; (b) of “the Mount of Transfiguration,” Mat 17:1, Mat 17:9; Mar 9:2, Mar 9:9; Luk 9:28, Luk 9:37 (AV, “hill”); 2Pe 1:18; (c) of “Zion,” Heb 12:22; Rev 14:1; (d) of “Sinai,” Act 7:30, Act 7:38; Gal 4:24-25; Heb 8:5; Heb 12:20; (e) of “the Mount of Olives,” Mat 21:1; Mat 24:3; Mar 11:1; Mar 13:3; Luk 19:29, Luk 19:37; Luk 22:39; Joh 8:1; Act 1:12; (f) of “the hill districts as distinct from the lowlands,” especially of the hills above the Sea of Galilee, e.g., Mat 5:1; Mat 8:1; Mat 18:12; Mar 5:5; (g) of “the mountains on the east of Jordan” and “those in the land of Ammon” and “the region of Petra,” etc., Mat 24:16; Mar 13:14; Luk 21:21; (h) proverbially, “of overcoming difficulties, or accomplishing great things,” 1Co 13:2; cp. Mat 17:20; Mat 21:21; Mar 11:23; (i) symbolically, of “a series of the imperial potentates of the Roman dominion, past and future,” Rev 17:9. See HILL.