in the southern part of Palestine, where Nabal the Carmelite,
Abigail’s husband, dwelt, Joshua xv, 55; 1 Sam. xxv.
2. CARMEL was also the name of a celebrated mountain in Palestine.
Though spoken of in general as a single mountain, it ought rather to be
considered as a mountainous region, the whole of which was known by the
name of Carmel, while to one of the hills, more elevated than the rest,
that name was usually applied by way of eminence. It had the plain of
Sharon on the south; overlooked the port of Ptolemais on the north; and
was bounded on the west by the Mediterranean sea; forming one of the
most remarkable promontories that present themselves on the shores of
that great sea. According to Volney, it is about two thousand feet in
height, and has the shape of a flattened cone. Its sides are steep and
rugged; the soil neither deep nor rich; and among the naked rocks
stinted with plants, and wild forests which it presents to the eye,
there are at present but few traces of that fertility which we are
accustomed to associate with the idea of Mount Carmel. Yet even Volney
himself acknowledges that he found among the brambles, wild vines and
olive trees, which proved that the hand of industry had once been
employed on a not ungrateful soil. Of its ancient productiveness there
can be no doubt; the etymology and ordinary application of its name
being sufficient evidence of the fact. Carmel is not only expressly
mentioned in Scripture as excelling other districts in that respect;
but, every place possessed of the same kind of excellence obtained from
it the same appellation in the language both of the prophets and the
people. Mount Carmel is celebrated in the Old Testament, as the usual
place of residence of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha. It was here that
Elijah so successfully opposed the false prophets of Baal, 1 Kings
xviii; and there is a certain part of the mountain facing the west, and
about eight miles from the point of the promontory, which the Arabs call
Mansur, and the Europeans the place of sacrifice, in commemoration of
that miraculous event. Near the same place is also still shown a cave,
in which it is said the Prophet had his residence. The brook Kishon,
which issues from Mount Tabor, waters the bottom of Carmel, and falls
into the sea toward the northern side of the mountain, and not the
southern, as some writers have erroneously stated. Its greatest
elevation is about one thousand five hundred feet; hence, when the sea
coast on one side, and the plain on the other, are oppressed with sultry
heat, this hill is refreshed by cooling breezes, and enjoys a delightful
temperature. The fastnesses of this rugged mountain are so difficult of
access, that the Prophet Amos classes them with the deeps of hell, the
height of heaven, and the bottom of the sea: “Though they dig into
hell,” (or the dark and silent chambers of the grave,) “thence shall
mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring
them down; and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in
the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall
bite them,” Amos ix, 2, 3. Lebanon raises to heaven a summit of naked
and barren rocks, covered for the greater part of the year with snow;
but the top of Carmel, how naked and sterile soever its present
condition, was clothed with verdure which seldom was known to fade. Even
the lofty genius of Isaiah, stimulated and guided by the Spirit of
inspiration, could not find a more appropriate figure to express the
flourishing state of the Redeemer’s kingdom, than “the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon.”
Abigail’s husband, dwelt, Joshua xv, 55; 1 Sam. xxv.
2. CARMEL was also the name of a celebrated mountain in Palestine.
Though spoken of in general as a single mountain, it ought rather to be
considered as a mountainous region, the whole of which was known by the
name of Carmel, while to one of the hills, more elevated than the rest,
that name was usually applied by way of eminence. It had the plain of
Sharon on the south; overlooked the port of Ptolemais on the north; and
was bounded on the west by the Mediterranean sea; forming one of the
most remarkable promontories that present themselves on the shores of
that great sea. According to Volney, it is about two thousand feet in
height, and has the shape of a flattened cone. Its sides are steep and
rugged; the soil neither deep nor rich; and among the naked rocks
stinted with plants, and wild forests which it presents to the eye,
there are at present but few traces of that fertility which we are
accustomed to associate with the idea of Mount Carmel. Yet even Volney
himself acknowledges that he found among the brambles, wild vines and
olive trees, which proved that the hand of industry had once been
employed on a not ungrateful soil. Of its ancient productiveness there
can be no doubt; the etymology and ordinary application of its name
being sufficient evidence of the fact. Carmel is not only expressly
mentioned in Scripture as excelling other districts in that respect;
but, every place possessed of the same kind of excellence obtained from
it the same appellation in the language both of the prophets and the
people. Mount Carmel is celebrated in the Old Testament, as the usual
place of residence of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha. It was here that
Elijah so successfully opposed the false prophets of Baal, 1 Kings
xviii; and there is a certain part of the mountain facing the west, and
about eight miles from the point of the promontory, which the Arabs call
Mansur, and the Europeans the place of sacrifice, in commemoration of
that miraculous event. Near the same place is also still shown a cave,
in which it is said the Prophet had his residence. The brook Kishon,
which issues from Mount Tabor, waters the bottom of Carmel, and falls
into the sea toward the northern side of the mountain, and not the
southern, as some writers have erroneously stated. Its greatest
elevation is about one thousand five hundred feet; hence, when the sea
coast on one side, and the plain on the other, are oppressed with sultry
heat, this hill is refreshed by cooling breezes, and enjoys a delightful
temperature. The fastnesses of this rugged mountain are so difficult of
access, that the Prophet Amos classes them with the deeps of hell, the
height of heaven, and the bottom of the sea: “Though they dig into
hell,” (or the dark and silent chambers of the grave,) “thence shall
mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring
them down; and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in
the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall
bite them,” Amos ix, 2, 3. Lebanon raises to heaven a summit of naked
and barren rocks, covered for the greater part of the year with snow;
but the top of Carmel, how naked and sterile soever its present
condition, was clothed with verdure which seldom was known to fade. Even
the lofty genius of Isaiah, stimulated and guided by the Spirit of
inspiration, could not find a more appropriate figure to express the
flourishing state of the Redeemer’s kingdom, than “the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon.”