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Matthew George Easton

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (1897) · 3,964 entries on site

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Tabor

A height. (1.) Now Jebel et-Tur, a cone-like prominent mountain, 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 1,843 feet high. The view from the summit of it is said to be singularly extensive and grand. This is alluded to in Ps. 89:12 ; Jer. 46:18 . It was here that Barak encamped before the battle with Sisera (q.v.) Judg. 4:6-14 . There is an old tradition, which, however, is unfounded, that it was the scene of the transfiguration of our Lord. (See HERMON .) “The prominence and isolation of Tabor, standing, as it does, on the border-land between the northern and southern tribes, between the mountains and the central plain, made it a place of note in all ages, and evidently led the psalmist to associate it with Hermon, the one emblematic of the south, the other of the north.” There are some who still hold that this was the scene of the transfiguration (q.v.). (2.) A town of Zebulum ( 1 Chr. 6:77 ). (3.) The “plain of Tabor” ( 1 Sam. 10:3 ) should be, as in the Revised Version, “the oak of Tabor.” This was probably the Allon-bachuth of Gen. 35:8 .

Transfiguration, the

Of our Lord on a “high mountain apart,” is described by each of the three evangelists ( Matt. 17:1-8 ; Mark 9:2-8 ; Luke 9:28-36 ). The fullest account is given by Luke, who, no doubt, was informed by Peter, who was present on the occasion. What these evangelists record was an absolute historical reality, and not a mere vision. The concurrence between them in all the circumstances of the incident is exact. John seems to allude to it also ( John 1:14 ). Forty years after the event Peter distinctly makes mention of it (2 Pet. 1:16-18). In describing the sanctification of believers, Paul also seems to allude to this majestic and glorious appearance of our Lord on the “holy mount” ( Rom. 12:2 ; 2 Cor. 3:18 ). The place of the transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon (q.v.), and not Mount Tabor, as is commonly supposed.

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