Mount Tabor
A place in the Bible
A round mountain standing almost alone in Galilee, southeast of Nazareth.
What happened here
- Deborah and Barak: Deborah told Barak that the Lord commanded him to go up Mount Tabor with ten thousand men.
- The victory: Barak came down from Mount Tabor with his ten thousand men, and the Lord threw Sisera into a panic, with his chariots and his whole army.
- The Transfiguration: the Gospels say that Jesus went up “a high mountain” with Peter, James, and John, and there his face shone like the sun. They do not give its name. For many centuries, tradition has said it was Tabor.
Today
It is Mount Tabor, in northern Israel. On the top there is a Basilica of the Transfiguration.
Where it appears in the Bible
Judges 4:6; Judges 4:14-15; Matthew 17:1-2
What the Bible says
Judges 4:6
And she sent and called Barac the son of Abinoem out of Cedes in Nephtali: and she said to him: The Lord God of Israel hath commanded thee: Go, and lead an army to mount Thabor, and thou shalt take with thee ten thousand fighting men of the children of Nephtali, and of the children of Zabulon:
Judges 4:14-15
14And Debbora said to Barac: Arise, for this is the day wherein the Lord hath delivered Sisara into thy hands: behold he is thy leader. And Barac went down from mount Thabor, and ten thousand fighting men with him. 15And the Lord struck a terror into Sisara, and all his chariots, and all his multitude, with the edge of the sword, at the sight of Barac, insomuch that Sisara leaping down from off his chariot, fled away on foot.
Matthew 17:1-2
1And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: 2And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Mount Thabor”; Custody of the Holy Land, “Mount Tabor”