Kishon

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hard; sore
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


KISHON (Jdg_4:7; Jdg_5:21, 1Ki_18:40, Psa_83:9).—The ancient name of the stream now called Nahr el-Mukatta’, which drains almost the whole area of the great Plain of Esdraelon. The main channel may be considered as rising near the W. foot of Mt. Tahor, and running W. through the centre of the plain until it enters the narrow valley between the S. extension of the Galilæan hills and the E. end of Carmel. After emerging from this it enters the Plain of Akka, running a little N. of the whole length of Carmel, and enters the sea about a mile E. of Haifa. The total length is about 23 miles. In the first part of its course it is in winter a sluggish stream with a bottom of deep mud, and in summer but a chain of small marshes; from just below where the channel is crossed by the Nazareth road near Carmel it usually has a certain amount of water all the year round, and in parts the water, which is brackish, is 10 or 12 feet deep. At its mouth, however, it is almost always fordable. Numerous small watercourses from the Galilæan hills on the N. and more important tributaries from ‘Little Hermon,’ the Mountains of Gilboa, and the whole southern range of Samaria and Carmel on the E. and S., contribute their waters to the main stream. The greater number of these channels, in places 10 or 15 feet deep with precipitous sides, are perfectly dry two-thirds of the year, but during the winter’s rains are filled with raging torrents. A number of copious springs arise along the edge of the hills to the S. of the plain. At Jenin there are plentiful fountains, but they are, during the summer, entirely used up in irrigation; at Ta‘anak, at Lejjûn, near Tell el-Kasîs, at the E. end of Carmel, and at the ‘Ayûn el-Sa‘di, perennial fountains pour their water into the main stream. Those who have seen the stream only in late spring or summer can hardly picture how treacherous and dangerous it may become when the winter’s rain fills every channel with a tumultuous flood of chocolate-brown water over a bottom of sticky mud often itself several feet deep. Both animals and baggage have not infrequently been lost at such times. Under such conditions, the Kishon, with its steep, uncertain banks, its extremely crooked course, and its treacherous fords, must have been very dangerous to a flying army of horses and chariots (Jdg_5:21-22). Of all parts the section of the river from Megiddo (wh. see) to ‘Harosheth of the Gentiles’ (now el-Harithîyeh), where the fiercest of the battle against Sisera was fought (cf. Jdg_5:10; Jdg_4:16), must have been the most dangerous. The other OT incident connected with this river is the slaughter there of the prophets of Baal after Elijah’s vindication of Jehovah on the heights of Carmel (1Ki_18:40).
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


A town on Issachar's border, allotted to the Gershonite Levites (Jos_19:20; Jos_31:28).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Ki'shon. (winding). Kishon. The river, A torrent or winter stream of central Palestine, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Israelitish history ? the defeat of Sisera, Judges 5, and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah. 1Ki_18:40. The Nahr Mukutta, the modern representative of the Kishon, is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains which enclose that plain find their way through the plain of Acre to the Mediterranean. The part of the Kishon at which the prophets of Baal were slaughtered by Elijah was doubtless close below the spot on Carmel where the sacrifice had taken place.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


“That ancient river, the river Kishon,” falls into the bay of Acre, and has its source in the hills to the east of the plain of Esdraelon, which it intersects. Being enlarged by several small streams, it passes between Mount Carmel and the hills to the north, and then falls into the sea at this point. In the condition we saw it, says Maundrell, its waters were low and inconsiderable; but in passing along the side of the plain, we discerned the tracts of many lesser torrents, falling down into it from the mountains, which must needs make it swell exceedingly upon sudden rains, as doubtless it actually did at the destruction of Sisera's host.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


kı̄?shon, kish?on (קישׁון, ḳı̄shōn; Κεισών, Keisṓn): The ?watercourse? or ?torrent stream? along the banks of which the great battle was fought between Israel, led by Deborah and Barak, and the army of Sisera, in the waters of which so many perished (Jdg_4:7, etc.). It is probably mentioned earlier as ?the brook that is before Jokneam? (Jos_19:11; see JOKNEAM). It appears again as the scene of Elijah's slaughter of the prophets of Baal (1Ki_18:40). ?The torrent? paragraph excellence in the district is the modern el-Muḳaṭṭa‛, a stream which drains all the plain of Esdraelon to the West of the watershed - a line drawn from Iksāl to Nain, and thence to el-Fūleh and Zer‛ı̄n. All the water East of this line, from the Nazareth hills, Tabor and Little Hermon, flows down Wādy esh-Sherrār and Nahr Jālūd into the Jordan. The Kishon collects the streams from the western slopes of Gilboa in the rainy season; and the water from the strong spring at Jenı̄n. Contributions also come from the copious fountains in the neighborhood of Megiddo. At Sa‛adiyeh, again, some 3 miles East of Ḥaifā, its volume is largely increased by springs rising at the base of Carmel, on the edge of the plain of Acre. From Jenı̄n in the Southeast, the deep torrent bed follows a westerly direction, with numerous. windings cutting the plain in two, until it reaches the pass at the northeastern base of Carmel. Through the gorge between the mountain and the hills of Galilee it reaches the plain of Acre. From Sa‛adiyeh it flows in a deep sluggish stream through the marsh-land to the sea near Ḥaifā. In this part the crocodile is said to have been seen at times.
In the summer season the water from the springs is largely absorbed by irrigation, and the upper reaches of the river are soon dry. The bed runs along the bottom of a trench some 20 ft. deep through the plain. It is easily crossed at the fords by those who know how to avoid the localities of the springs. In time of heavy rains the trench is swiftly filled, and the soft soil of the plain goes to mud. Remembering this, it is easy to understand the disaster that overwhelmed the heavily armed cavalry and chariots of Sisera. The chief ford for long was to the West of the gorge where the stream issues into the plain of Acre, on the highway from Ḥaifā to Nazareth. Here it is now spanned by a substantial bridge, while the railway crosses a little higher up. At the mouth of the river it is generally easily forded on the sand bank thrown up by the waves beating against the current of the stream. The main traffic here is now carried by a wooden bridge.
The phrase naḥal ḳedhūmı̄m in Jdg_5:21 is not easy of interpretation. English Versions of the Bible translates, ?that ancient river?; G.A. Smith, ?torrent of spates?; while others think it may refer to a stream other than the Ḳı̄shōn. Guthe suggests that both names may be derived from those of places adjoining the river. Kishon may possibly mean the ?tortuous? stream, referring to the windings of its course.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Ki?shon, a river which, after traversing the plain of Acre, enters the bay of the same name at its south-east corner. It is celebrated in Scripture for the overthrow of the host of Sisera in its overflowing stream (Jdg_4:13; Jdg_5:21). It has been usual to trace the source of this river to Mount Tabor; but Dr Shaw affirms that in traveling along the south-eastern brow of Mount Carmel, he had an opportunity of seeing the sources of the river Kishon, three or four of which lie within less than a furlong of each other, and are called Ras el-Kishon, or the head of the Kishon. These alone, without the lesser contributions near the sea, discharge water enough to form a river half as large as the Isis. During the rainy season all the waters which fall upon the eastern side of Carmel, or upon the rising grounds to the southward, empty themselves into it in a number of torrents, at which time it overflows its banks, acquires a wonderful rapidity, and carries all before it. It was doubtless in such a season that the host of Sisera was swept away, in attempting to ford it. But such inundations are only occasional, and of short duration, as is indeed implied in the destruction in its waters of the fugitives, who doubtless expected to pass it safely.
The course of the stream, as estimated from the sources thus indicated, is not more than seven miles. It runs very briskly till within half a league of the sea; but when not augmented by rains, it never falls into the sea in a full stream, but insensibly percolates through a bank of sand, which, the north winds have thrown up at its mouth. It was in this state that Shaw himself found it in the month of April, 1722, when it was crossed by him.
Notwithstanding Shaw's contradiction, the assertion that the Kishon derives its source from Mount Tabor has been repeated by modern travelers as confidently as by their ancient predecessors. We have had opportunities of seeing much of streams similarly constituted; and it does not seem to us difficult to reconcile the seemingly conflicting statements with reference to the Kishon. On further inquiry, and more extensive comparison of observations made at different time of the year, it will probably be found that the remoter source of the river is really in Mount Tabor; but that the supply from this source is cut off in early summer, when it ceases to be maintained by rains or contributory torrents; whereas the copious supply from the nearer springs at Ras el-Kishon, with other springs lower down, keep it up from that point, as a perennial stream, even during the drought of summer. Thus during one part of the year the source of the river may appear to be in Mount Tabor, while during another part the source of the diminished stream is at Ras el-Kishon.
The Scriptural account of the overthrow of Sisera's host manifestly shows that the stream crossed the plain, and must have been of considerable size.
The transaction of the prophet Elijah, who, after his sacrifice on Carmel, commanded the priests of Baal to be slain at the river Kishon (1Ki_18:40), requires no explanation, seeing that it took place at the perennial lower stream. This also explains, what has sometimes been asked, whence, in that time of drought, the water was obtained with which the prophet inundated his altar and sacrifice.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Kishon
(Heb. Kishon', קַישׁוֹן, winding; Septuag. Κισῶν; but in Psa_83:9, Κισσών v.r. Κεισών, Auth. Vers. "Kison"), a torrent or winter stream (נִחִל, A. V. "river") of central Palestine, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Israelitish history-the defeat of Sisera (Jdg_4:7; Jdg_4:13; Jdg_5:21), and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1Ki_18:40). It formed the boundary between Manasseh and Zebulon (Jos_19:11). SEE JOKNEAM. Some portion of it is also thought to be designated as the "waters of Megiddo" (Jdg_5:19). SEE MEGIDDO. The term coupled with the Kishon in Jdg_5:21, as a stream of the ancients (הִקְּדוּמַים, A. V. "that ancient river"), has been very variously rendered by the old interpreters.
1. It is taken as a proper name, and thus apparently that of a distinct stream-in some MSS. of the Sept. Καδημείμ (see Barhdt's Hexapla); by Jerome, in the Vulgate, torrens Catdumim; in the Peshito and Arabic versions, Carmmin. This view is also taken by Benjamin of Tudela, who speaks of the river close to Acre (doubtless meaning thereby the Belus) as the נחל קדומים. It is possible that the term may refer to an ancient tribe of Kedumirm-wanderers from the Eastern deserts-who had in remote antiquity settled on the Kishon or one of its tributary wadys. SEE KADMIONITES.
2. As an epithet of the Kishon itself: Sept. χειμάῤῥους ἀρχαίων; Aquila, καυσώνων, perhaps intending to imply a scorching wind or simoom as accompanying the rising of the waters; Symmachus, αἰγίων or αἰγῶν, perhaps alluding to the swift springing of the torrent (αϊvγες is used for high waves by Artemidoru..). The Targum, adhering to the signification " ancient," expands the sentence-'" the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel of old;" and this miraculous torrent a later Jewish tradition (preserved in the Commentarius in Canticlum Debborce, ascribed to Jerome) would identify with the Red Sea, the scene of the greatest marvels in Israel's history. The rendering of the A.V. is supported by Mendelssohn, Gesenius, Ewall, and other modern scholars. The reference is probably to exploits among the aboriginal Canaanites, as the plain adjoining the stream has always been the great battle-ground of Palestine. SEE ESDRAELON. For the Kishon of Jos_21:28, SEE KISHION.
By Josephus the Kishon is never named, neither does the name occur in the early Itineraries of Antoninus Augustus, or the Bordeaux Pilgrim. Eusebius and Jerome dismiss it in a few words, and note only its origin in Tabor (Onomasf. Cison), or such part of it as can be seen thence (Ep. ad Eustochium, § 13), passing by entirely its connection with Carmel. Benjamin of Tudela visited Akka and Carmel. He mentions the river by name as -" Nachal Kishon," but only in the most cursory manner. Brocardus (cir. 1500) describes the western portion of the stream with a little more fulness, but enlarges most on its upper or eastern part, which, with the victory of Barak, he places on the east of Tabor and Hermon, as discharging the water of those mountains into the Sea of Galilee (Descr. Terrce S. cap. 6, 7). This has been shown by Dr. Robinson (Eib. Res. ii, 364) to allude to the wady el-Bireh, which runs down to the Jordan a few miles above Scythopolis.
The Kishon is beyond all doubt the river now called Nahr el-Mokattah (or ilukatta), which, after traversing the plain of Acre, enters the bay of the latter name at its south-east corner. It has been usual to trace the source of this river to Mount Tabor (as above by Jerome), but Dr. Shaw affirms that in travelling along the south-eastern brow of Mount Carmel he had an opportunity of seeing the sources of the river Kishon, three or four of which lie within less than a furlong of each other, and are called Ras el- Kishon, or the head of the Kishon. These alone, without the lesser contributions near the sea, discharge water enough to form a river half as large as the Isis. During the rainy season all the waters which fall upon the eastern side of Carmel, or upon the rising grounds to the southward, empty themselves into it in a number of torrents, at which time it overflows its banks, acquires a wonderful rapidity, and carries all before it. It was doubtless in such a season that the host of Sisera was swept away in attempting to ford it. But such inundations are only occasional, and of short duration, as is indeed implied in the destruction in its waters of the fugitives, who doubtless expected to pass it safely. The course of the stream, as estimated from the sources thus indicated, is not more than seven miles. It runs very briskly till within half a league of the sea; but when not augmented by rains, it never falls into the sea in a full stream, but insensibly percolates through a bank of sand, which the north winds have thrown up at its mouth. It was in this state that Shaw himself found it in the month of April, 1722, when it was crossed by him.
Notwithstanding Shaw's contradiction, the assertion that the Kishon derives its source from Mount Tabor has been repeated by modern travellers as confidently as by their ancient predecessors (Summer Ramble, i, 281). Buckingham's statement, being made with reference to the view from Mount Tabor itself, deserves attention. He says that near the foot of the mountain on the south-west are " the springs of the Ain es-Sherrar, which send a perceptible stream through the centre of the plain of Esdraelon, and form the brook Kishon of antiquity." Further on. the same traveller, on reaching the hills which divide the plain of Esdraelon from that of Acre, saw the pass through which the river makes its way from the one plain to the other (Travels in Palestine, i, 168, 177). Schwarz also states that the sources of the Kishon are at a village called Sheik Abrik, south- west of Tabor (Palest. p. 166). On further inquiry, and more extensive comparison of observations made at different times of the year, it will probably be found that the remoter source of the river is really in Mount Tabor, but that the supply from this source is cut off in early summer, when it ceases to be maintained by rains or contributory torrents; whereas the copious supply from the nearer springs at Ras el-Kishon, with other springs lower down, keep it up from that point as a perennial stream, even during the drought of summer. (See Kitto's Pict. Hist. of Palestine, p. cxci.) Mariti (ii, 112) mentions the case of the English dragoman who was drowned, and his horse with him, in the attempt to cross this temporary stream from Mt. Tabor, in Feb. 1761. During the battle of Mount Tabor, between the French and Arabs, April 16,1799, many of the latter were drowned in their attempt to cross a stream coming from Deburieh, which then inundated the plain (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 339).
Monro, who crossed the river early in April (in its lower or perennial part), in order to ascend Mount Carmel, describes it as traversing the plain of Esdraelon. The river, where he crossed it, in a boat, was then thirty yards wide. In the plain from Seolam to Nazareth he crossed "a considerable brook, and afterwards some others, which flow into a small lake on the northern side of the plain, and eventually contribute to swell the Kishon" (Ramble, i, 55,281). Dr. Robinson says that this account corresponds with channels that he observed (Biblical Researches, 3:230). Prokesch also, in April, 1829, when travelling directly from Ramleh to Nazareth, entered the plain of Esdraelon at or near Lejjun, where he came upon the Kishon, flowing in a deep bed through marshy ground; and after wandering about for some time to find his way through the morass, he was at last set right by an Arab, who pointed out the proper ford (Reise ins t. Land, p. 129). The scriptural account of the overthrow of Sisera's host manifestly shows that the stream crossed the plain, and must have been of considerable size. The above arguments, to show that it did so, and still does so, are confirmed by Dr. Robinson, who adds that " not improbably, in ancient times, when the country was perhaps more wooded, there may have been permanent streams throughout the whole plain." The transaction of the prophet Elijah, who, after his sacrifice on Carmel, commanded the priests of Baal to be slain at the river Kishon, requires no explanation, seeing that it took place at the perennial lower stream. This also explains, what has sometimes been asked, whence, in that time of drought, the water was obtained with which the prophet inundated his altar and sacrifice.
The Kishon is, in fact, the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon, and of the mountains which inclose that plain, namely, Carmel and the Samaria range on the south, the mountain of Galilee on the north, and Gilboa, "Little Hermon" (so called), and Tabor on the east, find their way to the Mediterranean. Its course is in a direction nearly due north-west along the lower part of the plain nearest the foot of the Samaritan hills, and close beneath the very cliffs of Carmel, breaking through the hills which separate the plain of Esdraeloln from the maritime plain of Acre, by a very narrow pass, beneath the eminence of Harothieh or Harti, which is believed by some still to retain a trace of the name of Harosheth of the Gentiles. It has two principal feeders: the first from Deburieh (Daberath), on Mount. Tabor, the north-east angle of the plain; and, secondly, from Jelbuin (Gilboa) on the south-east. It is also fed by the copious spring of Lejjun, the stream from which is probably the "waters of Megiddo" (Porter, Handbook, p. 385). The highest source of the Kishon on the south-east is the large fountain of Jenin, the ancient En-gannim, the water from which, increased by a number of the streamlets from the surrounding hills, flows westward across the plain through a deep channel during the winter months; but in summer this channel, like the northern one, is perfectly dry (Van de Velde, Travels, i, 362). The two channels unite at a point a few miles north of the site of Megiddo. The channel of the united stream is here deep and miry, the ground for some distance on each side is low and marshy, and the fords during winter are always difficult, and often, after heavy rain, impassable; yet in summer, even here, the whole plain and the river bed are dry and hard (Robinson, ii, 364). These facts strikingly illustrate the narrative of the defeat of Sisera. The battle was fought on the south bank of the Kishon, at Megiddo (Jdg_4:13; Jdg_5:19). While the battle raged a violent storm of wind and rain came on (Jdg_5:4; Jdg_5:20; comp. Josephus, At. 5:5, 4). In a short time the hard plain was turned into a marsh, and the dry river-bed into a foaming torrent. The Canaanites were driven back on the river by the fiery attack of Barak and the fury of the storm; for "the earth trembled, the heavens dropped... the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." The warhorses and chariots dashing madly through the marshy ground made it much worse; and the soldiers, in trying to cross the swollen torrent, were swept away.
But, like most of the so-called "rivers" of Palestine, the perennial stream forms but a small part of the Kishon. During the greater part of the year (as above noted) its upper portion is dry, and the stream confined to a few miles next the sea. The sources of this perennial portion proceed from the roots of Carmel-the " vast fountains called Sa'adiyeh, about three miles east of Chaifa" (Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 140), and those, apparently still more copious, described by Shaw (Robinsone, ii, 365), as bursting forth from beneath the eastern brow of Carmel, and discharging of themselves "a river half as big as the Isis." It enters the sea at the lower part of the bay of Akka, about two miles east of Chaifa, "in a deep, tortuous bed, between banks of loamy soil some fifteen feet high, and fifteen to twenty yards apart" (Porter, Handbook, p. 383). Between the mouth and the town the shore is lined by an extensive grove of date-palms, one of the finest in Palestine (Van de Velde, i, 289). The part of the Kishon at which the prophets of Baal were slaughtered by Elijah was doubtless close below the spotm on Carmel where the sacrifice had taken place. This spot is now fixed with all but certainty as at the extreme east end of the mountain, to which the name is still attached of El-sahraka, ' the burning." SEE CARMEL. Nowhere does the Kishon run so close to the mountain as just beneath this spot (Van de Velde, i, 324). It is about 1000 feet above the river, and a precipitous ravine leads directly down, by which the victims were perhaps hurried from the sacred precincts of the altar of Jehovah to their doom in the torrent bed below, at the foot of the mound, which from this circumstance may be called tell Kilss, the hill of the priests. Whether the Kishon contained any water at this time we are not told; that required for Elijah's sacrifice was in all probability obtained from the spring on the mountain side below the plateau of El-Mahraka. At the mouth of the river are banks of fine sand, which any unusual swell in the river converts into dangerous quicksands (Van de Velde, i, 289).
The modern name Nahr el- Mukatta some have thought means "the river of slaughter," in allusion to the slaughter of the prophets of Baal on its banks; but the name may also signify " river of the ford," from another meaning of the same root (compare Robinson, ii, 365); the latter is the interpretation given of the name by the people of the country.-Kitto; Smith. See further in Hamesveld, i, 522 sq.; Schwarz, Palestine, p. 49; Hackett, Illustra. p. 321-323; Ritter, Erdk. 16:704; Maunadrell, Early Travels, p. 430; Pococke, East, II, i, 55; G. Robinson, Palest. i, 203 (Par. 1835); Thomson, Land and Book, i, 492; Stanley, Sinai and Pal. p. 347; Wilson, Lands of Bible, ii, 86; Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 95, 494, Kishshu. SEE CUCUMBER.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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