Mountain
Mount Carmel
KAR-mel · Modern Mount Carmel, Israel (Haifa region)
Mount Carmel is a mountain of the biblical world.
What is known
- Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a contest here; fire fell from heaven and consumed Elijah's water-soaked sacrifice, proving the LORD's power (1 Kings 18:19-40)
- After the contest, Elijah had the defeated prophets of Baal put to death at the Kishon Brook at the foot of the mountain (1 Kings 18:40)
- The mountain's name means roughly 'vineyard' or 'garden of God,' reflecting its unusually lush, fertile vegetation compared to the surrounding terrain, a quality poetically invoked throughout the Old Testament
- The traditional site of the contest, Muhraqa ('place of burning'), is marked today by a Carmelite monastery overlooking the Jezreel Valley
History
- Coordinates
- 32.7317° N, 35.0500° E
Scripture references
- 1 Kings 18:19
- 1 Kings 18:20-40
- 1 Kings 18:42
- 2 Kings 2:25
- 2 Kings 4:25
- Song of Solomon 7:5
- Amos 1:2
- Amos 9:3
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
On Carmel, Elijah asked how long the people would waver between two opinions — where are you living undecided?
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