Mount Ebal
Morrish Bible Dictionary [1]
Mountain in Ephraim from which were proclaimed the curses that would fall upon Israel if they disobeyed the Lord. Great stones covered with plaster, on which the law was written, were set up on this mount. Thus the law and the curse were associated with the same mountain, Deuteronomy 11:29; Deuteronomy 27:4,13; but along with these Joshua also erected an altar unto the Lord God of Israel, before the blessings on Gerizim and the curses on Ebal were rehearsed. Joshua 8:30 , 33. Parties of travellers often separate themselves, some going up mount Ebal, and others on mount Gerizim, and prove that the congregation in the valley could hear the voice from both mountains. Mount Ebal is now called Jebel Eslamiyeh, 32 14' N, 35 16' E . Its highest point is 3077 feet.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [2]
ē´bal , (הי עיבל , har ‛ēbhāl ; Γαιβάλ , Gaibál ): Rises North of the vale of Shechem, over against Mt. Gerizim on the South. The mountain (Arabic el - Iṣlamı̄yeh ) reaches a height of 1,402 ft. above the floor of the valley, and 3,077 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean. The Samaritans feign that Gerizim is the higher; but it is more than 200 ft. lower than Ebal. These two mountains overhang the pass through which runs the main artery of intercourse between East and West, the city of Nablus lying in the throat of the valley to the West. The ancient Shechem probably stood farther to the East. The lower slopes of Ebal as one ascends from Nāblus are covered with gardens and orchards, the copious streams from the fountains under Gerizim washing its foot, and spreading fertility and beauty. The vine, the fig and the olive grow luxuriantly. Higher up we scramble over rough rocky terraces, where grow only the ubiquitous thistles and prickly shrubs.
From the broad summit a view of surpassing interest and beauty rewards the climber's toil. Westward beyond the hills and the plain of Sharon with its coast line of yellow sand running from Jaffa to Carmel, stretch the blue waters of the Mediterranean. From Carmel to Gilboa, Little Hermon and Tabor, roll the fruitful breadths of Esdraelon: the uplands of Galilee, with Nazareth showing on the brow above the plain, rise away to the buttresses of Lebanon in the North. From the snowy peak of Hermon the eye ranges over the Jaulan and Mount Gilead to the Mountain of Bashan in the East, with the steep eastern wall of the Jordan valley in the foreground. The land of Moab is visible beyond the Dead Sea; and the heights around Jerusalem close the view on the South.
Round this splendid mountain, seen from afar on all sides, religious associations have gathered from old time. The Moslem Weley on the top - the usual white-domed sanctuary - where it is said the head of the Baptist is buried, is doubtless the modern representative of some ancient seat of worship. The ruins of a church show that Christians also came under the spell of the hill.
The slopes of Ebal toward Gerizim played their part in that memorable scene, when, having conquered the central region of Palestine, Joshua led the people hither, erected an altar of unhewn stones, wrote upon the stones - either engraving on the stone itself, or impressing on plaster placed there for the purpose - a copy of the law, and then, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, placed half the tribes on the slope of Gerizim, and half on those of Ebal, and the ark with the priests and Levites in the center. Then with dramatic responses from the two divisions of the people, the blessings and the cursings of the law were read ( Joshua 8:30; compare Deuteronomy 27:11 ). In all the future, therefore, this mountain, towering aloft in the very heart of the land, would remind beholders far and near of their people's covenant with God. It has sometimes been questioned if the reading of the law could be heard by the people in the way described. The formation of the sides of the valley at the narrowest part, and the acoustics, which have been tested more than once, leave no reasonable doubt as to the possibility.
The importance of the mountain from a military point of view is illustrated by the ruins of a massive fortress found on the summit.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [3]
Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Ebal, Mount'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/e/ebal-mount.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [4]
A mountain with a level summit, which rises to the height of 3077 ft. on the N. side of the narrow Vale of Shechem, in Palestine, and from the slopes of which the people of Israel responded to the curses which were pronounced by the Levites in the valley.
