THABOR (Gr. Θαβώρ ο τό Ίταβώριον, Arabic Gebel et-Tor). — A mountain in Palestine about 7 km. west of Nazareth, at the north-east extremity of the plain of Esdrelon, conical in shape, rising 560 m. above the Mediterranean and about 320 m. above the surrounding plain.
Isolated by two watercourses that form the Wadi el-Bireh, a tributary of the Jordan, it appears from afar as a solitary sentinel, dominating the main approach from the south to Galilee. Its slopes are covered with holm-oaks, carobs, and terebinths; on the summit, crowned by a plateau 1200 m. long and 400 m. wide, the woodland is thicker and denser.
THABOR is alluded to by Jacob in his blessing of Issachar and Zebulun as a gathering place of peoples to offer sacrifices there (Deut. 33:19); not included within the boundaries of any single tribe (Josh. 19:22), it was sacred to all the northern tribes. Here Deborah summoned Barak of Kedesh with his army drawn from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to fight the enemy dominating the plain. The Israelites burst forth from the mountain upon Sisera’s forces, defeated them, and pursued them along the Kishon River (Nahr el-Muqattā’), winning a complete victory (Judg. 4:5).
Owing to its distinctive profile, it has always aroused religious admiration; in Ps. 88:12 it is coupled with Hermon in singing God’s praises, and in Jer. 46:18 the greatness of victorious Nebuchadnezzar is compared to Tabor and Carmel. The veneration of Tabor, perhaps fostered by the priests of Ephraim, is stigmatized by the prophet Hosea (Hos. 1:1) as schismatic, a snare laid on the mountain to entrap the unwary.
In 218 B.C. Antiochus III, after taking Philoteria south of the Sea of Tiberias, seized Tabor and fortified it (Polybius, V, 70). Later, during the Jewish revolt, Tabor was again fortified by Flavius Josephus (Vita, 37; Bell. Jud., II, 20, 6), but fell into Vespasian’s hands in A.D. 67.
From the 4th century the Christian tradition placed on Tabor the mystery of the Transfiguration (v.), and from then on the mountain’s history is that of the sanctuary.