Harmon
Harmon is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Phoenicia in modern-day Israel. Known today as Mount Hermon. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Harmon appears only once in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the prophet Amos's stinging oracle against the women of Samaria whom he calls "cows of Bashan" (Amos 4:3). The text declares that they will be taken out through breaches in the city wall and cast "toward Harmon," a judgment passage whose precise geographical meaning has perplexed interpreters for centuries. The Hebrew text is uncertain, and some manuscripts read the term differently, leading many translators to render it as "Hermon", the great snow-capped peak in the Anti-Lebanon range, which dominates the northern horizon of the region of Phoenicia and upper Galilee. If Mount Hermon is indeed intended, the image conveys the Israelites being driven far to the north into exile, a vivid picture of divine judgment. Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II (circa 786–746 BC), a time of material prosperity masking deep spiritual corruption. The oracle against Samaria's elite women indulging in luxury while oppressing the poor culminates in this dramatic forecast of violent dispersal, underscoring that covenant faithlessness would bring the full weight of divine judgment upon the northern kingdom.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Mount Hermon, the probable referent of Harmon in Amos 4:3, stands at approximately 2,814 meters above sea level and forms the most prominent geographical feature of the Levantine north. Archaeological surveys on its slopes have uncovered numerous cult sites and open-air sanctuaries from the Bronze and Iron Ages, reflecting its sacred significance across multiple cultures. The summit hosts the ruins of a Roman-era temple dedicated to the god Baal-Hermon, attesting to the mountain's enduring religious importance. These finds confirm Hermon's long history as a boundary marker and religious site, making it a fitting image in Amos's prophetic geography of judgment.
Verse Appearances (1)
Amos
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]