Mount Hor
Mount Hor is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Phoenicia in modern-day Israel. Known today as Mount Hermon. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
This Mount Hor, distinct from the more well-known Mount Hor near Kadesh where Aaron died, appears in Numbers 34:7-8 as a landmark on the northern boundary of the Promised Land as described by God to Moses. The boundary line ran from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor, and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath (the entrance of Hamath). This northern Mount Hor has traditionally been identified with a peak in the Lebanon range, possibly Mount Hermon itself or one of the prominent peaks in the Anti-Lebanon mountains. The passage forms part of God's detailed specification of the borders of Canaan that the Israelites were to inherit, given to Moses in the plains of Moab before the crossing of the Jordan. These boundary descriptions carried both practical and theological weight, defining the geographic scope of God's covenant promise to Abraham's descendants and establishing the territorial framework for the division of the land among the twelve tribes.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of the northern Mount Hor remains debated among scholars. The most common proposals include a peak in the Lebanon mountain range, Mount Hermon itself, or Ras Shaqqa (Theouprosopon), a prominent headland on the Lebanese coast north of Byblos. The association with Mount Hermon (elevation 2,814 meters) is supported by its position as the most dominant geographical feature on Israel's northern frontier. If identified with a Lebanese peak, the mountain would lie in modern Lebanon's Beqaa Valley region or the western Lebanon range. No archaeological investigation specifically targeting this identification has been conducted, and the question remains primarily one of historical geography and textual analysis.
Verse Appearances (2)
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]