Mount Jearim
Mount Jearim is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Kesla. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Mount Jearim (meaning "mountain of forests") appears in Joshua 15:10 as a landmark along the northern boundary of the tribal territory of Judah. The boundary line descended from Beth-shemesh, passed along the north side of Mount Jearim (identified parenthetically as Chesalon), and then went down to Beth-shemesh and on to Timnah. The mountain's name, evoking dense woodland, suggests the Judean hill country was more heavily forested in antiquity than it is today. Mount Jearim's association with Chesalon links it to the broader region around Kiriath-jearim ("city of forests"), the town where the Ark of the Covenant rested for twenty years in the house of Abinadab after its return from Philistine captivity (1 Samuel 7:1-2). While the mountain itself is not the site of any major biblical event, its position along Judah's boundary and its proximity to the Ark's resting place connect it to the sacred geography of God's covenant presence with Israel.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Mount Jearim is identified with the hill near the village of Kesla (ancient Chesalon), located in the Judean hills approximately 20 kilometers west of Jerusalem. The site sits at an elevation of roughly 660 meters and overlooks the Sorek Valley. The nearby site of Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar, near Abu Ghosh) has been the subject of significant excavation by Israel Finkelstein and Christophe Nicolle beginning in 2017. These excavations uncovered a massive Iron Age platform and later constructions, suggesting the site held considerable importance. The forested character implied by the name "Jearim" is no longer evident, as centuries of deforestation have transformed the landscape, though Israeli reforestation efforts have restored some woodland to the surrounding hills.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
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]