Mount Perazim
Mount Perazim is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Sheikh Badr. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Mount Perazim appears in Scripture in a single but significant prophetic reference. Isaiah 28:21 declares, "For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon He will be roused; to do His deed, strange is His deed, and to work His work, alien is His work." The prophet alludes to David's earlier military victory at Baal-perazim, where the Lord broke through the Philistines like a bursting flood (2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11). David named the site Baal-perazim, meaning "Lord of the breakthroughs," celebrating God's dramatic intervention. Isaiah's invocation of this memory, however, carries an ironic reversal: God will now rise up not against Israel's enemies but against His own disobedient people, making this deed "strange" and "alien." Mount Perazim thus serves as a prophetic warning that the same divine power once exercised on behalf of Israel could be turned against them in judgment, underscoring the seriousness of covenant faithfulness.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Mount Perazim is tentatively identified with the area near Sheikh Badr, situated west of Jerusalem in the Rephaim Valley. The site corresponds geographically with the broader region of the Valley of Rephaim, where David's battles against the Philistines took place (2 Samuel 5:18-25). No definitive archaeological remains specifically linked to the battle of Baal-perazim have been discovered, as the encounter was likely an open-field engagement leaving minimal material traces. The surrounding area is now part of greater Jerusalem's western neighborhoods. Some scholars have proposed alternative locations slightly further southwest, but the general vicinity near the Rephaim Valley remains the consensus identification.
Verse Appearances (1)
Isa
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]