HERMON (her'mon), (Heb. kher-mone', the peak).
A mountain which formed the northernmost boundary of the country beyond the Jordan which the Hebrews conquered from the Amorites (Deut. iii :8), and which, therefore, must have belonged to Anti-Libanus.
Since modern travelers have made us acquainted with the country beyond the Jordan, no doubt has been entertained that the Mount Hermon of those texts is no other than the present Jebel Es-sheikh, or the Sheikh's mountain, or, which is equivalent. Old Man's Mountain, a name it is said to have obtained from its fancied resemblance (being topped with snow, which sometimes lies in lengthened streaks upon its sloping ridges) to the hoary head and beard of a venerable sheikh (Elliot, i :317). This Jebel Es-sheikh is a south eastern, and in that direction culminating, branch of Anti-Libanus. It is probably the highest of all the Lebanon mountains, and is thought to rival Mont Blanc, though, as Elliot observes, the high ground on which it stands detracts considerably from .its apparent altitude, and makes it a less imposing object than that king of European moun tains as viewed from the Italian valley of Aosta.
The mention of Hermon along with Tabor in Ps. lxxxix :I2, led to its being sought near the latter mountain, where, accordingly, travelers and maps give us a 'Little Hermon.' But that passage, as well as Ps. cxxxiii :3, applies better to the great mountain already described ; and in the former it seems perfectly natural for the Psalmist to call upon these mountains, respect.. ively the most conspicuous in the western and eastern divisions of the Hebrew territory, to re joice in the name of the Lord. Besides, we are to consider that Jebel Es-sheikh is seen from Mount Tabor, and that both together are visible from the plain of Esdraelon. There is no reason to suppose that the so-called Little Hermon is at all mentioned in Scripture. Its actual name is Jebel ed-Dully ; it is a shapeless, barren, and un interesting mass of hills, in the north of the val ley of Jezreel and opposite Mount Gilboa.
(Thomson, The Land ond the Book, vol. i, p. 458)• Hermon was perhaps the 'high mountain' of Matt. xvii :1 ; Mark ix :2 Cthe mountain' of Luke ix :28) near Cmsarea Philippi, which was the scene of the Transfiguration and of the cloud which covered the disciples. In the Roman pe riod it was a sacred center, and small temples were built on the slopes on every side, while the highest point was encircled with a masonry wall, and seems to have supported an altar. Close by is a rock-cut chamber on the plateau. In the fourth century A. D. (see Onoma&t. s. v. 'Aermon') there was still a temple at which the people of Paneas and Lebanon worshiped, on the summit of Hermon. In the tenth century it became the center of the Druze religion, and to it Sheikh ed-Derazi, the founder of the latter creed, re tired from Egypt. At Hasbcya, on its western slopes, the sacred books of the sect were found by the French in 186o. Hermon is called Jebel esh-Sheikh, or 'mountain of the chief,' for this reason, being the residence of the religious Sheikh of the Druzes. The translation sometimes sug gested, 'chief of mountains,' is grammatically im possible. Hermon was visited by the present writer in 1873 (when the height and geographical position were determined) and in 1882. (R. C. Conder, Hastings' Bib. Diet.) Kitto says : "There can be no doubt that one of the southern peaks of Hermon was the scene of the Transfiguration. Our Lord traveled from Bethsaida, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, to the coasts of Canarea Philippi ; thence he led his disciples 'into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.' After ward he returned, going toward Jerusalem through Galilee (comp. Mark viii :22-28; Matt. xvi :13; Mark ix :2-13. 30-33). For many cen turies a monkish tradition assigned this honor to Tabor, but it is now restored to its proper lo cality."