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kishon Summary and Overview

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kishon in Easton's Bible Dictionary

winding, a winter torrent of Central Israel, which rises about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into the Mediterranean at the NEern corner of the bay of Acre, at the foot of Carmel. It is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains that surround it find their way to the sea. It bears the modern name of Nahr el-Mokattah, i.e., "the river of slaughter" (compare 1 Kings 18:40). In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judg. 5:21) it is spoken of as "that ancient river," either (1) because it had flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the Targum, because it was "the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel of old;" or (3) probably the reference is to the exploits in that region among the ancient Canaanites, for the adjoining plain of Esdraelon was the great battle-field of Israel. This was the scene of the defeat of Sisera (Judg. 4:7, 13), and of the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 Kings 18:40). "When the Kishon was at its height, it would be, partly on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean itself to a retreating army." (See DEBORAH T0000996.)

kishon in Smith's Bible Dictionary

(winding), The river, a torrent or winter stream of central Israel, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Israelitish history --the defeat of Sisera, Judges 4, and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah. #1Ki 18:40| The Nahr Mukutta, the modern representative of the Kishon, is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains which enclose that plain find their way through the plain of Acre to the Mediterranean. The part of the Kishon at which the prophets of Baal were slaughtered by Elijah was doubtless close below the spot on Carmel where the sacrifice had taken place.

kishon in Schaff's Bible Dictionary

KISHON (bending, curved), or in one place, Ps 83:9, KISON, the present Nahr Mukutta, a river which drains the plain of Esdraelon, passes through the plain of Acre, and falls into the Mediterranean. Only the lower part of it is perennial, fed by some springs at the foot of Mount Carmel. The upper part, rising on Tabor and Little Hermon, is dry in the summer, but becomes a torrent in the winter, rushing along with great impetuosity and transforming parts of the plains it traverses into swamps. The total defeat of Sisera, Jud 4:7, Jud 5:21, and the executions of the idol priests by Elijah, 1 Kgs 18:40, took place on the shores of this river.

kishon in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A town on Issachar's border, allotted to the Gershonite Levites (Joshua 19:20; Joshua 31:28).